Alina Școala is a primary teacher from the school Gimnazială Nr. 30 Timișoara, Romania
Who was the baking group?
Alina Rumega, her two sons and her pensioner mother
Where did the baking action take place?
My own kitchen in Timisoara
How many sparrows were baked?
40 pieces + 10 for our own families
Can you tell us about the baking action?
In my kitchen, a small apartament one, we were 7 people: my other 3 colleagues, my sons, my mother and myself. I have little experience in baking with dough, so my mother was a real help. We put the ingredients as the recipe demands. The best part was adding the vanilla sugar and lemon essence because it was smelling like in heaven. The hardest part was combining the ingredients – there was a large quantity of them – until the dough became real smooth. Here my mother helped a lot. Until the dough rested in peace for an hour, we enjoyed an orange cup of tea. We used the children’s help in cutting the dough in small balls, in rolling them and placing the eyes of the sparrows from quarter raisins. Us, the adults, made the knot and formed the sparrow, than we brushed it with mixed egg and sprinkled them with vanilla sugar and decorative forms. I put them in the owen for cca 20 minutes. I invited my good friends to share some sparrows with them, talking about the project. In the morning, we share the pastry with some collegues and explain them about the symbol of sharing bread. Every class share the sparrows bread and we remembered the children that sharing bread is caring!
For whom did you bake?
We share ourselves, within families, with good friends and colleagues and with school kids.
Why did you select this recipient group? What are the reasons?
It was a sign of us caring for the people important to us and remembering that the Christmas is coming!
What emotions did baking and sharing trigger in you and the recipients?
I, personally, was very proud of my kids. They were helpful and it was a great family time together, doing something important for the unity of our community. My kids at school were loving the fact that it was not important the biggest pastry, but the person you share it with. My colleagues were amazed of the fact that we put in time baking for them and wanted to take part of projects like this one. I was really amazed that such a small piece of bread and our smile brought happiness in my little corner of universe. Thank you, Danube-Networkers, for the opportunity!