Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

[a baking day with friends]

This weekend I learned that the ‘semi-homemade’ recipes are the most fun for 9 year olds who are just starting out and  want some independence in the kitchen together. The ‘we want a baking day’ really means we want to ‘bake a little, then play a little, then bake a little, then play a little’. I set them up with a Zany Zucchini Muffin recipe, and left them on their own. The muffins are very tasty and as the girls noted, ‘our muffins look just like the picture!’ which was a plus and a definite confidence booster.

1 package spice cake mix

4 eggs

2/3 canola oil

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 cups grated organic zucchini, unpeeled

Combine all ingredients and bake in muffin tins @ 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Also this weekend, we watched the very interesting Microcosmos. I won’t spoil it for you but I’ll just say it’s about all the tiny and very magical things all around us. You can watch it on You Tube and it’s engaging for all ages, even for the toddler crowd who like to investigate little things and torture ants together.

[the littlest friends deep in investigation]

Showing Kid’s Art in a Gallery

That is, a Gallery showing in your home.

The assignment:
Encourage your student to produce a ‘collection’ of art pieces. Here, B chose to photograph all seven of her chickens, each facing the same direction.

The supplies:
One free wall + black cardstock to make the art pop + a short bio of the featured artist.

Encourage friends and neighbors to peruse the show as they stop by throughout the week. Keep the gallery fresh and change out the show often. Invite other family members to participate too. Here’s the piece that I bought – a fine photo of our feisty Wellsummer hen. I paid $1.50 – a super steal. Don’t forget to have your budding artist sign your purchase!

Cooking With Kids – The American History Cookbook

We’ve added a new text to study in our homeschool and I could not be more excited. It’s The American History Cookbook by Mark H. Zanger — 350 recipes from all parts of American history, exactly as they were written down, mostly from 1524 to 1977. And with modern directions. So you can cook and taste along with participants in American history including Native Americans, explorers, colonists, settlers, slaves, soldiers, pioneers, presidents, the urban poor, inventors, campers, health food enthusiasts…

Today we began with recipe one from First Nations and Early Settlers: Shuckey Beans, sometimes called Leatherbritches Beans or A-Ni-Ka-Yo-Sv-Hi Tsu-ya by Eastern Native American Groups.

Basically, we cleaned and trimmed 2 lbs. green beans, used the Native American method of sewing the beans onto string (we used a darning needle and kite string), and then hung them to dry. When the beans dry and shrivel (after a week or so), they can be taken down and stored in a jar. To cook later on in the winter time, as the pioneers did, cover with water and soak overnight. Drain, cover with fresh water, and bring to a boil. Simmer 1/2 hour, and again drain off the water. Add a ham hock or salt pork to the beans and cover with fresh water. Bring to a boil and simmer until tender, as much as two more hours. Serve with Hoe Cakes or Sagamite, or Indian bread for an Indian meal; or with cornbread for a settler meal.

This is way cool to do as a family – I cannot wait to really get into this book. Maybe you’ll be inspired to follow along too..

A favorite quote from the book:

“You should cook with other people. The contemporary nuclear family with one-cook kitchens was not the norm over most of American history. Indian cooks, army cooks, slave cooks, and most other cooks worked alongside other people. In farm families, two or three generations of women worked together in the kitchen even when neighbors and visitors werent around. Not only do professional cooking students always cook with an experienced professional to answer questions, but many expert cooks like to work in a group, since they can compare techniques and discuss problems (and gossip and have a good time).”

-Mark H. Zanger, The American History Cookbook

Elizabeth the Snake

Happy Day — Briones finally caught her own pet snake. She found this 4 foot Gopher snake in the Mt. Diablo foothills and caught it in a tug of war as it was on its way down a hole in search of a tasty treat I am sure. I was so shocked at the sight of my girl wrangling this snake that I forgot to take a picture, although I had the camera around my neck and at the ready. It turns out it is a great starter snake — tame, good eater, real pretty.

