tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29836128173343614522024-03-05T14:21:31.023-08:00This Class Cooks!A Year Cooking Healthy Foods With Fifth and Sixth GradersLizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06706316568541077537noreply@blogger.comBlogger88125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2983612817334361452.post-45516131375283221622013-05-27T12:03:00.001-07:002013-05-27T12:03:08.738-07:00The Last PostUmmmm...hi there.<br />
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So you know how you'll resolve to floss your teeth every night and you'll get into a really good habit and stick with it for a while?<br />
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But then you go away for the weekend and even though you packed floss, you let yourself off the hook because, let's be serious, it takes an entire minute and a half to get through all your teeth. And when you're on vacation, that's a hassle. Plus it's only for the weekend...<br />
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Then you come home and you floss on Sunday night and Monday night but on Tuesday you stay up a little late watching Jon Stewart on hulu and you skip a night.<br />
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Suddenly a month has gone by and you can't remember the last time you flossed. And you go, "Huh. How did that happen? I was so good about flossing for so long."<br />
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*****</div>
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So I've been writing this blog for a while, almost two full school years. And every time my class did anything remotely related to cooking, I wrote a post. </div>
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Then this spring happened. </div>
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I'm not really sure what happened this spring except that one week went by, then another, and then another, and we didn't cook anything. I've caught some heat from my class about this, and the best explanation I could give was that we got busy doing other projects. That, and my vague ideas about the connection between cooking and Earth, Sun and Moon cycles never solidified. </div>
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So no cooking, nothing to blog about. Next time around with the current science unit, I will make better efforts to keep the cooking thread going strong. I've got an idea about seasonal soup recipes and the crock pot our school just purchased.</div>
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Then there's this other issue about the blogging. I realized over the winter that I wouldn't keep posting to this blog after the end of the school year. Next fall my two-year curriculum will start over again and much of what we cook will be the same as or identical to the recipes I've already posted about. Writing about them again would be a bad version of Groundhog's Day.</div>
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So this is it. The last post. Time to reflect on what's gone on here.</div>
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1. One reason I started this blog was to record the process of integrating cooking into elementary curriculum. Next fall my old posts will be a valuable tool for avoiding the pitfalls from the first time I tried everything. I consider myself a reflective teacher, but so many times my reflections do not get recorded, or don't get stored in a place that I remember to look before I teach the lesson again. And one look at my plan book confirms that just because I keep all my old plan books doesn't mean they're going to be especially helpful two years later. At least in this case, I'll have a record, sometimes in excruciating detail, of what I thought about every recipe we cooked.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6N1DBDXFQ9AZbNqto5yWDmpsCXtNmOpgQOhqgY2bpuAYZF26OSiB96tUvRIb4l2RbqI513KaaQWjfeP6scobTKDu6E1gQ_eCuL9p3IVxhdF2eEZ8hib3GMZbaI4Y51qPiZzojE9OrjBk/s1600/IMG_5421.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6N1DBDXFQ9AZbNqto5yWDmpsCXtNmOpgQOhqgY2bpuAYZF26OSiB96tUvRIb4l2RbqI513KaaQWjfeP6scobTKDu6E1gQ_eCuL9p3IVxhdF2eEZ8hib3GMZbaI4Y51qPiZzojE9OrjBk/s400/IMG_5421.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exhibit A - My plan book at the end of the week</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">2. I had the experience of being a blogger. Now I know how to manage a blog, what it takes to keep </span><span style="font-size: small;">one updated, how to insert links and all that jazz. It's a cool tool, and I'm sure that this knowledge will serve me in the future, both as a teacher and as a writer. (Unlike Twitter, which I have sworn never to get involved with. I have not tweeted. I do not tweet. I will not tweet. Conjugate away.)</span></div>
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3. I got to share my experience with a wider audience than myself. Early on, I came to the realization that one of my posts wasn't going to go viral and score me a book deal like a very few lucky people out there. What I have appreciated is the support and interest that friends, family members and co-workers have shown for both my cooking and my writing over the past year and a half. Thanks, people.</div>
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For a while I thought that I'd wrap up this blog and start the Liz Greenberg is a Writer blog. You know, to promote myself as a writer of fiction? But I'm not sure who my audience would be: kid writers, adults, agents and publishers. And frankly, there are more writers waiting to be published who have set up web pages than there are grains of sugar in a cup measure.</div>
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But the bigger issue in my decision to say good-bye to blogging for now is that I have too many other writing projects I want to work on and limited time to work on them. (If you're curious, the count is two unpublished middle grade manuscripts awaiting an agent/publisher and/or more revisions, a manuscript-in-progress, an adult focussed short story based on a crazy dream I had last month, and a contest I want to enter. And that's this week's list.) Suddenly, keeping a blog updated is about as appealing as continuing to date some guy I'm not that serious about when I'd rather be hanging out with my friends. </div>
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So this is it, for now. </div>
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The weird thing is that the blog is still going to be Here, and by Here I mean that nebulous thing called the internet. Kind of like space junk except less environmentally invasive.</div>
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So Future People (as in anyone reading this after June, 2013): Hi. Thanks for finding my blog. I hope you liked it. If you leave me a comment it would be kind of neat to know someone read my space junk. </div>
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And to People-of-the-Now: Thanks for reading my ramblings and supporting my effort. Sometimes it's easier to keep doing crazy, possibly overly ambitious projects when you have a bunch of people telling you you're on the right track. I hope you have a summer filled with lots of healthy and yummy foods. Strawberry season is just around the corner...<br />
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Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06706316568541077537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2983612817334361452.post-53109619227859921832013-03-13T18:15:00.000-07:002013-03-13T18:15:10.871-07:00How To Eat Fried PlantainsLast Friday on <a href="http://thisclasscooks.blogspot.com/2013/03/friday-farm-fun.html" target="_blank">our field trip</a> the continent study groups bought a bunch of produce that:<br />
a) wasn't ripe yet<br />
b) required more preparation than slicing<br />
c) I had no idea what to do with<br />
d) all of the above<br />
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So although it hadn't been in my plans to cook this week, I threw a dart at my plan book and came up with Wednesday morning. I figured I'd do some research over the weekend and hold a summit with Emilyinthekitchen on Monday in order to be ready for Wednesday.<br />
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Then medical chaos temporarily struck my family (everyone's fine now, thank you) and I had almost no time/energy for weekend planning Nor was I in school on Monday. Tuesday morning, I asked Emilyinthekitchen what I should do with my random set of ingredients. "Bring it all down to the kitchen so I can see it," she advised.<br />
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Once she visualized what I had to work with, she quickly came up with some suggestions. You get the feeling that she'd do awesome on one of those cooking reality shows...<br />
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This morning I filled everyone in our menu and signed everyone up for one job. I knew there wasn't enough to keep everyone busy while all the food cooked, and this strategy ended up working nicely. While everyone worked independently on a social studies assignment (and most of them <i>did</i> work, having been warned that they could lose getting to do their job otherwise) I called kids up to do jobs. One students brought a pot of water down to the kitchen to boil for tea -- quicker than using our slow-to-heat two burner. Two others sliced the last loaf of last Thursday's <a href="http://thisclasscooks.blogspot.com/2013/03/around-world-bread.html" target="_blank">Around the World Bread</a>.<br />
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Another pair measured water and gari (a cassava product). This got cooked into a porridge.<br />
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Some sliced plantains</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhniDyRGsqUf32EiEJuUuQPVypX-SkNeTAMX6VOXgEIDmi01avd7R6z_CO0Ry3HHO32YJvzHU8AWxGODsYr2zEmdCA8DgpAgzWf-527PF1jRv88qeJ05TlPM06cTdSm0sqi9oRo5beiGVQ/s1600/IMG_1963.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhniDyRGsqUf32EiEJuUuQPVypX-SkNeTAMX6VOXgEIDmi01avd7R6z_CO0Ry3HHO32YJvzHU8AWxGODsYr2zEmdCA8DgpAgzWf-527PF1jRv88qeJ05TlPM06cTdSm0sqi9oRo5beiGVQ/s320/IMG_1963.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
while others coated them in cassava flour and cinnamon<br />
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and a couple pan-fried them. This turned out to be my favorite dish of the lot.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvhlgECBCxle1pS8r_KnF4LLIRPcWpiCxQlPdX-V8GTAbWgJtPDPFJ3KwCetKrBh7ECUxGk6BrCGA07CAavV-CPVhU29bpT5EUcS8PMmgRfjXvnvFiyaVb-Y61VPix6bTxRsl3X8rcfNg/s1600/IMG_1967.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvhlgECBCxle1pS8r_KnF4LLIRPcWpiCxQlPdX-V8GTAbWgJtPDPFJ3KwCetKrBh7ECUxGk6BrCGA07CAavV-CPVhU29bpT5EUcS8PMmgRfjXvnvFiyaVb-Y61VPix6bTxRsl3X8rcfNg/s320/IMG_1967.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
We made a stir fry of onion, chinese bitter melon, and chive, garnished with poppy seeds. Then I cut up a piece of melon to taste with one of the kids on stir fry duty. We had a simultaneous reaction, and spit it out; it was inedibly bitter. Red faced, he fished them out of the stir fry and left them out separately for anyone who dared to try.<br />
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We also chopped up hot pepper. I'll leave the reaction of kids tasting it to your imagination. I should have known that it did not matter one bit that I showed kids how to dab a bit on their tongue and taste it carefully. There's always going to be a couple kids that take a big bite and then flail around the room grabbing for bread and gulping glasses of water.<br />
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Here's part of the feast!<br />
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One plus about cooking in the morning is that the kitchen is open and I can send a couple of kids down to run dishes through the Hobart. Waaay more efficient than trying to wash everything in the classroom sink, especially on a day when I have a lunch meeting, no prep period, and a staff meeting after school. Remarkably, when we started math at 10:00, the (cooking part of the) room was 95% in order.<br />
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And within fifteen minutes of math starting, we were doing the hand jive and watching this video.<br />
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If you think I'm kidding, guess again. I even had a reason for showing it! Never a dull moment in my classroom...Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06706316568541077537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2983612817334361452.post-50879219208578826052013-03-09T14:09:00.002-08:002013-03-09T14:09:41.641-08:00Friday Farm Fun<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Big day yesterday.*<br />
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We spent the morning at <a href="http://www.breadandbutterfarm.com/" target="_blank">Bread and Butter Farm</a> in neighboring Shelburne. Farmer-owner Corie took us on a tour of the farm including:<br />
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cows,</div>
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and a greenhouse full of spinach and kale.</div>
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Fresh greens! In Vermont in March!</div>
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Then there was my favorite, the bakery.<br />
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Every Friday between five hundred and seven hundred loaves of bread come out of that oven. The varieties are impressive, including three-seed and raisin rye.<br />
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An unexpected highlight was the opportunity to go into the pasture to hang out with the cows. A parent commented to me, in amazement, that Corie showed a huge amount of trust in my class to allow them into the field en masse to be with the cows. Friendly "girls" quickly approached us a started sniffing and licking at us!<br />
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Before we broke for lunch, Corie gave the class a chore: rip last year's kale stalks out of the beds and take them to the compost pile. It didn't take this group of hard workers very long to complete the task!<br />
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Most of my students are very familiar with some element of farm life. As rural Vermont kids, if they don't have parents, grandparents, or aunts and uncles running farms, someone they know works on a farm. They've spent their time in barns and fields; they don't freak out about walking through a field filled with cow patties.<br />
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But my guess is few of them are familiar with this sort of farming. Bread and Butter Farm is a diversified farm that started three and a half years ago on generational family farm land put under conservation easement through the Vermont Land Trust. Corie and head baker, Adam, purchased the land and launched a farm that produces a variety of items and offers many services to the community including Burger Fridays and a new summer camp venture. Corie gave us a tour appropriate for older kids; we had fun petting pigs and baby calves, but we also talked about sustainable farming practices.<br />
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After we ate lunch and said our goodbyes, we drove up to Burlington to look for food that came from non-local sources. Each continent group went to a different ethnic market, in search of foods (primarily fresh produce) that came from countries in the continent they'd studied. There were a couple of glitches with this grand plan, and because of a closed store, two groups ended up in an African market together. As luck would have it, the proprietor is a former home economic teacher from Ghana. After she sold some dried fish to a customer, she turned off the lively African music that filled the store, and taught us more about cassava than I knew there was to know, all in about five minutes!<br />
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Back at school each group told about the items they found. We had three forms of cassava (cassava flour, gari, and tapioca) along with pounded yam from Africa. There were two varieties of mango, a guava, and a chayote from South America. The Australia group, thinking about the greater zone of Oceania, found kiwi (New Zealand), Roobios tea (Aboriginal bush tea) and poppy seeds (Tasmania - who knew?). The Asia group had the biggest bonanza: Asian plums, plantains, Chinese cucumbers, Asian chives, and hot peppers.<br />
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<span style="text-align: left;">Some kids chopped up the produce that was ripe and ready, while others sliced <a href="http://thisclasscooks.blogspot.com/2013/03/around-world-bread.html" target="_blank">Thursday's Around the World bread. </a>A few chose to do some quick research about the guava and chayote. Were they ripe? No. They're in a paper bag on </span><span style="text-align: left;"> the counter, getting ready for snack time on Monday.</span></div>
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Then we ate. Two types of mango were sampled and compared. Three loaves out of four were gone in fifteen minutes. </div>
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And I looked at all the food we hadn't eaten, items requiring further preparation, and wondered what next week would bring.<br />
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<i>*The whole field trip was funded through a Farm to School grant. I am so very appreciative for the support.</i>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06706316568541077537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2983612817334361452.post-17111389448629813362013-03-07T18:35:00.000-08:002013-03-07T18:35:11.936-08:00Around the World BreadAll this great cooking shared with the school, but we haven't prepared a recipe in class in <i>ages.</i><br />
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Today the plan was to bake four loaves of bread to be eaten tomorrow after a field trip (more on this in a future post). Because of our daily schedule, the bread had to be mixed, kneaded and rising within the first fifty minutes of the school day. Emilyinthekitchen provided the recipe and a sponge. I got mixing bowls and measuring spoons ready before school started.<br />
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And as the kids streamed into the classroom and I read the recipe with them, I realized I was solo in the room. No extra adult. Just me, twenty-two kids, and the ingredients for four loaves of a bread recipe developed just for us. Plus a tight time frame. Recipe for bread, or recipe for disaster?<br />
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The rationale: Celebrate learning about all the continents by making a multi-grain bread to represent all the grains from all the continents. When I first told the kids that we were going to use all the grains mixed together to make a multi-grain bread, understanding dawned on one sixth grader's face. "So that's why they call it multi-grain bread!" he exclaimed.</div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">The prep: Wednesday morning at snack time, we used a hand grinder to grind up oats, rye and wheat berries.</span></div>
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Wednesday afternoon the room was filled with an...interesting odor while I cooked up other grains: quinoa, amaranth, barley, millet and t'eff. </div>
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Then the Thursday craziness. But here's the amazing part: it wasn't crazy at all. I had each continent group number themselves and used the numbers to create four groups with representatives of each study group. We went over the recipe, washed up, and in the space of 35 minutes, each group measured, mixed and kneaded.</div>
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Ingredients got passed around, everyone shared jobs and cooperated. As the kneading got started, one person from each group took a couple minutes to wash and dry their bowl, then oil it up for the rising stage. I was able to check in with each group, keep the process moving along, but mainly I watched the groups work together while I took some pictures. It was truly a celebration of everything the class has learned how to do this year. I wish I had a picture of the parade of kids walking through the halls to the kitchen, carrying dirty dishes, floured cutting boards, and most importantly, shiny bowls full of dough.</div>
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While the dough rose and I ran dishes through the Hobart, the kids were in the gym, playing floor hockey. Then during snack four kids had their names drawn to go punch down the dough. Later in the morning, Emily ran the dough through the big mixer and left it to rise a second time. And after lunch, each small group spent five minutes in the kitchen forming their share of the dough into a different shaped loaf. Emily popped the bread into the oven and I pulled it out after she'd left, while my class was in the tech lab. It smelled GOOD...</div>
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Full report on its taste after tomorrow's field trip...</div>
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Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06706316568541077537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2983612817334361452.post-13090623676199943482013-03-02T11:45:00.001-08:002013-03-02T11:45:18.030-08:00Cooking with T'effAfter a lovely winter vacation, we are back in action! This week's group used t'eff flour to make pancakes. Emilyinthekitchen made an absolutely delish African stew: chickpeas and kale swimming in a sauce flavored with cumin, coriander, and cinnamon. I am waiting for the recipe...<div>
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Many students commented that the pancakes themselves were nothing special, but they went really well with the stew. I concur. And I think something really good is happening in our school's kitchen when kids <i>prefer</i> pancakes when they're served with a well-seasoned vegetable stew. </div>
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No pictures this week but we should have plenty next week; in addition to serving the school an Australian millet crusted quiche, we're also going on a multi-faceted field trip to celebrate this unit.</div>
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Stay tuned!</div>
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Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06706316568541077537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2983612817334361452.post-5052124303193052442013-02-16T07:56:00.000-08:002013-02-16T07:56:01.351-08:00A Story Worth TellingThis week's culinary travels took us to Asia. Five students prepped a dish by sauteeing bok choy and kale, then cooking Japanese rice and barley on Tuesday afternoon.<br />
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<span style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHkVpF5s9aBWlwhBYeVCMdSth7Ef5p3M8d_KOc_1-V5lHq-gnuWtqqSE1OGiE1gDeHwuK-jFBZAZI_wNjL4yws7guUwadjJzqQVkmiOn1EJyhMHPAJ0bGtSxtpREDUUF6e2XnsBywLtf0/s1600/Asia+group5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHkVpF5s9aBWlwhBYeVCMdSth7Ef5p3M8d_KOc_1-V5lHq-gnuWtqqSE1OGiE1gDeHwuK-jFBZAZI_wNjL4yws7guUwadjJzqQVkmiOn1EJyhMHPAJ0bGtSxtpREDUUF6e2XnsBywLtf0/s320/Asia+group5.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZlHGuMX65Hr65W9LwxhtvbdIh79kCoCW8NBCLGjhgbsLsIK1-8_LX-sAhIB5jFrrBX2kQNRv9-tSJdjThaXIi3ym8hUPAUpmGSBuJZYmFj0nrWxHQIlj9Nbraqv4T3sSRLovQm6U3xPQ/s1600/Asia+group8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZlHGuMX65Hr65W9LwxhtvbdIh79kCoCW8NBCLGjhgbsLsIK1-8_LX-sAhIB5jFrrBX2kQNRv9-tSJdjThaXIi3ym8hUPAUpmGSBuJZYmFj0nrWxHQIlj9Nbraqv4T3sSRLovQm6U3xPQ/s320/Asia+group8.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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When they returned to the classroom, one student cook approached me to tell me the amount of salt the recipe called for the grains to be cooked in seemed high. I emailed Emilyinthekitchen and let her know, wondering if she'd need to cook up some unsalted grains to mix in before the dish was served at lunch on Wednesday. </div>
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She stopped into class Wednesday morning, and explained to everyone that when she'd written out the recipe (which came from her brain and not a cookbook), she'd mistakenly written down the amount of salt. She'd been thinking of how much she'd use if she was cooking more grain in a larger volume of water. Cooks make mistakes sometimes.<br />
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"So you'll have to throw it out?" someone asked with concern.<br />
Not to worry, she reassured. Most of the time, cooks can fix their mistakes. As I predicted, the solution lay in adding more grains to the dish.<br />
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While we were in the tech lab, researching continents, Emilyinthekitchen mixed the grains and sauteed vegetables together and got it heated up for lunchtime serving. The dish was a little on the salty side, but definitely tasty.<br />
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The feedback forms that came in were very positive. Some people (especially the younger kids) liked the saltiness of the dish, while others like the dish but suggested less salt next time. A few people really liked the kale prepared this way. In a school where an announcement of kale chips has been met with cheers, that's saying something!</div>
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Wednesday night, I got some wonderful feedback from a colleague. In an email, she wrote that two students, <span style="color: purple; font-family: inherit;">"were so excited to tell me about the barley dish today (which I LOVED by the way!) and so many kids said they really liked it. It's amazing what kids will eat when they are involved with learning about it and preparing it,"</span></div>
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She also said, <span style="color: purple;">"I had a conversation with [a student] who told me she didn't really like it because it was too salty. I told her how much I love salt and she kindly gave me a warning that salt can clog your arteries. I'm not sure that's really true, but the fact that she knew it wasn't healthy and wanted to pass along that health information was priceless."</span></div>
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I thought about all this as I started looking over the amazing pictures Anne took this week.</div>
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These kids are having fun while they're learning. And if you didn't know them, you would have no idea which ones have learning challenges, and which ones are reading well above grade level. Some of my students have ADHD or their families are living in stressful conditions. But the pictures (in today's post and in the past), don't tell those stories. Cooking together has built our class community and leveled the playing field. It has allowed all of my students a chance to learn and have fun together. And that's a story worth telling.</div>
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<br />Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06706316568541077537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2983612817334361452.post-22893097879494373252013-02-14T16:07:00.000-08:002013-02-14T16:07:04.172-08:00Valentine's DayValentine's Day: A chance to show your affection for people by plying them with chocolate. Wonderful and horrifying at the same time. As a chocolate lover, the only thing better is the day <i>after</i> Valentine's Day, when the chocolate all goes on sale. But as a teacher, Valentine's Day often turns into an excuse to encourage kids to overeat sugary treats in the name of celebrating.<br />
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Last year I took a stand and decided our class would <a href="http://thisclasscooks.blogspot.com/2012/02/class-parties.html">observe Valentine's Day by making custom fruit smoothies</a> while watching Cupcakes Wars. I started thinking aloud about this year while driving my children somewhere a couple of weeks ago.<br />
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"Maybe we'll make something not-quite-so-healthy," I mused.<br />
"Let the kids have some fun and eat some sugar," said my sage almost-eleven-year old.<br />
"Seriously!" chimed in the six year old.<br />
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I was seriously considering it. But the glitch is that our school has been trying to run a winter outdoor program on Thursday afternoons, which would eliminate the best chunk of time where we could cook something together. I knew I wouldn't be able to plan anything elaborate in the hopes that we were out of school this afternoon skiing and snowshoeing. (The weather hasn't been cooperating, and on all but one week, the outdoor plans have been canceled.) Then a parent contacted me asking if she could send in a special brownie treat in honor of the day. I decided to have our class celebration during morning snack in case the afternoon program ran. Kids would pass out all their valentines and indulge in brownies someone else made. Party plans complete.<br />
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But the opportunity to sneak in a vegetable experience landed in my lap, so what could I do?<br />
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My family gets a weekly share of vegetables from <a href="http://petesgreens.com/">Pete's Greens</a>. The owner, Pete Johnson, is a forward-thinking farmer who has figured out how to grow green vegetables in northern Vermont year round. Our share this winter has included greens almost every week, but at this time of the season most of it is stored root vegetables or frozen veggies. Yesterday, my husband brought home a bag filled with, among other things, Valentine radishes.<br />
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I stuffed a large one in my school bag and brought it to school as my Valentine's Day treat for the class.<br />
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We cut it open during morning meeting<br />
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and during snack, almost everyone tried a slice alongside their fudgy brownie and fruit from the kitchen. A slice cut in half looked enticingly like a wedge of watermelon!<br />
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The true victory was that no one freaked out about the idea of eating a weird bright pink radish on a day known for roses and candy. It was all just part of the fun.<br />
<br />Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06706316568541077537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2983612817334361452.post-16653309031993007912013-02-11T18:12:00.000-08:002013-02-11T18:12:24.268-08:00Something to strive for...<a href="http://www.education.gov.uk/inthenews/inthenews/a00221479/school-food-plan-cook-curric">and in news out of the UK:</a> The government has accepted recommendations outlined in a School Food Plan, that will make sure every student in the UK will now be learning about food and healthy eating, with healthy cooking as part of the curriculum for all secondary students. <div>
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Can you imagine this happening in the US? It's certainly something to strive for.</div>
Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06706316568541077537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2983612817334361452.post-46788559995298301072013-02-09T07:02:00.000-08:002013-02-09T07:02:26.622-08:00Marvelous Muffins<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Not much to say, but lots to show. The Europe research group baked a gazillion muffins on Tuesday, using wheat, oats, and rye berries, plus other lovely ingredients like shredded apples and honey.</div>
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The whole school smelled spectacular after school and when I went to cover the cooled muffins at 3:45, I was tempted to sample one muffin. I reached deep inside myself, found some self control, and waited like everyone else until lunch on Wednesday.</div>
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One of the student bakers has a mentor and she came to lunch that day and helped serve alongside her mentee. It was nice to include an adult from the community in this adventure!</div>
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My only complaint about this process is that the research groups are baking and serving with other adults supervising them while I am working with the rest of the class. It's fantastic to have this coordinated support, but I feel like I'm missing a lot of the fun!</div>
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Thanks again to parent and photographer extraordinnaire: Anne. Didn't she get some excellent shots?<br />
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<br />Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06706316568541077537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2983612817334361452.post-73084067362151398112013-02-03T10:41:00.000-08:002013-02-03T10:41:01.324-08:00Sharing Our LearningSilly me, I should have posted this days ago. It must have fallen off my radar because the cooking didn't happen in the classroom.<br />
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The World Geography unit is happening in collaboration with a Farm To School grant. Students all picked a continent to research and each week, starting last week, one group is cooking a dish that uses an indigenous grain and represents the cuisine from some part of the continent. The next day, they will share a bit about their dish in our weekly whole school meeting and then serve the dish at lunchtime.<br />
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Last week the South America group began the process. They left class for an hour and a half to work in the kitchen preparing a Peruvian Quinoa and Amaranth Salad. Anne, a talented parent (also generous with her time) came in to document the process. All the pictures in this post are courtesy of her.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A good cook always checks the final product!</td></tr>
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The next day they presented it to the school and served at lunchtime.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">sampling cups are an option to try a little bit</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don't you want to eat at my school? There's an enchilada underneath all that salsa.</td></tr>
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Toward the end of lunchtime, they went around collecting feedback about the dish. Would you eat it again? Definitely, maybe or definitely not?<br />
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Later, in class, they sorted through the feedback, with an eye toward sharing it with the kitchen staff. That work isn't done yet, but I was fascinated listening to them trying to figure out which math skills they needed to apply.<br />
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"We need to find the mean."<br />
"No, we don't."<br />
Finally they ask me what I thought and I suggested turning the responses into fractions.<br />
"Percentages!" one sixth grader exclaimed.<br />
Calculators came out and debates began about how to do this. (Sixth graders will soon be learning how to convert fractions to percentages, but haven't started this yet.)<br />
When it was time to clean up, I had to ask them to stop several times before they did. I just love it when kids get into math like this!<br />
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This coming week: the Europe group makes a multi-grain muffin...Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06706316568541077537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2983612817334361452.post-19493089849013198252013-01-26T07:54:00.000-08:002013-01-26T07:54:36.897-08:00World Grains<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My students are now expert at world grains. And hopefully our "travels" have also given some much needed review of the continents.<br />
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This week we cooked rye berries while reading a short article that hinted that rye was primarily farmed in Europe without actually saying so. A perfect opportunity to practice the reading skill of inferring!<br />
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I cracked up when kids described the cooked rye as looking like maggots. One student took a leap of faith, tried the cooked berries, and then exclaimed, "It tastes like insects crawling around in my mouth!" Needless to say, he did not finish his serving! Personally, I thought that they tasted like a more savory version of wheat berries, but I like that pop-and-smush texture under my teeth.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exploring an uncooked grain</td></tr>
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We also made polenta out of cornmeal, which made me feel Fagan-like again when serving the thin gruel. After a short discussion I convinced most everyone that people generally don't dry corn kernels and then cook the whole kernel after it's been dried, so it was okay for us to use cornmeal as a starting point.<br />
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This week's highlight, for me at least, was cooking t'eff, a tiny brown African grain. When kids saw the cooked product, many exclaimed, "It looks like brown amaranth!" I love that their horizons' have expanded so much that they are using a somewhat obscure grain like amaranth as a reference point for the newest weird grain.<br />
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T'eff was very popular with some but less appreciated overall. Considering its price and how difficult it is to access, it is also the least likely grain to eat on a regular basis. (I ordered a pound of it from an Amazon seller for a whopping $10.85, whereas every other grain was available locally.)<br />
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This week I've also been modeling the research process with a familiar continent: North America. Next week everyone will start researching a continent of choice, learning about its geography, climate, native peoples, immigrants, and staple foods. We'll put all our learning together on a website, which will be a new technological accomplishment for me.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Class display with a small bag of a representative grain connected to each continent, expanded below</td></tr>
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<br />Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06706316568541077537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2983612817334361452.post-87487032457995415802013-01-19T10:11:00.000-08:002013-01-19T10:11:12.167-08:00Back in the Saddle<br />
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Have you wondered what's been going on in my classroom? Until this past week, we took a short break from cooking to get back into the school routine after vacation and to give us time to do non-food focussed science experiments.<br />
