Grateful Bread

By Heather Maxwell Hall / Photography By Danika McDowell | January 11, 2019

KNEADING IT FORWARD WITH ROB MATHEWSON

In a tie-dyed T-shirt and flour-dusted chef’s hat, Grateful Bread founder Rob Mathewson is leading a bread-making workshop at the Blue Moon Farm, Cidery and Ciderworx in Courtenay. A small group of local Rotarians has gathered to learn not only how to build a better loaf, but a better community.

Mathewson conceived Grateful Bread for Charity in 2008 while living in Ontario and selling his homemade bread at a weekly farmers’ market. Struggling to keep up the weekly commitment, he taught other vendors to make his recipe so there would be a consistent supply. When the local Salvation Army approached him to donate bread to their Mother’s Day fundraiser, he told the other farmers the cost of learning how to make his bread would be that they had to donate some of the bread made at the workshop to the fundraiser. A star idea was born.

Mathewson moved to Parksville in 2010, and although his day job with Environment Canada keeps him busy, he continues to teach his foolproof bread recipe at his Kneading it Forward workshops. The resulting loaves are donated to local charities or families in need, or sold at local events with all proceeds going to worthy causes.

“Grateful Bread hopes to teach people to care for others in need by creating and sharing the elemental gift of bread,” he says. “I’ve been blessed with a skill I can teach others, and at the same time help others in need. Ultimately, I hope participants will continue to teach others both how to make bread and how to help those in need.”

Mathewson credits his mother-in-law Nettie for teaching him how to make bread, and for the best bread-baking secret of all.

“Nettie’s bread recipe calls for water, eggs, oil, yeast, and seven-to-nine cups of flour…or whatever,” says Rob. “I spent a few years making delicious, puffy white bread but now the whatever includes sun-dried tomato and oregano; chipotle cheddar, sweet basil and tarragon; molasses fennel rye; and cranberry maple walnut. I’m still a sucker for good plain white bread but I’ll always be grateful that Nettie taught me to explore the whatever.”

At the Blue Moon workshop, the group produced 50 delicious loaves. For participant Cathy Snyder, it was the nudge she needed to get back to a regular bread-baking routine: “Years ago, I lived in Whitehorse and bread was really expensive, so I decided to make my own bread. For seven years, I never bought store-made bread.”

“So when I heard about this workshop, I thought, this is my kick-start to start baking bread again! I plan on getting a different group of friends together and doing this with new people again, so we can continue to pass on our knowledge and the charity.”

Whether you’re a total beginner or a seasoned bread maker, the Grateful Bread workshops will help you hone your bread-baking skills–and your community spirit. The atmosphere is relaxed, informative, and welcoming. Visit the Grateful Bread Charity Facebook page to learn about upcoming workshops: