Let’s Get Back to Baking and Breaking Bread

With Easter and Passover upon us, let's slow down and reflect on why it's so important to "break bread" together. First, Americans rarely eat together anymore. The average American eats one in every five meals in their car, and one in four Americans eats at least one fast food meal every day. In addition, most American families report eating a single meal together less than five days a week. * The lack of family meals results from our fast-paced living, over-scheduling, and the increasing use of our digital devices. Modern times have disconnected us from the sacred value of food and eating together. Over time we have seen its direct ill effects on the health of our society.

"Breaking bread together" is an expression I am sure you have heard many times and in multiple contexts. It is used to express sharing a meal with someone. In addition, breaking bread can be a way to celebrate, bond, and make amends. However, breaking bread goes beyond sharing physical food; it often refers to gathering with people for a meaningful connection. During this connection, we truly see one another. Boundaries of ethnicity, culture, and race break down, and we learn cooperation and acceptance. When we engage in the process of nourishing ourselves around the table, we can't help but acknowledge each other's presence and uniqueness.

One of the most primitive activities is eating. When we share this activity as a group, we connect deeper to our human existence. Sharing a meal satisfies our physical, mental, and spiritual hunger. It is a symbol in every religion because it is both a way of sustaining the body and a reminder of elemental blessings. It is one of the most unified necessities and processes we have as humans. If we stop seeing each other in this way, our relationships diminish, and our community and connectedness crumble.

Bake Bread and then Break Bread

A way to build family connectedness is by first baking bread together. During Easter in my childhood, I remember making Paska bread with my mother. Paska bread is a Ukrainian Easter bread brought to our family by my Austrian Hungarian paternal grandmother, Mary. Every year we make the bread on Holy Thursday and bring it to the church for the blessing of the Easter Baskets on Holy Saturday morning. We always gift extra loaves to family and friends. An Easter tradition that I still carry on for my young family.

Bread is one of the only traditions that has surpassed nationality and time. Countries worldwide have baked and broken bread for millennia in much the same way we do today. Whether around a table or in the dirt, it is typically part of a meal with others. Jesus shared bread with his apostles at one of the most historical meals of all time, the Last Supper. I inspire you to invite someone new to your table to break bread this season. Ask them what family stories they have regarding "breaking bread "together, and enjoy the connection created around a simple yet complex loaf of bread.

*Delistraty, Cody C., The Importance of Eating Together, July 18, 2014, TheAtlantic.com.

JoAnne Pavin is an integrative wellness consultant, speaker and founder of The Meal magazine – a quarterly publication that inspires people to slow down and connect around the experience of the meal. She has over two decades of experience offering customized wellness services to individuals and companies incorporating nutrition education, fitness, meditation, and mindset training to promote healthier, more balanced lifestyles. She has a B.S. in Biology, is a certified Ayurveda and Yoga Practitioner with Ayurvedic studies from the International Academy of Ayurveda in Prune, India. In addition, she’s a certified Weight Management Consultant, Optimize Coach, Licensed Massage Therapist, and Registered Yoga Instructor through Yoga Alliance. To learn more about Creative Day Renewal retreats on Marco, visit www.joannepavin.com or contact her at jpavin@themeal.net.

JoAnne Pavin is not a medical or psychological doctor, and her recommendations are not a substitute for conventional medicine, diagnosis, or treatment. Any food, herbs, or nutritional advice that are recommended are not drugs and may need professional medical or psychological review before the individual may receive it.

Paska Recipe

Makes Two Loaves of Bread

Ingredients:

2 cups of whole milk

1 stick of organic butter

6 eggs (whipped up)

2 packets of yeast

½ cup of white sugar

2 Tablespoons of vanilla extract

¼ to 1/3 cup of Brandy liquor

1 teaspoon of salt

6 to 8+ cups of King Arthur Flour (this won’t be exact, you’ll have to add flour until it is not sticking to your hand)

Melt the stick of butter over low heat. Add the milk, stir together and let simmer. Set aside and cool. In a separate bowl, empty the packets of yeast, add ¼ cup of warm water and 1 tsp of sugar. Stir gently until foam appears. Add the milk and butter mixture and vanilla and brandy to yeast.

Transfer to a large bowl and add the remaining sugar, salt and whipped eggs. Add the flour to the mixture slowly, cup by cup, stirring with a wooden spoon until about four cups have been added. Then knead with your hands for a good five minutes, adding additional cups of flour. You will add until the dough is not sticking to your fingers. Grease or butter another large bowl. Place the dough in the bowl and cover with a towel. Find a warm, dark place to rise for at least three hours.

After three hours, punch down and knead again, cut in half (save a small amount to form a cross on the top if you wish) and put equally separated dough balls in oiled or buttered glass Pyrex (I prefer round) or loaf pans. Let rise again for one hour.

Butter brush them before they bake.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Test with a cake tester that the center is not sticky.