Punch it down

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Twisted Sketches has revealed its latest sketch, #121, and the twist is “punch.” Be sure to head over to the site to grab the sketch, then create something and link it up! 🙂

Here’s my Design Team layout inspired by the sketch.

I love using Twisted Sketches to inspire me to tell stories I might not have thought of telling.

I actually struggled for a while, trying to come up with a layout based on this week’s twist (punch). I knew I could always just include an embellishment created with a punch, but I really wanted my topic to somehow incorporate the twist. Then it hit me that you punch down dough when you’re making bread, and I had the perfect story to tell!

When it came to cooking and baking, my Nana—my paternal grandmother—had mad skillz. She commanded a kitchen. Of course, that came from a lot of practice, as she owned and ran restaurants throughout my father’s childhood and young adulthood. In fact, I don’t think she ever baked a loaf of bread. Instead, she always pulled out her huge metal bowl and dumped a whole 5-pound bag of flour into it and baked several loaves of bread.

And I never saw her follow a recipe. In fact, when I was a teenager and wanted to try baking bread for the first time, I asked Nana to tell me how to do it. She didn’t have a recipe to share with me, so while she baked a batch one day we captured what she did. She would pour a big handful of salt into her hand (her usual method of measurement) and then pour it into a measuring cup so that I could record the amount. We had a lovely time together putting her recipe down on paper, but honestly, how often am I going to need to bake several loaves of bread at one time? 🙂

For years now, my brother and I have been inspired by Nana to bake bread, too. Even though we don’t make it often (usually at holidays), we both love the process of combining and kneading simple ingredients to turn them into loaves of home-baked magic. It’s a slow, homey procedure. It requires patience while the dough rises. Then it offers a therapeutic opportunity to punch it back down (If you’re going through a stressful time in your life, I highly recommend baking a loaf of bread on a Saturday morning to get out your frustrations.). And finally, it’s hard to deny the sense of pride you feel when you take that fragrant loaf out of the oven and serve it to your family.

With all the fall and winter holidays that are on the near horizon, as well as the cool fall days I’m hoping to experience soon (temperatures are still rising to over 100 degrees in Austin), I think it’s time to break out my bread pan and flour. It’s time to get a little punchy!