If it's Thursday, Lily is making bread in the kitchen of the Hudson Valley Sudbury School. She's a one-woman show - taking the orders, toting the ingredients up and down from the school's chilly attic, mixing the dough, baking the loaves, wrapping the loaves, setting them out to be picked up, and collecting the money. She does not love bread especially, nor does she aspire to be a master baker - so why do it? Because she wants to go to London in the Fall.

Lily and four other HVSS students and one staff member are planning a trip to London, and more specifically, to Suffolk, England, to visit A.S. Neill's Summerhill School (http://www.summerhillschool.co.uk/). Lily says she wants to visit the Summerhill School because it will be "cool to see how they do things." Baking bread to raise money for the trip started out as a group project, but very quickly everyone lost interest except for Lily. She says she keeps at it because she made a committment to do it and she wants to keep that commitment. Just a few weeks ago, profits were up around $500, but then she spent close to $300 buying bulk ingredients for future loaves.

Baking the bread is a two-day process: On Thursday afternoon, Lily measures out the dry ingredients, adds the water, mixes the dough and then covers it. She leaves it covered on a counter for 12 to 18 hours. There's very little yeast in the recipe, but since the rise is so long the dough has a chance to collect yeasts from the air. On Friday morning she turns the dough out onto a counter, lets it rest for 15 minutes, then shapes the loaves. They are then covered and left to rise for another 2 hours before going into the oven.

Lily says she doesn't mind baking the bread. She doesn't get excited about it, but she doesn't feel burdened by it either. Her favorite part of the process is mixing the dough - she says, "it's just fun." She makes a handful of kinds, her favorite being the Whole Wheat Walnut Cherry, because she enjoys shaping the round loaves. All of the other kinds are traditional, rectangular loaves. Her favorite to eat is the white bread.

Lily is 13 years old, tall and slender with light hair, a beautiful smile, and a moody disposition. "She is quiet, hardworking, intense, not afraid to tackle whatever needs doing, thorough, and on top of the whole process" said her mentor, Mor Pipman. Mor, a parent of an HVSS student and an experienced baker, suggested making bread as a fundraiser for the London trip and volunteered to help get the project started. Mor and Lily worked side by side for the first five weeks, then slowly, over the course of a few more weeks, Mor eased herself out of the operation, leaving Lily in charge. They still shop together, but Lily does everything else. Mor was impressed with how easily Lily caught on to the art of making bread - "when she [Lily] wasn't sure about the texture of the dough or the moisture, I could just touch the dough with her and with a few words she immediately understood and picked it up."

So, maybe bread is not Lily's calling, but she's good at it, and London is calling. By September, Lily expects to have earned enough money (at least for herself) to make the two week trip. How the rest of the group will raise their share of the needed money is still unfolding. For several weeks orders were brisk, about 20 loaves, with many people buying loaves as holiday gifts. Lately fewer loaves have been ordered, and Lily would like to be baking and selling more. If someone you know appreciates delicious, handmade bread, and would like to support a young, local entrepreneur, then please share this post.

Here's the details: These loaves are really mouth-watering - made from organic, wholesome ingredients, crunchy on the outside and moist and chewy on the inside, beautiful to look at. There are five regular varieties (see below) and a occasionally a special holiday variety. Each loaf is beautifully wrapped and tagged with the ingredients. This is handmade bread at its best, so if it is not going to be devoured in the first day or two, wrap it air tight and put in the freezer. After thawing, place the loaf in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes to give it that fresh-baked goodness. You can also slice it before freezing, and just thaw a few slices at a time.

Mama's White - $4

Wholesome Whole Wheat - $4.25

Papa's Multi-grain - $4.50

Whole Wheat Walnut Cherry - $5

Roasted Garlic - $5

To order, e-mail Lily at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it by Tuesday of the week you want the bread. Pick up your bread on Friday between 3 and 5 pm at the Hudson Valley Sudbury School, 84 Zena Road, Kingston. Click here for directions, or call 845.679.1002.

Enjoy the bread, and come back and visit our blog again soon!

Written by Nina JeckerByrne