[Update: We kept 'Elizabeth' for several months and then brought her back to the spot where we found her. Her appetite was waning and we guessed that it was time for her to hibernate again.]

fistfuls

We had a break in the rain and Briones wanted to show her friends her secret salamander stash under the hay bales..

They spent the next couple of hours wheelin’ and dealin’ the little guys..trading mossy logs and other treasures for salamanders and then racing them on a little track. Somehow..they all were returned safely to their original hiding spots (minus a tail or two).

better than a video game

We all know that our kids learn volumes from their peers. I watched one of Julian’s cooking shows, set up the ingredients just as he had them, and surprised Briones (6 years old at the time) with the project one morning. I pressed play and stepped back, leaving her completely on her own.

I learned so much about Briones’ learning style that day, as she followed along, from start to finish..learning from a boy her own age. We’ll definitely do this again.

Hunting we will go

Today we went hunting for California newts in the Berkeley hills. The rain was falling SO hard and for so long. After a while, we were drenched and the rain just kept falling, but we were determined.

I was brave and took these two pictures under a plastic bag. It was so beautiful out, I wish I could have taken more.

We looked and looked. And looked. We couldn’t leave until we found a newt. And then finally, we did. Whew! We almost didn’t. And dad would have been in big trouble for promising one..

..(we left him there. Not dad. The newt.)

The Grainiacs Project

Or, phase one of the Daily Food Guide Pyramid Project. Or, the I Am So Grateful For The Whole Foods Bulk Department Project — because these are ultimately the type of  ’school’ supplies we would prefer to buy.

Actually, let’s just call it the God Bless The Vacuum Cleaner Project.

The setup: We separated out a variety of grains into their region of origin. They were all either hulled, pearled, rolled, and ground…hmm, I’m sensing a new diagram coming on :)

Native American — amaranth, quinoa
Native Asian — buckwheat, millet, rice
Native Near Eastern — barley, wheat
Native European — rye, oat
Native African — sorghum and tef (neither of which we had, but shouldn’t be too hard to find with a little more looking)

We set out four favorite star wars figures, one for each region, and engaged in battles over and under dunes of semolina and china black rice. The precious grains were bought, sold and traded..kernel by kernel. An amusement park was erected and eventually bulldozed..all the while, we touched and felt and tasted the unique textures and variations.

We chattered about random trivia:
Buckwheat is not actually a grain. There are over 30,000 different varieties of wheat. Wild rice is our only native North American grain. Whole grains are more delicious and “All of them, whether tender or hard, thick skinned or thin, die when they are peeled…even as you and I” (M.F.K Fisher).

We chose one recipe to make out of our grains. Pretzels.

And finally, the diagrams, a work in progress.

Soon, we’ll hope to move up the pyramid chart and plan to save the sweets for last (something extra special to look forward to).

It’s all how you look at it

Here are the beginnings of a new project we’ve been working on.

It started one day when Briones asked me to write down the names in her expansive kitty collection.

Since then, it’s been diagram mania. And it’s so easy. And so fun. Kind of like scrap booking, but not exactly. Surely the closest thing to scrap booking that this momma has done in a while.

We labeled trees in the neighborhood. We have seen the landscape in this photo below thousands of times coming in and out…but this time we really noticed the diverse mix of trees that surround us. Plus, you get to go on an adventure to touch, inspect and smell the foliage.

This one below is my favorite because it shows how in a matter of minutes you can introduce a new way of looking around. Here Briones color coded her toys and other familiar objects into Organic and Inorganic (here meaning materials derived from plants and animals including carbon, and those that are not). Oh, the treasure hunt! Metal binder rings, gypsum walls and guitar strings. Plastic jewels, cardboard boxes and carpet fibers! Perhaps I excite too easily But it’s all here at our fingertips, and your glee will be contagious.

So why don’t you gather up your sleuthing gear and come along with us as we Diagram the WHOLE world. Yes..I wouldn’t be surprised if tomorrow we diagrammed the fridge. How about the garbage? It’s all how you look at it.