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But I was thinking about cooking, making plans...<br />
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Our winter social studies unit is World Geography and we are using food, specifically grains, as an entry point to the topic. This past week I started off with a pre-test to make sure everyone knew their continents. Ruh-roh! Most kids clearly needed a refresher, so my plans to introduce one grain for every continent was a perfect activity on multiple levels.<br />
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We started with a Match The Grains activity that I didn't invent, but did adapt to the grains that we've identified as being indigenous to each continent. Did I say "we"? That would mean me, Emilyinthekitchen, and Kristen, an employee of the district food cooperative whose focus is on food education. We have grant funds supporting this unit and spent half a day in December <i>cooking up plans </i>for this unit.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgMLAlUdtHp5csZukT1RKvJ7jfwjUPMepCGzsGj9q-HAlKBYIqC78CFljwGPzzVvc63URgNGFMaRpt6LG0EYVUYaclgY7Tgs5SI_PJMKID1l5_bPF8dHJs7kBQEvANBftrOtDwLiz5B04/s1600/IMG_1680.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgMLAlUdtHp5csZukT1RKvJ7jfwjUPMepCGzsGj9q-HAlKBYIqC78CFljwGPzzVvc63URgNGFMaRpt6LG0EYVUYaclgY7Tgs5SI_PJMKID1l5_bPF8dHJs7kBQEvANBftrOtDwLiz5B04/s320/IMG_1680.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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The Match The Grain activity got kids looking at ziplog bags full of nine different grains, and then trying to figure out which typed description went with each baggie and what the name of the grain was. We had regular stuff, like brown rice, barley and quinoa (because barley and quinoa is "regular stuff" in our amazing hot lunch program). But we also had weirder stuff like rye berries, amaranth, and millet. Kids got into the exploration and it felt like a great kick off to the unit.<br />
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For the next three days we cooked up one grain per day and ate it at snack. At the same time, kids examined the uncooked grain up close and personal (meaning they got to touch and sniff it) and recorded the grain, the continent of origin and labelled the continent on a map. I've posted this information on the bulletin board as well.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0YnOKpMMvwAN-Aa3Yjd5_G0ibpkXBEp-xTMneINSe8VpCeemCL8jDzr7FlF5251saqbgCpsaY25LpoPcZvvi3aPcDrWzW9PcIGvPpB03np70kUppwQ8nMxkNiQX-fc-pbZ4y8UqVygdk/s1600/IMG_1693.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0YnOKpMMvwAN-Aa3Yjd5_G0ibpkXBEp-xTMneINSe8VpCeemCL8jDzr7FlF5251saqbgCpsaY25LpoPcZvvi3aPcDrWzW9PcIGvPpB03np70kUppwQ8nMxkNiQX-fc-pbZ4y8UqVygdk/s320/IMG_1693.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cuplets of amaranth, ready to be poked and prodded</td></tr>
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On their personal charts kids are also writing down descriptors for each grain before and during cooking, as well as descriptors from eating it. Almost everyone's tried every grain, most kids liked them all, and many kids wanted seconds! Each grain has been cooked in salted water and served with a bit of butter, but we've also talked about how else they'd like to season each grain or what they'd recommend serving it with. They are all budding chefs...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaCwETpyJ4IDvvEPLKqap7AIrh8V0SQniMFaoqSijYTnGOhIw5mDLu6DITyXN0IvC3PwovNBrdzI7WCJkDsl3YmDeQY1Lh5ltBs4JpEezfZsHnoUcWGnrrpKHtqM-VX99rnufRX7hJcZA/s1600/IMG_1694.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaCwETpyJ4IDvvEPLKqap7AIrh8V0SQniMFaoqSijYTnGOhIw5mDLu6DITyXN0IvC3PwovNBrdzI7WCJkDsl3YmDeQY1Lh5ltBs4JpEezfZsHnoUcWGnrrpKHtqM-VX99rnufRX7hJcZA/s320/IMG_1694.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amaranth: gritty but tasty</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkE2K88qQqRiU3QNSOmw8UGsH26TCWn3GqpbnJR-afS8sp4ZFKc31rE-Dq6zoQ-8f_tPujZa4ORYSQo_sf7zpuQmQdXlvmmYfnvJ_JhyphenhyphenGNP25yKGOu-bNuK2aTnxwKJhJd9PuHIvog62g/s1600/IMG_1696.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkE2K88qQqRiU3QNSOmw8UGsH26TCWn3GqpbnJR-afS8sp4ZFKc31rE-Dq6zoQ-8f_tPujZa4ORYSQo_sf7zpuQmQdXlvmmYfnvJ_JhyphenhyphenGNP25yKGOu-bNuK2aTnxwKJhJd9PuHIvog62g/s320/IMG_1696.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As I served kids globs of barley on Thursday at snack, I heard an imaginary voice in my ear say, <br />"Please miss, can I have some more?"</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5wOwPXeJ90WZS1IV8w5pQNI8LNpfFP_s7Od3LFpZHK6dZvYsNDuztBnDc9aaMSIDsCWxTzp2vHy4mhjfnazu8-PS0jIwu8W7N9S8fSnW0wPzybv-hswwAyCOMRJ-yS1yiZt_PUtQ23cw/s1600/IMG_1697.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5wOwPXeJ90WZS1IV8w5pQNI8LNpfFP_s7Od3LFpZHK6dZvYsNDuztBnDc9aaMSIDsCWxTzp2vHy4mhjfnazu8-PS0jIwu8W7N9S8fSnW0wPzybv-hswwAyCOMRJ-yS1yiZt_PUtQ23cw/s320/IMG_1697.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Of course, not everything's gone perfectly. For instance:<br />
- My children have been sick and I had to keep adapting plans each day as Plan A became Plan B became Plan C. There's only so much you can ask a substitute to do...<br />
- I've been less than scientific about how much salt and butter has been dumped into the pot each day, so it's possible that barley got rave reviews because of the supporting role butter played.<br />
- The display board is serving its purpose, but looks a little bit like a third grader put it together, no disrespected to third graders intended. This is because of staffing changes I no longer have the support of the fabulous Barb. This was the first bulletin board display I put together myself in over a decade, and it showed.<br />
<br />
None of this is critically important, though. Kids are eating new grains, making connections with the continents, and hopefully getting interested in all that is to come. We'll finish the grain tour de continents at the beginning of next week and move on to the next phase of the unit.<br />
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I'll leave you with an opportunity to test your own grain knowledge. Do you know which grain originated on which continent? (For the purposed of this unit, originated can also mean cultivated, even if it originally grew wild elsewhere. Because if you look far enough back, almost everything came from Asia.)<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
amaranth quinoa</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
corn rye</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
millet rice</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
oats teff</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
wheat barley</div>
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Have fun!</div>
Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06706316568541077537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2983612817334361452.post-41522867239533408052012-12-22T13:42:00.000-08:002012-12-22T13:42:38.580-08:00A Worldly Celebration<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSQeAAp6pePzKUadqgfxrd5LW9jyNZj6R0iSgBmaM7qGcwrey99lYOAG3iozK64whfDzlKWIzdOrlwWoFUsIQAfdjggIYfXPzMTyUlSVanRdGJPJIk84PZOx3Tmw3N1v0UXufLOLHR0kA/s1600/IMG_1649.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSQeAAp6pePzKUadqgfxrd5LW9jyNZj6R0iSgBmaM7qGcwrey99lYOAG3iozK64whfDzlKWIzdOrlwWoFUsIQAfdjggIYfXPzMTyUlSVanRdGJPJIk84PZOx3Tmw3N1v0UXufLOLHR0kA/s320/IMG_1649.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I was panicked when the phone rang at ten of six yesterday morning. A school cancellation would have been disastrous. I had about $40 worth of groceries waiting to be cooked and eaten as a holiday celebration in my class. Luckily, the call was for my husband and children in a neighboring district. I tiptoed out of the house, relieved that I could wrap up the week as planned and that I wouldn't have to make up this day in June.</div>
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We spent an hour and a half in the morning cooking an internationally themed meal. We haven't quite finished the human body systems unit yet, but in mid-January we'll turn our focus to world geography.<br />
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Kids selected which recipe they wanted to prepare and worked with three fantastic parent volunteers, preparing egg roll, a taco pie, and tiramisu. They also peeled potatoes which I dunked in a bowl of water until it was time to peel and shred them for latkes. Music played, everything went smoothly -- we even stayed on top of the dishes during the lag times in each recipe's preparation!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPaZePm1lGM0R6u7IOt0EtgUgwZVe5bQBh0S873hk52-ZwYpxFXI_XKO08GFf5Ax47z3JR0XmJZ29klao4DcgsHhl71E2iFBflNMjRdBw58SwTolo6eePVarhMRVta9HPbh0OzyYCcXDM/s1600/IMG_1636.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPaZePm1lGM0R6u7IOt0EtgUgwZVe5bQBh0S873hk52-ZwYpxFXI_XKO08GFf5Ax47z3JR0XmJZ29klao4DcgsHhl71E2iFBflNMjRdBw58SwTolo6eePVarhMRVta9HPbh0OzyYCcXDM/s320/IMG_1636.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Now this is how you mash beans!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUa0NKD9GWPqderHKi9P8IWcdCKye0kIRpX0nXsPrlkrNKpxchdctjB9g3_4Oge1F378byENOUKT2kC5CakxAcalLAyVz4KInR2CLW8eupRNLdGZpUnRyPaV3nTwIn-tNA1z1FNSRWsZo/s1600/IMG_1634.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUa0NKD9GWPqderHKi9P8IWcdCKye0kIRpX0nXsPrlkrNKpxchdctjB9g3_4Oge1F378byENOUKT2kC5CakxAcalLAyVz4KInR2CLW8eupRNLdGZpUnRyPaV3nTwIn-tNA1z1FNSRWsZo/s320/IMG_1634.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shredding cabbage (above) and rolling egg roll (several pictures below).</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWKxy6IE7MkH1pzPfgLA6dwZ-a_sYE30EoW4LlCeuyCrJpwKq5H2pz7q2nrNoJ9dF1xd6JmJHuZA0or1423dqRKIUxRV4BinVNxjsoAlmthmXS_c6S3AKvdOU0UfQ9Qb1Yjf13DUvXqKI/s1600/IMG_1638.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWKxy6IE7MkH1pzPfgLA6dwZ-a_sYE30EoW4LlCeuyCrJpwKq5H2pz7q2nrNoJ9dF1xd6JmJHuZA0or1423dqRKIUxRV4BinVNxjsoAlmthmXS_c6S3AKvdOU0UfQ9Qb1Yjf13DUvXqKI/s320/IMG_1638.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ9-uXvihQWbexPEX1tLqJSmZebXsrxQk9CucTGERLSpNiClsH6Py6bu3HTLDSWIL1WUoCpEH0MPRgcvW6enrVj42u8Nxs9brPZCDke89zndnEaY4x45-e0SijmPENMIsTJSGLd762h4E/s1600/IMG_1639.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ9-uXvihQWbexPEX1tLqJSmZebXsrxQk9CucTGERLSpNiClsH6Py6bu3HTLDSWIL1WUoCpEH0MPRgcvW6enrVj42u8Nxs9brPZCDke89zndnEaY4x45-e0SijmPENMIsTJSGLd762h4E/s320/IMG_1639.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Re9uREvGwOO9eUqxJst2pOQtnfYaTW4YrkXknk3eE3HXcvrYojTHjl8ud_UxUxHxUHONS1gOz3kikaWAuNaCxjjKA0WRR0B3ruxu-dbGm3l24Hx1dNWxIcTgQegFeR1rDPNhLk3ase4/s1600/IMG_1641.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Re9uREvGwOO9eUqxJst2pOQtnfYaTW4YrkXknk3eE3HXcvrYojTHjl8ud_UxUxHxUHONS1gOz3kikaWAuNaCxjjKA0WRR0B3ruxu-dbGm3l24Hx1dNWxIcTgQegFeR1rDPNhLk3ase4/s320/IMG_1641.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Tiramisu means...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR5Qrm4SqZ9dSvrXyuZu4voHR7CiqUzgCLpi-fYIaJBYRoAwHMGpbK0xHJQ71F-0R-jAIbr0weW_NAHcAGVqzqSJLp4QCBnkQ9d3V1bgk7-qo5Oh8NtZpCSCzzsLGIJ91BQlr3h4CVcCM/s1600/IMG_1635.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR5Qrm4SqZ9dSvrXyuZu4voHR7CiqUzgCLpi-fYIaJBYRoAwHMGpbK0xHJQ71F-0R-jAIbr0weW_NAHcAGVqzqSJLp4QCBnkQ9d3V1bgk7-qo5Oh8NtZpCSCzzsLGIJ91BQlr3h4CVcCM/s320/IMG_1635.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">separating eggs</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs8RWk7PoLxcCYQ4psRxOfdUGLCJ88j5pWbaduvK9IU60QCuCjYG8cW7X4w7B7pLCmfKXqlAepKkkO_defYm9tI8QEz-0RKNeQo_OUJ_o4anF6hXIN9CyG3NH6aJPCzkxfh5RfV4XFMdg/s1600/IMG_1637.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs8RWk7PoLxcCYQ4psRxOfdUGLCJ88j5pWbaduvK9IU60QCuCjYG8cW7X4w7B7pLCmfKXqlAepKkkO_defYm9tI8QEz-0RKNeQo_OUJ_o4anF6hXIN9CyG3NH6aJPCzkxfh5RfV4XFMdg/s320/IMG_1637.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">cooking a (zabalone) custard</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqIA6rv9XFFr4XsRkCOwrqimE4nztzG8LOf4vXPOlSv7WWUS5PXwd_o_jWw-P9fg6ByhCkrJxaSUO9Yl95a9QnN2yuFr_CgASR6IKPFYpyuDaz3-aU_lAgAZeviBcjfA3X1PQeZdjANPo/s1600/IMG_1644.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqIA6rv9XFFr4XsRkCOwrqimE4nztzG8LOf4vXPOlSv7WWUS5PXwd_o_jWw-P9fg6ByhCkrJxaSUO9Yl95a9QnN2yuFr_CgASR6IKPFYpyuDaz3-aU_lAgAZeviBcjfA3X1PQeZdjANPo/s320/IMG_1644.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">layering coffee-soaked ladyfingers</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbrnreYs8m7oC0VjYQ9Iah70niVCQtTX59au99eIPZr94llaDAhvzebani6V-mLIPUM672k1HfdP29Rdz0TpEZW6SPIODmMKuUO7nsyCVxiNo7f3sjG0u8ZAJfv1DPtWtYZ-hgD8aJsAY/s1600/IMG_1642.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbrnreYs8m7oC0VjYQ9Iah70niVCQtTX59au99eIPZr94llaDAhvzebani6V-mLIPUM672k1HfdP29Rdz0TpEZW6SPIODmMKuUO7nsyCVxiNo7f3sjG0u8ZAJfv1DPtWtYZ-hgD8aJsAY/s320/IMG_1642.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and whipping cream the old fashioned way.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWTCt1QOVEIhBXuHiBRwh-Xb2TGY5mXMPWRgw39HYuYF6RCDXUinyu4EuALJY31UlETVg_vdVwR1e9YhXjNZGmt5zEp1aTLs558R5z6sz5RitZW5786ussFxakWFUT1lIFSYyMZIIMw64/s1600/IMG_1647.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWTCt1QOVEIhBXuHiBRwh-Xb2TGY5mXMPWRgw39HYuYF6RCDXUinyu4EuALJY31UlETVg_vdVwR1e9YhXjNZGmt5zEp1aTLs558R5z6sz5RitZW5786ussFxakWFUT1lIFSYyMZIIMw64/s320/IMG_1647.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ta dah!</td></tr>
