The Pre-K/Ks have been baking and tasting their work. We made waffles, pancakes and most recently Queen Elizabeth’s Drop Scones, which you cook on a griddle much like pancakes.
The Queen’s recipe uses teacups to measure, but we used U.S. measuring cups. These scones were delicious, easy, and a hit. In 1960, Queen Elizabeth II treated then U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower and his wife Mamie to her drop scones, a sweet also known as scotch pancakes, during their stay at Balmoral - the Queen’s Scottish residence. The first couple was such fans of the griddle cakes that the Queen sent them her personal recipe, following their return to the States.
Earlier, the kids made Vegetable Tempura.
The first and second graders are learning about fractional (¼, ⅓, ½) teaspoons and tablespoons. Their class is often written as ½ so when I wanted to write half and wrote it ½ they thought it was the one two cup!
We read a new book,
The Grapes Grow Sweet: A Child's First Family Grape Harvest, written by Lynne Tuft and Illustrated by Tessa DeCarlo. For the first time, four-year-old Julian is old enough to take part in the grape harvest on his family's vineyard. Through Julian's perspective, The Grapes Grow Sweet offers a glimpse of growing up on a family vineyard in wine country. The reader follows the development of the grape from bloom to harvest, and views up close the animal and plant life of the vineyard. In this session of the Farm to Book program, children will have an opportunity to review and reflect on the previous month’s book while tasting and sharing something they remember, tasted, or learned. Children may also choose to share something they wrote in their Farm to Book journal the previous month. We read the book to the children and they participated in a tasting of two kinds of grape juice and compared and contrasted the differences. They helped fill out a Venn Diagram to organize their observations. Photo: Students reflecting on their lesson.
Third Graders baked corn tortillas, banana
pancakes, rye bread, and scones. We have been reading about corn.
They enjoyed tasting the sprouts growing in my room. We sprouted corn kernels, nasturtium seeds, sunflowers, and peas. The third grade has some of the best students for cleaning and organizing the materials.
The fourth/fifth graders are working on some of
the same recipes, but work nearly independently. However, like many adults, still need help with cleaning up!
The most recent recipe that was
unique to the fourth/fifth grades was couscous mixed with fresh herbs, cheese, dried fruit, and citrus. Children talked about the food groups, and what it
means to eat a “balanced” diet which includes nutrition, flavor, and portion size. Using couscous as the base for different flavors and textures, students
sampled a variety of dried fruits, fresh herbs and vegetables as well as lemon, fresh cheese and olive oil and decide which ingredients to add to their serving of grains to create a balanced dish including varied flavors, textures, and nutrients. Children reviewed activities and ideas from Lesson Four and
discuss how they may have made or tried elements of the recipe at home.
Children participated in a guided tasting of the ingredients in a selected recipe. They used descriptive language to communicate taste, texture, and share other reactions to what they eat. They identified the different food groups of each of the selected ingredients and how combining these different elements can create a healthy, complete and balanced plate. Children worked together to follow the selected recipe and then sat together to enjoy their food. While eating they were encouraged to talk about how the taste and textures of the individual ingredients may have changed when mixed together in a recipe.
Queen Elizabeth's Drop Scones
Ingredients (enough for 16 people)
4 teacups (2 cups) flour
4 tablespoons caster sugar
2 teacups (1 cup) milk
2 whole eggs
2 teaspoons baking soda
3 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 tablespoons melted butter
Beat eggs, sugar and half the milk together, add flour, and mix well together adding remainder of milk as required, also baking soda and cream of tartar, fold in the melted butter.
Batter is dropped into a pan by the spoonful and flipped when bubbles start to appear on the surface.
