Who doesn’t love a cookie?

Christina Kingan certainly does, and she’s always been interested in cooking and baking. What better way, she thought, to bring teens together and create community than with a baking project they can do jointly?

Christina started the Culture through Baking project with a Peer Project Grant from My Friend Abby, and put the word out through Instagram and other social media platforms.  Before each virtual meet up, she chooses an interesting cookie recipe from a country or ethnic group and researches the symbolism behind the ingredients and cookie shape, then does a trial run to be sure she’s got the recipe down pat.  Students – there are generally 10 or so who show up for each online meeting – get the recipe ahead of time so they can buy ingredients, but Christina is generally armed with the extras they might not have on hand.

Their most recent creation was a Swedish cookie filled with raspberry jam and dusted with powdered sugar. “I once took a cultural anthropology class, and I realized you can learn a lot about heritage through cooking. It was really eye-opening,” Christina explains.

Of course, the bakers do more than talk about culture and ingredients. After all, Christina says her main purpose is to stimulate community growth among peers who would not otherwise have met. “Everyone has definitely made some new connections,” says Christina. “We talk about school and everything going on, like stress and college. There’s chit-chat in between steps, and we share a lot.”

Everyone wants to join a club that doesn’t cause stress, Christina notes, and the 20 or so “future friends” who participate seem to agree.  The group will culminate at Christmas time, when the bakers will meet in person and get the chance to talk to a professional baker that Christina knows… while nibbling some cookies together.