Annual Paska bread baking - April 20, 2024

On April 20, we baked the Paska bread, which will be distributed to all those present in church on the Great and Holy Pascha Sunday.

We also share them with our friends and neighbors, and mail them to those unable to attend church, as well as those who've moved away.

A blessed end to your Lenten journey!

Three women standing in a line that runs from the lower-left corner to roughly 2/3 of the way to the upper-right corner. They're standing at a counter in the kitchen of the church hall and there are various bowls and a large pastel-green dough mixer in view in front of them, and running along the lower-right corner of the frame. The women are smiling and mostly looking away from the camera.

Four workers are standing in front of a table that runs from the foreground to mid-way up the left-side of the frame. There are three Silpat mats on the table and, on top of the mats, there are several pieces of dough that are rolled into long strands that look almost like snakes. Some are very long, extending across more that one mat, and short pieces that fit within the length of their mat. The workers are looking at the camera and smiling.

Three of the workers from the previous photo are working at the table, rolling dough into long, snake-like shapes that I'm going to call 'dough ropes'. A man wearing a maroon colored button-down shirt is working next to a woman in a short-sleeved, light red (no, not pink!) shirt on the far side of the table. A woman in a patterned top is working across from them and appears on the right side of the frame, in the lower right corner.

A view of one of the finished paska breads, looking down at the top of the circular loaf. There are braided dough ropes around the circumference of the loaf, and an Orthodox cross embellishes the center. The cross is made out of pieces of the dough ropes. The color of the loaf is golden and slightly more browned on the cross and braids.

Three workers at the Silpat-covered table described earlier. The workers are rolling the dough into 'ropes' that will later be braided and added to the tops of the loaves. The table runs from the foreground to about 3/4 of the way into the background, and there's a square-ish piece of dough in the lower left foreground and a large, stainless steel bowl filled with dough, and covered by cellophane, in the right foreground. The same two women as earlier are working, but there's now a man with a khaki-green colored t-shirt on the right side, working next to the woman in the patterned shirt.

A close-up of three dough-rope braids on top of a Silpat mat. A towel that is mostly off-white, but with thin green and gray strips, is rolled up flatly and runs along the length of the braids. A few specks of black, which I believe to be poppy seeds, are visible within the braids.

A woman is standing at a table, basting a paska bread with butter using a brush with a translucent white handle and red brush tendrils (sorry, I'm not sure what to call them, but I mean the actual brush part). She is facing the camera but is looking at her work. Two rolling pins are on the table to her right; one has a light brown roller and handle, while the other has a black roller body and a red handle. Only one handle is visible for each rolling pin.

Two woman are standing in the kitchen, posing for the photo. In the foreground, and to their right, is a large, open bag of flour. In front of them, and in the lower right corner, is a silver, industrial-size mixer. In the background, some paska breads that are ready for baking are resting on the counter along with various kitchen utensils and a gallon milk jug that is mostly empty.

A view of another of the finished paska breads, looking down at the top of the circular loaf. There are braided dough ropes around the circumference of the loaf, and an Orthodox cross embellishes the center. The cross is made out of pieces of the dough ropes. The braids on this loaf are a bit larger than in the earlier photo, and the loaf is darker as well.

A three-level metal rack with complete paska breads that I believe are cooling. The top row appears to be just below eye-level and shows mostly the sides of the loaf, whereas the two rows below have views looking mostly down at the loaves. Six loaves are visible on top rack, eight in the middle, and five on the bottom, although there are likely more loaves that can't be seen in the photo.

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