Not quite so recently, our Middle School Class had sort of a falling out while making focaccia (a type of Italian flatbread made with yeast and olive oil and then topped with herbs and other toppings). Things started out great, but with every new development, the deliciousness spiraled downward. Read on to find out more!
Monday, November 2–The First Idea Seed is Planted
The beginning of November started the beginning of our unsteady journey to focaccia nirvana. Paolo, the Spanish teacher our primary classes, volunteered to help make focaccia since he’d grown up in Italy and so had fantastic experience. Our middle school Spanish teacher agreed, and a date was set for the first cooking.
Wednesday, November 4–An Introduction to Focaccia-Making
On the afternoon of November 4, our class went down to the kitchen to learn how to make focaccia. It was amazing. We watched Paolo complete every task with pristine experience, and tried to take all the info in as he made two plates of focaccia, which both turned out scrumptious. We ended the day with a recipe in our hands and the taste of the wonderful bread in our minds. The combination was enough to give anyone ideas, even if they’re not wise ones.
I’m not sure who first had the focaccia selling idea. It could have been our main teacher Miss Lynne, or our Spanish teacher, or Paolo, or even one of the members of our class. Whatever the case, everyone agreed that having a focaccia business was a great idea. It would help fund our Middle School spring trip, and it would likely be fun, too.
Tuesday, November 10–Practice, Practice, Practice
We figured that if we even wanted a semi-successful focaccia business, we’d have to see if we could make a halfway decent recipe ourselves. So on the appointed day, our class went down to the kitchen and gave it a try. It wasn’t great. The bread had been cooked too long, and halfway through we figured out we’d left out half the ingredients. It was no wonder the focaccia tasted like salty cardboard.
Our next attempt was no better, so on Friday, we decided to ask Paolo if he could give us another demonstration. His cooking was amazing, of course, and made us feel much more on track. Sure enough, the next time our class tried making focaccia ourselves, it wasn’t half bad. We decided since we were getting there, it was time for the next step.
Monday, November 16–The Commencement of The Plan
We had an idea for our business. We had a recipe. We had a relative grasp on how to put it together. Now all we needed were some steps:
- Get the word out that we were taking orders.
- Purchase the ingredients.
- Accept each order and determine cost, profit, and workload that would be needed.
We followed these steps like footprints in the snow. We printed fliers, we made stickers, we went to the grocery store, and we elected a ‘tech-person’, who worked hard making a spreadsheet to so we could stay organized. By the time we neared the day before Thanksgiving Break (which was the day orders were due) we were sick of hearing about focaccia and anything related to it. However, we had 12 orders as well as about 15 for pies (learn more later), and we were ready to start cooking.
Monday, November 23–Manufacturing Day
It’s no joke. We spent all seven hours of the school day (and well into the next day) raising yeast, mixing dough, and taking things in and out of the oven. By the end of Tuesday, which was the day we got off for Thanksgiving, we’d managed to make every single focaccia we needed, although we were exhausted, covered in flour, and had no real idea how the focaccia was going to turn out. As the customers exited with each of their focaccias, we were hoping things would turn out well, but honestly, we were mainly just glad to see that bread walk out the door.
Filed under: Bread oven, Food, Kitchen, Programs
