Work and labor: 4. Baking bread

            For my fourth baking activity I chose to bake bread. I don't have a bread maker so I usually bake my bread in the oven. I start but making the yeast up with warm water, sugar and yeast. Making bread is a new aspect to baking for me and I have only started doing it in the last year. As I was a baking I thought about the difference between me making this bread and some one that is making food to survive. The difference is in the reason for the occupation which can fit into Mazlo hierarchy of needs (Majercsik, 2005). The need being for survival (labour) or leisure (work). Work and labour are two separate focuses of occupation. Work is an enjoyed activity, a choice that an individual makes to do an activity. Labour is a activity that is required to survive, a necessity to live     

            

     Baking bread is an example of labour in Mazlos hierarchy of needs. It is an activity that can be done for fun but it also is an activity that is needed for survival as it is a food. The act of baking bread is not necessarily a laboriousness task however it can be a labour of love as described in Caulton and Dickson 2007. Eating is a survival need and as baking is food it is a need, however the fact that I enjoy baking, it can be argued that it has another layer involved as I am not just baking to eat but to have fun. Work is a activity that involves an individual doing the activity for a non survival purpose such as playing cards. It can be found in some aspects of baking such as the aesthetics of cake decorating or drawing a design in the mixture. Cooking is a activity that contrasts some aspects of my chosen activity of baking as it is mainly a task described as a high labour task. It is essential to eat to survive and cooking usually involves more nutritious ingredients to promote healthy eating compared to baking.

 Home made bread recipe:
 3 cups flour
1t baking powder
2 teaspoons oil
pinch of salt

1 teaspoon yeast  
1 Table spoon sugar
1 cup warm water

1.Combine yeast sugar and warm water and leave to sit for approx 10- 20 minutes
2. Combine flour baking powder and salt by sifting into a large mixing bowl
3. Make a well in the center of the flour, add oil and yeast mix
4. Mix together and kneed for five minutes
5.Put aside for 20minutes to let the dough rise
6. Place on baking tray and bake for 20 minutes at 180 degrees or until brown

Reference

Majercsic, E. (2005). Hierarchy of needs of generic patients. Gerontology. 51:170-173

Cauton, R.& Dickson, R. (2007).  What's going on? Finding an explanation for what we do. In Creek, J., & Lawson- Porter, A. (Eds.) Contemporary issues in occupational therapy. Chichester John Wiley & sons ltd