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After lunch, the kids settled in watching Cupcake Wars while volunteers met me in the back of the room to shred the potatoes. I pan-fried the egg roll and served the first round hot, during a break in the show. A couple of girls weren't that interested in the show and ended up measuring and pouring juice and bubbly water for spritzers, using up juice from last week.<br />
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Then we ate!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It couldn't be done without parent volunteers!</td></tr>
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The egg rolls were polished off, and most everyone enjoyed the latkes and the taco pie. <i>Note to self: the taco pie would be an excellent pot luck dish. </i>One student was okay with the latkes, but had several enthusiastic helpings of the homemade applesauce from my freezer.The grand finale (for me at least) was the tiramisu. I'd never made it before so it has always seemed like a miraculous item that exists only in fancy restaurants. Kids enjoyed it, although some didn't like the intense coffee flavor. The lady fingers were a bit soggy with coffee (I'm not sure how quickly they were dipped...), but the custard and whipped cream were fantastic! I ate two servings and skipped dinner.<br />
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Everyone washed their dishes, we cleaned up the room, and voila! Happy New Years were exchanged and the room was empty.<br />
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Happy New Year to all!Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06706316568541077537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2983612817334361452.post-88709517609852754772012-12-15T16:16:00.000-08:002012-12-15T16:16:33.218-08:00A Typical Friday Afternoon<div>
Although I'm posting about our science/food lesson from Friday, I'm not going to begin to pretend that whatever happened, however it went, matters in the grandest of all schemes. Hopefully it was fun, hopefully kids learned something. And if it wasn't, and they didn't -- at least they all safely left the classroom at 3PM the same as on any other day. </div>
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I can't even begin to write about a very different Friday afternoon in a school in Connecticut. There aren't words.</div>
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Instead I'm plugging away, recording the lesson du jour. </div>
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Feeling very fortunate. And very sad.</div>
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Often a food lesson will begin with us reading as a class about an ingredient we're about to cook with. Friday I went to the math place instead. I gave kids a worksheet that had some basic info:</div>
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<li>A 12 oz. can of soda has about 150 calories.</li>
<li>A 16 oz. bottle of soda has about 250 calories.</li>
<li>If you take in 3,500 extra calories beyond what your body needs, you gain a pound.</li>
<li>If you take in 3,500 extra calories less than what your body needs, you lose a pound. </li>
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I answered a few questions and had kids do the math. Answers at the bottom of the post, in case you're inclined to do the math yourself.</div>
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How many calories do you take in over the course of a month if you drink a can of soda a day?</div>
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How many pounds does that equate to?</div>
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How many calories do you take in over the course of a year if you drink a can of soda a day?</div>
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How many pounds does that equate to?</div>
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Find the same answers if you drink a bottle of soda every day.</div>
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Kids toiled willingly over the multiplication and division. (I let fifth graders use calculators on the long division, which they will master in January.) I wish I had helped them set up the equations before starting, because some of them were disappointingly not so clear on which numbers and operations to use. Even though word problems are a part of our math program, I think it threw them for a loop to encounter math outside of that chunk of the day. Which makes me think that maybe I should do things like this more often...</div>
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We shared results and discussed the final question on the worksheet I'd given them: </div>
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<i>Why do you think it
could be a problem if too many of your calories each day are from
sodas instead of from other foods/drinks?</i></div>
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While some of them commented that they hadn't known about the caloric content of soda, most quickly recognized that drinking sugary beverages could cause them to gain weight, putting a strain on their hearts. Some also mentioned they might not eat as many healthy foods if they filled up on sodas. I introduced the term "empty calorie." I also emphasized that their bodies are growing and changing and that they are expected to gain weight as they grow. The purpose for calling attention to the calories in soda is to raise awareness of what they may be putting into their bodies and to set them up with some healthier habits now, habits that will serve them well throughout their lives.</div>
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On the back of their worksheet were two recipes for juice spritzers, both out of<a href="http://why%20do%20you%20think%20it%20could%20be%20a%20problem%20if%20too%20many%20of%20your%20calories%20each%20day%20are%20from%20sodas%20instead%20of%20from%20other%20foods/drinks?"> ChopChop magazine.</a> One was 3/4 c. bubbly water mixed with 1/4 cup of juice, a 30 calorie drink. The other was a full cup of bubbly water mixed with a splash of lemon juice and half a teaspoon of maple syrup (10 calories). The original recipe called for honey, but I substituted honey because a) all of my honey at home is crystallized and I was too lazy to deal with it Thursday night, and b) both honey and maple syrup are expensive to buy, buy many of my students have syrup in their homes because they have family members who produce it each spring.</div>
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Kids had a fun time choosing from three flavors of bubbly water, orange juice, cranberry juice. Some added lemon juice to the first recipe. Some sampled the bubbly water plain and liked it. Almost everyone had an idea for how to play with the recipes at home. I reminded them that if they increased the juice content, the calories would go up, but still be lower than the average soda. </div>
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Are sodas okay once in a while? Sure. Just like french fries. But as an everyday habit, it's worth thinking twice.</div>
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We cleaned up the room and I sent them out the door, not yet aware of how lucky we were to have had a typical Friday afternoon together.</div>
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<b><i> Answer Key</i></b></div>
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<b>one 12 oz. can of soda per day one 16 oz. bottle of soda per day</b></div>
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4,500 calories per month 7500 calories per month</div>
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1.3 pounds per month 2.1 pounds per month
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54,000 calories per year 90,000 calories per year<br />
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15.4 pounds per year 25.7 pounds per year</div>
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Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06706316568541077537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2983612817334361452.post-52390736542119128262012-12-08T13:05:00.001-08:002012-12-08T18:04:02.960-08:00Potatoes: To Fry or Not To Fry<b>Definition of irony:</b><br />
Yesterday I made oven baked french fries with my class. Because it's healthier that way.<br />
In a couple of hours I'm going to shred up a bunch of potatoes, fry them in oil, and feed them to my family.<br />
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<b>Yesterday:</b><br />
We've been learning about the cardiovascular system and researching how to keep it healthy. This week (and next week's) cooking projects have been designed with the intention of raising awareness about some of the less healthy habits many of them may have. And of course, providing alternatives.<br />
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Friday afternoon we read a mildly revised version of <a href="http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/healthy-eating/food-myths-debunked-fried-foods-are-too-fatty-and-unhealthy.html#b">this article</a> about fried foods and oils in our diets. We've been working on strategies for note taking when reading non-fiction text, so this was a perfect opportunity to put those skills into practice.<br />
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Next we got to working halving potatoes and cutting them into wedges. Emilyinthekitchen helped amp up our project by getting us sweet potatoes, parsnips and a couple of turnips in addition to the potatoes.<br />
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One of the turnips had a gnarly, rotten cavity in the center of it. This, of course, simultaneously sickened and fascinated one of the fifth grade boys. I sent him down to show Emily, thinking it was headed straight for the compost. Of course not! She made them wait while she used her wicked knife skills to cull the decent bits from the turnip and sent the sticks back, ready to be added to the rest of the pile.</div>
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As kids finished chopping, one student went around collecting the veggies and a few others worked with Su to coat them in oil, spread them on two pans, and sprinkle them with salt.</div>
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We sat down to prepare for our planned reading lesson. But first, I snuck in a little math! We estimated that Su used about half a cup of canola oil for all the potatoes and their veggie friends. This sounds like an obscene amount of oil, but upon further investigation, it's not too bad. Half a cup of oil is eight tablespoons. A tablespoon of canola is 14 grams of fat. That means our entire recipe used 112 grams of fat. Using our mad estimation skills, we determined this is just under 5 grams of fat per serving. Considering we had just read that a single potato, cut up and deep fried, has 34 grams of fat, this is a significant improvement. We also had read about types of fats, and that deep fried potato was probably fried in a hydrogenated fat -- way less healthy than canola.</div>
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While we did our reading lesson, Su dealt with the oven end of things, and soon she was back in the room with a bowl full of oven baked veggies and the lovely, oily aroma that accompanied them. I'm sorry I didn't snap any pictures of us eating, but I am not kidding you when I say that they were polished off in under three minutes. Even the student who couldn't get over the fact that there wouldn't be ketchup managed to enjoy himself.</div>
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<b>Today:</b></div>
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Hannukah starts in a couple of hours. I'll be making latkes (fried potato pancakes) for my family to enjoy for dinner. This is a food we eat a handful of times a year. Ironic? Yes. But not entirely. Part of what we discussed yesterday is that eating french fries or other fried foods is okay once in a while. On a regular basis, not so much. Today is our once in a while. My hope is that our project yesterday has provided my students with the realization that on the days it's not once in a while, a yummy alternative is roasting some potatoes instead.</div>
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Happy Hannukah!<br />
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<br />Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06706316568541077537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2983612817334361452.post-24413141646485268862012-11-30T17:01:00.001-08:002012-11-30T17:01:13.860-08:00A different angle on eating<i>I was at a fantastic conference today with dozens of Vermont educators, hearing author Ralph Fletcher speak. I did not leave a cooking lesson in my sub plans! Here's a different angle: my thoughts about mealtime.</i><br />
