February is Bake for Family Fun Month

TOPEKA, Kan. - Jan. 31, 2017 - PRLog -- Families spending time together in the kitchen provides more than great eating! Whether it is measuring ingredients, mixing muffins, rolling dough for pizza or shaping cookies; time with children in the kitchen provides long lasting benefits. (Why Bake?) You wonder, where do I start? The Home Baking Association (HBA) has designated February as "Bake for Family Fun Month"and has resources, recipes and activities to help families get started!

Parents should look no further than the Thrill of SkillThrill of Skill to help them determine age appropriate kitchen jobs beginning at age two. Ten Tips for BakingSuccess, Safe Kitchen Check List and Baking 101 Food Safety are free online resources at HomeBaking.org. Correct measuring techniques will help families be successful. Finding a task for each member of the family will keep everyone involved and share in the experience. Don't forget while the recipe is baking families should do clean-up together.

Baking is an inexpensive family activity says Charlene Patton, Home Baking Association Executive Director. Benefits of baking include opportunities to use math, literacy, history, social studies, science and art. She suggests families visitHomeBaking.org to find recipes, family baking activities and resources to help families bake with children of all ages.

HBA features a weekly theme to help families plan recipes and activities during the month starting with Week One "Let's Get Started Baking (http://homebaking.org/familyfun/index.html#week1)". Other upcoming themes include "Baking for My Valentine (http://homebaking.org/familyfun/index.html#week2)", "Baking History and Traditions (http://homebaking.org/familyfun/index.html#week3)"and "Baking for Others (http://homebaking.org/familyfun/index.html#week4)". New features added online this year include special recipe substitutions, technique videos and step-by-step guides.

Baking together is a great opportunity to teach children kitchen skills and share family traditions. Make a treasured family recipes or create a new tradition. How about a make a bread dough and let everyone have fun shaping? The onlineDough Sculpting Lesson (http://homebaking.org/PDF/90-MinuteBreadDoughRecipe.pdf) is filled with tips for working with yeast dough as you shape alligators, turtles or bunnies. Remember whatever you bake be sure to take pictures that you can share and enjoy later.

HBA has many book and bake lessons! Pancakes (http://homebaking.org/PDF/pumpkin_power_bookandbake.pdf), waffles, pizza, cookies… pick the lesson and while it is baking read a book and learn more about the ingredients or history of the recipe. Hundreds of ideas are included at HomeBaking.org with links to HBA members providing creative ways to help families have fun in the kitchen! Recipes, activities, experiments, book and bake lessons and videos are all part of Bake for Family Fun Month.

The Home Baking Association is a non-profit association with members dedicated to providing resources to encourage families to bake together. Be a part of the celebration and bake with your family during February and start a tradition for the year!