Wheat

Dakota had a play date today with his friend Natalie. They had a great time playing in the sprinkler and inflatable swimming pool. Then they sat on the patio and drew pictures with the sidewalk chalk. Dakota discovered that if he got the chalk wet he could make really thick designs with it. Then they took paint brushes and drew them across the chalk designs. This blended the colors. Dakota found that with yellow, blue, and red; blue is the dominant color and will take over the whole picture. After a while they decided to wash the whole thing away and start over again. Dakota decided to make a "hippie" t-shirt on the side walk. He did a great job of tye dying the chalk.

Eventually we went inside where Elen was putting the finishing touches on the pizza. Little did I know that she had made the crust herself. Oh and the sauce. But she had also ground the wheat to make the crust with. I have never seen anyone grind their own flour. In fact I have never seen what wheat looks like before it is ground. All I know is what flour looks like when you buy it at the store. So Elen brought out several different kinds of wheat. We talked about what each kind is best used for and we tasted all the different kinds of wheat. It was great to experience all the differences in flavor and texture. After a wonderful lunch of fresh homemade pizza and fresh baked bread, Elen showed us how to grind the wheat in to flour. I was amazed that 3 cups of wheat turned in to 5 cups of flour. Elen sent a bag home with us. Tomorrow we will bake bread with it.

I wish I had brought my camera with me. I would have loved to have pictures of all that we did today. It is amazing all the things kids can learn on a simple play date.