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Every night when we sit down to eat dinner, my family has a special routine, one my son brought home from preschool seven years ago. At snack time, he and his three- and four-year old friends would hold hands and take a deep breath in and out. Together, they'd chorus, "Thanks for the food." Then they'd munch cracker crumbs all over the large oval wooden table occasionally knocking over paper cups of juice.<br />
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My son was impressed with this routine and we quickly adapted it for home use. We do the same hand-holding and deep breath, but our standard line is, "Thanks for the food and the family." Sometimes we say things like, "Thanks for the food and the crazy kids," or "Thanks for the steak and the family" (if dinner is something special like steak). Regardless of adaptations, we have developed a family routine of pausing for a minute before we eat. Without religious overtones, we sanctify our meal.<br />
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Over time we've included friends and family in this routine when they've joined us for dinner. Often when we visit relatives, we bring the tradition with us.<br />
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Some nights the kids have pushed every limit in the minutes leading up to dinner time and I'm ready to strangle one or both of them. Some nights I'm annoyed at my husband in that unavoidable way annoyance overwhelms you at the end of a long day. No matter what my mood when I sit down at the table, I use that moment of holding hands and taking a breath to remind myself of how much I have, how much I love the people sitting around the table with me.<br />
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It may seem like this post is a week late, that this is a topic better suited to the days leading up the Thanksgiving. Instead, let's call it a coincidence that Thanksgiving was last week. Our routine is one for all seasons of the year. It reminds us every day -- not just on Thanksgiving -- to appreciate all that we have.Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06706316568541077537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2983612817334361452.post-32167143770724264222012-11-18T07:04:00.004-08:002012-11-18T07:22:58.029-08:00Keeping It SimpleInspired by last week's successful non-cooking food exploration, I decided to keep it simple for another week.<br />
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We are now studying the respiratory system and my extensive research (I Googled "respiratory system healthy foods") told me that hot liquids are the best way to clear mucus out of respiratory passages. This can prevent or reduce symptoms of respiratory ailments.<br />
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Why not host a tea tasting in my classroom?<br />
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I started water boiling on the two-burner stove more than an hour in advance, knowing the huge kettles I'd filled would take some time to heat up. We started the lesson by reading about how tea could positively impact our respiratory system. Ginger tea in particular is recommended because ginger has anti-inflammatory properties. I also showed them the lovely photos of tea being grown and picked in India and China at <a href="http://steamykitchen.com/15329-art-of-tea-tasting.html">this website</a>. We read the information at that site about different varieties of tea, most of which I'd purchased for sampling. The article recommended smelling the tea before tasting, and slurping to cool off the tea as it enters the mouth, then holding it on the tongue to "cover the palette." Fun stuff! I'd also copied a flavor wheel from the site and made up a small table for each student to record adjectives to describe what they tasted.<br />
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Each table got a bowl with an assortment of teas: black, green, oolong and a white ginger pear. I also brought the remains of a box of straight up ginger tea from home, but I only had three teabags left and it's kind of strong, so I saved that out for later.<br />
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Kids paired up to brew a cup of tea together. After sniffing it as it steeped, they poured half into a second cup and started the tasting.<br />
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Su and I stood at the ready, prepared to give kids more water as they finished one cup and were ready to brew another. To my surprise, the pace in the room slowed. I was amazed to see kids sitting calmly, sniffing, tasting, comparing notes. One sixth grader smiled at me with his hands wrapped around his warm cup, and said, "I'm just sipping my tea."<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This series of photos should be entitled, "Kids with cups for noses."<br />
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Two students decided that one tea tasted like dirt and peppermint. I told them that foodies would use the term "earthy" instead of "dirt." One of the two shook her head and said firmly, "I'll call it dirt."<br />
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Over the course of half an hour, most kids brewed and tasted four kinds of tea and many were interested in trying the ginger tea, too. Only one student opted not to try any tea, but he did do some sniffing! Then I recruited him to be my photographer for the afternoon. (He's responsible for that great shot of amber tea pouring from one cup to the next.) Before we cleaned up, almost everyone's hands were up, wanting to share the adjectives that best described what the tea tasted like to them. The flavor wheel inspired adjectives including: hay, grassy, cedar, oak, honey, and beechnuts. On their own kids came up with: smoke, super amazing good, ewww, and even canned cat food!<br />
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I collected all the cups, planning to take them to the kitchen to run through the Hobart after school. There are eight kinds of the plague going around, so I decided that washing them in our sink wouldn't be sufficient. I'd also noticed my throat was hoarse after a full week working with my large group. "I'm ready for a cup of tea," I thought to myself.<br />
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<i>Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I hope your holiday is filled with healthy, delicious foods, shared with those you love.</i><br />
<br />Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06706316568541077537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2983612817334361452.post-13359764537024482582012-11-10T17:22:00.002-08:002012-11-10T17:22:28.540-08:00Sardines, plus the digressionary tale of a kitchen snafuLessons involving food don't always need to be elaborate. Friday's lesson stands as evidence.<div>
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This does not mean, however, that kids wouldn't have been thrilled to witness the cooking disaster that took place on my stove about an hour ago. It's so good that I'm going to digress and share it here:</div>
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I was finishing off a batch of a lovely chicken and root vegetable stew that is both enjoyed by all members of my family and brilliant in that it uses up all the weird root vegetables accumulating in the fridge from our winter CSA. I make it about once a month to clear out all the rutabaga and turnips. The cooked chicken and veggies had been removed from the pot, leaving only the seasoned stock. I added two tablespoons of cornstarch to some light cream and dumped it into the stock to thicken it. To my surprise, the liquid on the stove foamed in a way that I'd never seen before. Baffled, I looked across the counter and realized I'd mistakenly grabbed the box of baking soda out of the cabinet instead of the cornstarch. </div>
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The happy ending of this mix up is that other than making the sauce foamy, the baking soda didn't ruin the stew. Even if it had, the veggies and chicken were safely out of harms way in a bowl on the countertop. And to my amusement, when I Googled "accidentally used baking soda instead of cornstarch", I only had to type in the first four words before the rest of the phrase popped up. Apparently I'm not the only frazzled cook out there...</div>
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While I'm sure that, given the addition of twenty-two fifth and sixth graders, I could have turned this multi-ingredient bonanza into <a href="http://thisclasscooks.blogspot.com/2012/01/theres-nothing-like-baking-soda-volcano.html">some sort of chemistry lesson</a>, it's just as easy to teach kids about food with a single ingredient.</div>
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Let's get back to Friday afternoon.</div>
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We've been studying the nervous system for the past two weeks, and one of the unit's essential questions is "How can I keep my body systems healthy?" My intention is to introduce foods and recipes that can have a positive impact on the system under study. Foods rich in omega 3s are good for brain development and health, and these include many fatty fishes, nuts, and eggs. My classroom is nut free and most kids have eggs in their diets. Many families in this community hunt and fish, yet I was correct in assuming that most kids had not ever eaten sardines.</div>
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My dad has always been a big sardine eater, but they only became a regular part of my diet a couple years ago when I was trying to reduce my cholesterol without going on medication. I started eating sardines on toast on the nights we made grilled cheese for the kids. (Those omega 3s are also good for lowering cholesterol.) Sardines are not only high in omega 3s, but also low in mercury and other contaminants since they are so low on the food chain. They are also affordable and accessible, making them a good food for anyone to know about.</div>
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We started off by reading a greatly condensed version of <a href="http://www.livestrong.com/article/368640-how-do-sardines-help-with-our-health/">this article</a>. Then I told kids that each pair of kids would get a single sardine to split in half. (A student who fishes a lot informed me the proper term would be 'fillet.') There was a lot of interest in removing the spine! Then kids tasted a bit, with varied reactions. As this investigation was going on, Su was getting plates of crackers, bread, butter and cream cheese ready for each table.</div>
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Kids started experimenting with various combinations, and most pairs asked for a second sardine to split up and eat as well. The air smelled fishy, but there was almost no wasted food in the trash can. </div>
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I collected dirty dishes and silverware in a bin, having decided that these dishes deserved a run through the dishwasher in the kitchen. Score one point for easy clean up! Then we shared reactions. Almost everyone had tried the sardines and almost everyone wanted to talk about what they thought about the little fishies. I informed kids where you can find sardines and how much they cost. I also mentioned that you can find them packaged in sauces. My dad likes the mustard sauce in particular. When I mentioned this, some people went, "Ooooh" in a I'm-not-sure-that's-a-good-idea sort of way, but at least one boy's face lit up and he said, "I wanna try those!"</div>
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When I first started cooking with my class just over a year ago, my goal was to help students learn more about how what they eat can be part of a healthy lifestyle. What we've cooked has almost always been integrated into the science and social studies curriculum. Along the way, it's also become my mission to expose them to new foods they didn't already know about. Yesterday, without any measuring, mixing, or heating, I accomplished all three goals. And all we had to do was open a couple of cans.</div>
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Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06706316568541077537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2983612817334361452.post-19105423932694004432012-10-27T17:33:00.001-07:002012-10-27T17:33:21.299-07:00Two Words That Go Great TogetherHave you ever tried to simplify something and then realized that your actions have only complicated the situation? Friday was a perfect example of that. But the day ended so well that I let it go...<br />
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We're starting to study a handful of human body systems but I started the unit with a couple of days of lessons about the concept of systems in general. Input, process, output. If one step in the process doesn't happen right, then things might go kerflooey. <i>Cue foreshadowing. </i>You get the idea.<br />
