Barbara Bednaz, owner of B’s Breads, is offering “Baking 101” kits for families to bake bread or pizza dough together. (HOPE E. TREMBLAY/THE WESTFIELD NEWS)
WESTFIELD – With so many people staying home during the coronavirus pandemic, cooking and baking seems to be a favorite pastime for families.
Barbara Bednaz, owner of B’s Breads, is sharing her love of baking and helping those who don’t normally bake by offering free “Baking 101” kits.
“I started doing baking kits because I wanted to encourage families to bond, to have fun, to teach their children their way around the kitchen,” said Bednaz. “I also wanted to strongly encourage staying safe, stay healthy, staying home. This was important to me. I do what I call a ‘drop’ on your steps and run. I then text you saying it’s on your stairs.”
Bednar said with more families spending more time together, baking and cooking are excellent ways to bond as a family.
“You can sing and dance and just have fun,” she said. “And the family loves the rewards of getting to eat them. Baking and cooking is therapy for me. It takes me to my happy place. You are so busy that you aren’t thinking about everything going on in the world right now.”
Bednaz could have taken the opportunity to make money with her kits, but instead just wants to share something she loves with others.
“My heart is happy when families are doing things together, like baking. I am getting pictures of the kids baking and each time I smile. I love it,” she said. “That is just so rewarding for me. I offer Italian bread — the dry ingredients – or the dry ingredients for pizza. They do need a kitchen mixer with a dough hook. They can knead by hand, but that’s harder to explain in directions.”
Bednaz has also been making pizza dough. She said it needs to come to room temperature, be stretched out into a pan, topped with sauce and choice of toppings and bake, “and finally EAT it. Yummy!”
Bednaz said cooking and baking is her happy place.
“For me cooking with my kids and family is pure happiness and joy. When life was ‘normal’ it was rushed and seemed stressful…. we were all running here, running there and working. Now that we all have time, we seem to have gone back to what I call grandma’s kitchen days, Sunday dinners days,” she said. “I love the memories of going to my grandmother’s…pies, fudge, cookies, tasty food. And Sunday dinners I love. I wish stores were closed on Sundays so we could always have this.”
Even a beginner baker can be successful, said Bednaz. Her kits include dry ingredients and easy-to-follow instructions. For those who have never really cooked or baked, Bednaz said biscuits or pancakes are a good starter.
“They’re simple and easy,” she said. “I say that now, but in today’s world, flour is hard to find for so many people. But a boxed mix of Bisquick is something I always have in my pantry. It’s very simple to make biscuits, pancakes, waffles or even dumplings to make with leftover chicken.”
Bednaz started cooking with her children when they were young.
“Cookies was what my daughter learned first,” she said. “Actually, toast at the age of 3. She was so excited to be in the kitchen with me baking. Each time we made them she grew more confident and said ‘Mommy I can do it’.”
Grilled cheese and pizza are also an easy starter, said Bednaz.
“If you don’t know how to make dough you can start with bread or English muffins, and already made dough can be found in the grocery store or at your local pizza shop.”
Bednaz said kids will learn with whatever you are confident starting with.
“Olivia was scrambling eggs and cooking them at the age of 4. Cookies and pizza were right after,” she said of her daughter, now 9. “Now she makes bread with me and helps with dinners. For Christmas I bought her the junior master chef kit and I added other kitchen items. She has her own kitchen tools.”
Bednaz is from a family of 11, so cooking and baking at home were the norm. She recalls making cookies and cake from a young age. She said Friday night was homemade pizza night and there were a lot of toppings with 11 people around the dinner table.
Bednaz said she believes families are turning to their kitchens now, not just because they have fewer options, but because it’s also comforting and nostalgic.
“I think that we all have baking and cooking in us and when the world came to a scary halt, we found that part of ourselves,” she said. “This pandemic has us all home… we have time to cook and bake dinners, desserts, breads. We have time to sit as a family. We have time to talk and laugh. I remember when I was young my dinner was at 5 o’clock every night. My mom was home to cook.”
Bednaz said family Sunday dinners is something she missed the most in recent years.
“Back in November, me and my siblings started getting together once a month on a Sunday to have dinner, to catch up, to laugh — I loved it. Last time we did that was March 1, just before my niece and great nephew went back home to Germany,” she said.
Since then, Bednaz has been baking for her siblings weekly.
“I have to stay busy or my mind wanders,” she said. “Pizza, stuffed breads, Focaccia bread, pretzels, rolls, pizza, white bread and dinners…. they know I have to bake, bake, bake and cook!”
Bednaz can be reached through her B’s Bread’s Facebook page.
