Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Baked: Day 4














"Cuppie Loves to Bake" via Cakespy

I earned my 3rd point early that morning.

Back on the line with Jesus. I practised on my rolling technique for baguettes. The dough always looked like a snake that had eaten a large hamster. I couldn't get the bulge in the middle to go away. I cursed the lack of Play Doh in my early developmental years.

Unofficial break time came several hours in. It would've been like any other break, where I'd gulp down a steaming hot cup of coffee, run to the bathroom and back to the shaping table. But today was different. Jesus motioned me to come with him. He grabs two rolls hot from a tray, fresh from the oven. He tossed me one and we sat down together with Carlos at the picnic table that doubled as our break room. We ate in silence.

I broke a piece off the roll with my fingers, the flakey crust crumbled onto my lap. I washed it down with a cup of coffee. And we sat, comtemplative, focusing on every bite, every minute we had that we didn't have to work.

I had a momentary flashback to the basement of a church in Vladivostok, where we'd sat on long, hard benches, slurping down bowls of hot borscht. A lifetime ago. Our hunks of bread rested directly on the table top.

I broke the silence to ask Carlos if he was celebrating Christmas. He wasn't. Apparently, his mother was a Buddhist.

Back to the line.

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