Thursday, November 5, 2015

Should I or Shouldn't I?


Oh dear…. I binge watched Season One of Great British Bake Off. At one point, I stopped and went to Wikipedia to check out the names of the three baking sections—Signature Bake, Technical Bake, Show Stopper—and near the top of the entry was a listing, by season, of the winners of the show. Thankfully, I do not know who wins Season Two that I am currently watching on TV.

The fourth episode focused on puddings—a baking tradition absent in Season Two and one that does not interest me. I do not find puddings at all appetizing.

Then they did, as they do in season one, a historical bit, and suddenly they were talking about Margaret McMillan, a philanthropist, who was the first to introduce free meals for school children out of her concern for the welfare of children exposed in the classrooms during the Industrial Revolution created by laws making education compulsory in England.

 She began feeding the children in the schools of Branford and tracking their growth. The statistics she complied showed a dramatic decline in the growth and the health of the children during the summers due to the absence of nutrients they were getting in her in-school meals program. To feed her children, she invented puddings.

Stories about child neglect kill me because I was neglected but my sadness more than compensated-for by how moved I felt by the heroic actions of Ms. McMillan.  

So inspired by this program was I, I am considering enrolling in a six-month full-time baking program at a local culinary school. SHould I or shouldn't I, I wonder. It's a big commitment; I'll be wondering for a few days.


Back to the Bake Off….

No comments: