On the Matter of Bread...

Henryʼs father has recently become both unemployed and divorced. Among the reasons for Henryʼs unfortunate circumstance is his motherʼs inability to effectively manage the family budget, especially the food budget. The family ate out far more often than they could afford to. Consequently, Henry has developed a fondness for the “Dancing Sandwich” at Zingermanʼs Delicatessen in Ann Arbor. At a cost of more than $6.00 per sandwich, Henryʼs father can no longer afford to feed him in the manner to which he has become accustomed. Additionally, the divorce has forced Henryʼs father to move to a much rougher, less affluent neighborhood, and he is not thrilled about the children Henry is likely to meet in these new surroundings. Itʼs a sad new state of poverty in which they find themselves. Both Henryʼs life and that of his father are rife with new challenges which must be met. What Henryʼs father needs is a solution to both the problem of feeding his son and keeping him off dangerous streets, away from neighborhood hooligans.

His father would like to provide Henry with a favorite sandwich at a price he can afford. The solution to the dilemma must also take longer than the five minutes normally required to assemble a typical sandwich. This is a father who needs to keep his son occupied. Furthermore, Henryʼs father is concerned about what his son is eating. He has to feed his child good tasting, healthy foods. After all, Henry is a growing boy. Therefore, these two men (young and old) must find a reasonably entertaining solution to their problem that is also time consuming, healthy and delicious.

Much of the cost of the sandwich in question is due to the expensive French bread used to make it. The least expensive loaf of bread available from Zingermanʼs website is currently priced at $4.50 (on sale from the regular $6.25). However, in her article “Cost of Bread Baking - How Much Does Bread Cost? - Bake or Buy Bread?”, on the website about.com, Jennifer McGavin estimates the cost of baking a French baguette to be approximately $1.58, or less if one can bake more than one loaf at a time (para. 13). Not only does Henryʼs father have all the necessary ingredients (flour, yeast, salt, water), he also has an abundance of free time (heʼs unemployed, remember), which is a good thing. Baking a loaf of proper French bread takes almost three hours. Fortunately for Henry, itʼs also terribly simple, since his father has little experience baking. Clearly, Henryʼs father has only one option; He must bake the expensive bread himself with Henryʼs assistance. Henry will be occupied for hours, doing a wholesome activity and learning a valuable skill at the same time. His father will know exactly where Henry is and they will both eat well on their tiny budget. Best of all, they can enjoy other pursuits at the same time, like listening to music, and nothing tastes as good, or makes a house smell better, than fresh bread straight from the oven.