Rise above it

A teenager’s life is so about the drama. There were days when I dreaded going to school. Like, when Katie was mad at me because Tami told her that I liked Katie's ex-boyfriend after I told Katie that I so did not like him at all, which I totally don’t, and Tami just said that ‘cause she’s jealous because she likes Travis and he told Rachel that he kinda likes me.

Whew!

As my dad always said, “Try to rise above it.”

And when it comes to rising, he's the man. The bread man, that is because he is a baker. Therefore, he knows yeast. He can tell you (and has told me) all about the properties of yeast in a casual evening conversation over a glass of wine, or two, or three.

There is good yeast and there is bad yeast. Good yeast is viable, alive and ready to feed on the sugar present in the dough, which it will convert into two waste products. The first, ethanol, is evaporated during baking. The second, carbon dioxide is what leavens the dough. This happens by way of little pockets…little but highly valuable. Once the dough has been baked, those little pockets remain, and you end up with bread that is soft, light and deliciously sweet.

Bad yeast—yeast that is lifeless and unproductive—will not cause your bread to rise, which means no little pockets in the dough. And without those little, but highly desirable pockets you will end up with tasteless, hard, flat bread.

You want the good yeast. That’s why you proof the yeast before you make the dough to be sure it is viable. Right?

Well, sometimes friends need proofing, too. There are good friends and there are, well, bad friends. The good friends rise above the drama and help you to rise above it, too.

Now, I’m no baker, but it seems to me that sometimes the bread just doesn’t turn out even though the yeast bubbled like crazy during the proofing process.

Teenagers can be taught to make wise choices about making friends. Still, there may be days when your teenager dreads going to school. You can spare your teen the yeast lecture, for now, but don’t hold back on the time-tested words of wisdom my father once said (and probably yours, too). And then help your teen to rise above the drama by listening to the seemingly trivial events of her day and showing her that you understand…really understand. You remember those days!

Then, help her to set her sights on higher matters—like, your relationship. And do some bonding. Over popcorn and a movie, a ball game and some garlic fries, or, I know, the two of you could bake some bread.