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So I thought it would be cool to make a recipe assembly-line style so kids could experience being part of the process of a working system. The raw food would be the input and the finished dish would be the output.<br />
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I went searching online and found <a href="http://www.howsweeteats.com/2011/03/crispy-parmesan-asparagus-sticks/">a recipe that I will definitely make next spring</a>. But since it featured asparagus, it didn't exactly feel like an October kind of project. I asked Emilyinthekitchen and she said she thought the same breading and baking process would work well with broccoli and cauliflower, almost reminiscent of tempura but without the deliciously unhealthy deep frying.<br />
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Friday afternoon I was all ready. Materials were all set out; directions were written for each stage of the recipe. One set of kids would prep the veggies, another group would learn how to separate eggs with Su, and the last group would mix up the parmesan breading. My plan was to divide the class into four groups of five, ask each group to decide who was going to do which job (some jobs would have to be shared within a group because of numbers), then have them break off from each other to do the prep work. Groups would reconvene with their prepped ingredients and together do the "assembly", following designated roles depending on if they were veggie preppers, egg separators, or breading mixers.<br />
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This was way to complicated for most of the kids to grasp on Friday afternoon. Or, possibly, I didn't explain things clearly enough.<br />
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No sweat. I stopped and repeated directions a couple more times than I would have liked to, and then the process started to work...<br />
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Twelve choppers chopping...</div>
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Eleven separators separating</div>
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Su took two loaded pans of vegetables down to the kitchen to bake and I worried we'd made too much. <br />
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I've noticed a pattern that kids love to handle the food, but then are less interested in actually eating it. We spent a few minutes talking as a whole group about what it was like being part of a process, but many kids look as glazed over as I was feeling. Also, there was a pile of dishes but no clear picture of who was responsible for which dishes since kids had been moving around according to my cockamamie directions. Let's call this a failing in the system design! I called for half an hour of silent reading, and did the dishes myself.<br />
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Su returned with two bowls of fragrant veggies and we packed up for the end of the day. I set out plates of broccoli and cauliflower and almost every kid sampled some. Even one student who is very reticent about trying new foods decided to try it, then reported to me that he didn't like it. "That's great that you tried something new!" I gushed.<br />
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Here's the crazy part: It was 2:50 on a sunny Friday, and most of my twenty students were sitting around plates of broccoli munching it and talking about how good it was as if we were surrounding a bowl of popcorn. I made a comment to that effect, and one of my sixth grade boys said without a hint of irony in his voice, "Two words that go great together: broccoli and Friday."<br />
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<i>Cue happy ending.</i>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06706316568541077537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2983612817334361452.post-9232490273696810552012-10-21T17:18:00.001-07:002012-10-21T17:18:23.235-07:00A Week OffLast year I challenged myself to cook at least once a week with my class. Which I did, almost every week. Most of the time it was good that I'd set that goal for myself, especially in the fall; it established cooking as a regular part of our class culture. We'd cook something and I'd blog about it, so it also established some regularity about my writing.<br />
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This year I have a slightly different approach. We cook every Friday, but if there isn't school on a Friday, that means we may not cook that week. And that's ok. I have the long view now and can appreciate that cooking is part of the fabric of the class culture in my room; taking a week off isn't going to change anything.<br />
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Last Friday my students had the day off while I attended a district inservice training. In two weeks, we have parent conferences. I also don't plan to do any cooking that week.<br />
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Having conquered last year's challenge, I have the perspective that it's ok if cooking becomes more sporadic when our schedule gets hacked up by conferences and the like.<br />
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So stay tuned! We are starting a human body unit this week and I am having fun making meaningful connections between that unit and the kitchen. And if "human body unit" and "cooking" started you worrying about what might be coming up, rest assured that we are not studying the digestive unit...Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06706316568541077537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2983612817334361452.post-56105882009500254092012-10-13T07:19:00.002-07:002012-10-13T07:19:31.408-07:00Baked ApplesI've never made a baked apple before this week.<br />
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Many of my posts could start that way. I've never made <a href="http://thisclasscooks.blogspot.com/2012/09/friday-afternoons-mess-does-not.html">ice cream in a bag</a> before this week. I've never <a href="http://thisclasscooks.blogspot.com/2012/04/not-your-usual-pre-passover-kitchen.html">baked bread in a cast iron pot</a> before this week. I've never kept <a href="http://thisclasscooks.blogspot.com/2012/03/class-pet.html">sourdough starter</a> before. I'm exposing myself to new foods and cooking ideas as much as I am exposing my students to them.<br />
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This week's surprises me because baked apples are SO easy and SO yummy. How is it that I've never made one before?<br />
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The inspiration:<br />
1) My funds are <i>very</i> limited this year, but I can get produce free through Emilyinthekitchen and our school's fresh fruits and veggies grant.<br />
2) My class worked very hard on standardized testing this week and I felt like they deserved a celebratory cooking project.<br />
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Enter the apple. I would have loved to make <a href="http://paperplatesandchina.blogspot.com/2011/08/pie-la-apple.html">these</a> instead, but I took a deep breath and reminded myself that Friday afternoon I was leaving school right away to go on a girls getaway weekend and I didn't want to be stuck in my classroom cleaning up a pie crust mess. Then I talked to Emily and she suggested I set up the apple stuffing like an ice cream bar. Here are the possible toppings; how would you like your apple? I got together raisins, craisins, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger. Also oats, thinking a few kids might want to mash the toppings together and stuff an apple crisp type topping in the middle.<br />
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Thursday night while I heated up leftovers for dinner, I used a grapefruit spoon to scoop out most of the middle of an apple. I dropped in some raisins, brown sugar, a pat of butter, and put the apple in a pan with a half inch of water in the bottom. It sat in the oven for half an hour while my daughter and I ate dinner and we split it for dessert. It doesn't get any easier than that.<br />
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The glitch of the week is that amazing Su was hammered with a bad cold earlier in the week and emailed me Thursday night to say she wouldn't be coming to school on Friday. (Su, I hope you're on the mend!) I had been planning to have half the group prep their apples while the other half did a Check It Out circle to preview a stack of new class books we got through book order. This was in part due to the number of grapefruit spoons that people lent me. (Thanks Vera! Thanks Barb!) Everyone couldn't scoop at the same time.<br />
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No worries. We've shared materials before. Before I could revise my new plan, a parent contacted me and asked if she could come in for the afternoon. So I ended up with the amazing Roberta taking the cooking half of the group and I kids got to preview new books <i>and </i>prep their apples all in a tidy thirty minute period. Linda came in to help with reading and took over the book group, so I even got to squeeze in some pictures.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The intersection of food and books was spectacular.</td></tr>
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Are you wondering how we kept track of whose apple was whose? Anyone that knows me knows that as much as I try to camouflage my Type A tendencies, they are still there, all the time. I made a map of the apples and labelled each one on the map as each student put them in the pan.<br />
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One student asked me what would happen if the pan got rotated to a different direction. I dredged up the term rotational symmetry and we agreed it was a good thing that there weren't twenty four kids in the class. </div>
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At 1:30 we had twenty two apples ready to go in the oven, a table covered in oat crumbles and twenty two wound up kids. Roberta turned to me and said, "Do you think they need to come play a few relay races in my yard?" (Did I mention? Roberta lives next door and our classroom windows look down on her yard. She even sent her daughter home to get more oats when we ran out!) Roberta took the class outside and the remaining adults wiped down tables and put the apples in the oven. Emily was still in the kitchen and took over the oven end of things for us. I went to go pick up the kids and found them running relay races carrying pumpkins from Roberta's garden!<br />
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Back inside to have a short conversation about leadership projects for the year, and then the apples were ready.<br />
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Emily brought them down and a student fetched the ice cream I had stashed in the freezer. A half gallon of ice cream split twenty two ways doesn't go far, but that was ok. The apples are yummy on their own and don't need a lot of sweetening up.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not, perhaps, the most photogenic dessert. But tasty.</td></tr>
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"I didn't think I'd like these, but I do," one child commented.<br />
"Can I take some of this home to let my dad try?" asked another.<br />
"You can make this yourself for him," I responded. "Just go buy some apples."<br />
Another student listened intently when I first told them about the recipe, then raised his hand to ask how long to bake the apples and at what temperature. He does a lot of cooking at home so who knows? He might have the oven on at home right now...<br />
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This was my point. It's easy to make delicious and healthy desserts. Sometimes, you don't even need a recipe.<br />
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<br />Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06706316568541077537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2983612817334361452.post-26388418667273236592012-10-10T11:20:00.001-07:002012-10-10T11:20:40.066-07:00Wow.While my students are sweating over standardized tests, I am sitting in front of my computer searching for recipes that will add to the human body systems unit starting later this month. Some combination of search terms brought me to <a href="http://blogs.providencejournal.com/arts-entertainment/subterranean/2012/10/halloween-idea-meat-made-to-look-like-human-body-parts.html">this website.</a><br />
<br />
Yikes. We WON'T be making these for Halloween!<br />
(But wouldn't it be cool if we did?...)Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06706316568541077537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2983612817334361452.post-15589932258422134332012-10-07T17:59:00.000-07:002012-10-07T17:59:28.627-07:00Squash Smiles
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
This week's recipe was
inspired by local produce. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
It's fall, which means it's squash season.
When I was growing up (in suburban Detroit), there was only one kind
of squash – acorn squash. Why there was only one kind of squash is
a question that can't be answered. It might have been my mother's
favorite kind of squash or it may have been the only squash readily
available in the suburbs of the 70s and 80s.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
There was only one way
to prepare it, too. Cut it in half and scoop out the seeds, bake it
face down in the over for about a half an hour. Flip the halves right
side up, add butter and brown sugar, and bake a little longer.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Nowadays, I use this
recipe plenty (But I use maple syrup instead of brown sugar. I
am in Vermont, after all!) But I also take advantage of the many
varieties of squash available at a number of excellent local farm
stands, and use them to stuff squash, mash squash, make squash soup,
and so on.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>Maybe I should have
prefaced this post by explaining it's been damp and rainy for most of
the last week. Which makes me a bit nostalgic, and definitely in need
of fall comfort food.</i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Squash fries are the
most recent addition to my squash recipe repertoire. At school,
Emilyinthekitchen calls them squash smiles. Ain't that cute? I've
found delicata squash to be the perfect variety for this form of
squash yumminess as they slice up easily and are small enough that
you can use one or two per recipe and not end up with half an open
squash leftover in the fridge getting slimy while awaiting the next recipe.</div>
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<br />
</div>
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Friday I shuffled the
schedule around and right after lunch kids got to work scooping seeds
out of the already-halved squash. </div>
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“It smells like pumpkin!” more
than one student exclaimed. As they finished slicing them up, the
first few students done went around from table to table collecting
the slices and tossing them in a bowl with olive oil. </div>
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They got spread
out on two large baking sheets and a cavalcade of students carried
the sheets, as well as all the dirty cutting boards and utensils,
down to the kitchen. Su stayed down there and made sure the dishes
went through the Hobart while the smiles roasted, leaving us without the insane classroom dish scene we've dealt with the past couple of weeks.</div>
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Back in the classroom,
everyone sweated over some practice NECAP problems (New
England-flavored standardized tests). They will be taking the
federally mandated tests this coming week. Just as we finished, Su
came back in with a huge bowl of roasted smiles. A delectable odor
filled the room – talk about a needed breath of fresh air!</div>
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<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I offered up the
seasonings from last week, but most students were happy to eat the
squash fries plain or dipped in a bit of salt. A small group of kids
were curious about comparing tastes and tried a sprinkle of basil,
dill, thyme, and black pepper. But in the end good old sodium
chloride was the preferred seasoning.</div>
<br />
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One student had felt queasy
last week after sampling seasoned potatoes too enthusiastically and
had then told her mother she was never trying anything new again.
Earlier in the afternoon she had expressed concern about a new food
and I had reassured her that no one would be forced to try anything
they didn't want to try. In the end, I was gratified to see that she
did try (and appear to like) our recipe. A few others opted not to
sample the fries. The part of this that amuses me most is that
EVERYONE wants to handle the food and do the prep, even when they
have no intention of trying what we make. Cooking is <i>that</i> much fun.</div>
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<br />
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<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
My happiest moment was
the student who came up to me and said, “Someone gave my mom some
of this kind of squash and she doesn't know what to do with it.”
Even though she had been a part of the scooping and slicing, she
didn't quite believe it was as easy as what we had just done to make
squash fries. I am hoping that she comes into class tomorrow and
tells me they made them at home this weekend...</div>
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Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06706316568541077537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2983612817334361452.post-11902287572620416062012-09-29T18:36:00.001-07:002012-09-29T18:36:42.467-07:00Taste TestingFull disclosure: I totally copied this lesson from the most recent issue of <a href="http://www.chopchopmag.org/">ChopChop Magazine</a>.<br />
<br />
Friday afternoon Su boiled up a big mess of potatoes and I shook small amounts of various herbs and spices into a bunch of small bowls. I also put out a few fresh herbs side by side with the dried ones.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Isn't that an enticing assortment? </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My quick lesson was that seasonings come from all parts of plants including bark (hello there, cinnamon stick) and roots (howya doin', ginger?), both of which I brought in as visuals. I also brought in some bay leaves on a bay leaf branch, which I only have because a family member went to Lebanon a while back and brought it back for us. And I have to say, until I received that branch, I never thought about how all those dried, whole leaves make their way into the plastic container I keep in my spice rack...<br />
<br />
The kids cut up their potatoes and spent about twenty minutes dipping potato chunks into various seasonings, tasting it, and then marking comments on a recording sheet.<br />
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Just as described in the ChopChop article, the kids tasted, talked, commented, compared, and generally amazed me with their interest in the flavor of things.<br />
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Their written comments ranged from initial reactions, to poetic language, to thoughts about how the seasoning would best be used. One student wrote "Needs to be in something" for about half the items on the list, showing a realization that these flavors are not meant to be tasted solo. Parsley was the surprise winner, if we were having a contest, and thyme got the least positive reviews. I've plucked some of my favorite comments to share with you:<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>fresh basil:</b><br />
<i>tastes like candy</i><br />
<i>Bluk!!!</i><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>dried basil:</b><br />
<i>not a fan</i><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>cayenne: </b><br />
<i>heaven in my mouth</i><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>fresh cilantro: </b><br />
<i>use it to brighten my day</i><br />
<i>way too fresh</i><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>dried cilantro: </b><br />
<i>not as good as fresh cilantro, but good</i><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>cumin:</b><br />
<i>no thank you</i><br />
<i>good for beans and chili</i><br />
<i>too much of a taste</i><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>dill: </b><br />
<i>it's a little bland (good for salad)</i><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>marjoram: </b><br />
<i>kinda tastes like dish soap</i><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>oregano:</b><br />
<i>put it in my soup</i><br />
<i>best thing on earth</i><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>paprika:</b><br />
<i>I think we should try it on sushi</i><br />
<i>Do people use paprika for color or flavor?</i><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>fresh parsley: </b><br />
<i>tastes like fresh air</i><br />
<i>kind of refreshing/energizing</i><br />
<i>tastes like sweet grass</i><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>thyme: </b><br />
<i>no description</i><br />
<i>yuck</i><br />
<br />
<br />
Later this year as we study world geography, we'll return to spices and herbs and use them, as well as grains, as a way to explore regions of the world. In the meantime, I hope Friday's experience will get kids digging around in the spice racks at home, improving the flavors of the food they and their parents are preparing.<br />
Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06706316568541077537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2983612817334361452.post-20485141860337814182012-09-25T18:26:00.000-07:002012-09-25T18:26:20.111-07:00Fasting by ChoiceThis afternoon I scurried around at school, putting together sub plans in preparation for my absence tomorrow. I'll be spending the day tomorrow at the synagogue, observing the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. In order to better focus on prayer, Jews around the world have already begun fasting, denying themselves food and drink for over twenty five hours, from sunset tonight until after nightfall tomorrow.<br />
<br />
Tonight my family ate a lovely, local meal with friends to celebrate the beginning of Yom Kippur. If one is fasting, having a satisfying meal the night before the fast is essential. Adults who are fasting are going into the fast prepared.<br />
<br />
But being hungry doesn't always begin with a big meal. For those who live with food insecurity, hunger may be a constant instead of the exception. This is an issue close to me, because although my school serves healthy breakfasts, fresh fruit and vegetable snacks, and amazing hot lunches, many families in the community struggle to bring enough food into their homes to round out the rest of the meals. So it seems appropriate to give a shout out to <a href="http://www.hungerfreevt.org/">Hunger Free Vermont</a>. This organization assists schools in establishing hot lunch and breakfast programs, teaches cooking classes to low-income adults and at-risk teens, provides grants to childcare centers and after school programs, and much, much more. This is certainly not the only organization in our small state serving hungry families, but it is one with many programs in place to meet the needs of hungry children.<br />
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Around the world and across Vermont, people won't be eating tomorrow. For Jews this is by choice, but for too many others, it is an unfortunate way of life that lasts longer than twenty five hours.<br />
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<br />Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06706316568541077537noreply@blogger.com0