Here is what I'm fixing for Thanksgiving dinner this year. The items marked with a * have a recipe included below.
Deep Fried Turkey*
Roasted Turkey *
Gravy
Sweet potato casserole
Make Ahead Mashed potatoes*
Shoe peg corn
Sage dressing
Creamy Wild Rice Dressing
Cranberry sauce*
Rolls*
Pumpkin Roll*
Bourbon Pecan Tart
Apple dumplings
Cranberry Sauce
Servings: 24
Submitted By: Toni
"A Thanksgiving classic. Originally submitted to ThanksgivingRecipe.com."
INGREDIENTS:
1-1/2 pounds cranberries
2 cups and 3 tablespoons white sugar 2 cups and 3 tablespoons orange juice
DIRECTIONS:
You have scaled this recipe's ingredients to yield a new amount (24). The directions below still refer to the original recipe yield (11).
1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, dissolve the sugar in the orange juice. Stir in the cranberries and cook until the cranberries start to pop (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat and place sauce in a bowl. Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools
Add a 2” cinnamon stick to orange juice in sauce pan
“Sunday Best” Dinner Rolls
Added by Terri @ that's some good cookin' on July 27, 2011 in Breads, Dinner Rolls
Servings 36
Ingredients
• 2 Tablespoons Yeast
• ½ cups Sugar Plus 1/2 Teaspoon, Divided
• 2 cups Warm Water, divided
• ½ cups Butter, Melted, Plus More To Dip The Rolls In
• 3 whole Eggs
• 7 cups To 8 Cups White Flour
• ½ cups Powdered Milk
• 2 Tablespoons Dough Enhancer
• 2 teaspoons Salt
Preparation Instructions
issolve yeast and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar in 1 cup warm water.
While the yeast is proofing, add the remaining 1 cup of warm water, melted butter, remaining 1/2 cup sugar, and eggs to the mixing bowl of an electric mixer such as a Bosch or KitchenAid. When the yeast has doubled (it only takes a few minutes), add it to bowl. Mix on low speed just until the ingredients are combined.
Add 4 cups flour, powdered milk, dough enhancer, and salt. Mix on a medium speed for 7-10 minutes. Turn off mixer and let mixture rest for 10 minutes.
Add 2 more cups flour and mix on medium speed until ingredients are well incorporated. With mixer running, add more flour, 1/2 cup at a time, just until the dough cleans the side of the bowl. This is an important step because it marks the difference between a roll that has just the right amount of flour and one that has too much or too little flour. Turn the mixer to a higher knead setting and let the mixer do its thing for 8-10 minutes until the dough is very smooth and elastic.
Turn off the mixer and let the dough rest for 10 minutes. I leave the dough in the mixer bowl. This is where you really save time on this recipe. After the dough has rested, you can start forming the rolls.
Lightly butter a 9 ” x 13″ metal pan. Use a metal pan, not a glass baking dish. Pinch off enough dough to form a 1 1/2″ ball. You can vary the size of your rolls by how much dough you choose to make each one. Sometimes you might decide that you want bigger rolls if you are using these for sandwiches, sometimes you might be in the mood for something a little more traditional. Look at the amount of dough you are using for your roll and imagine it double its visible size. That’s how big your finished product will be—maybe even a little bigger. I make my rolls so that I can get 4 rolls across the pan and 5 rolls lengthwise.
Dip each roll into some melted butter before putting them into the pan. The butter provides two things: it allows the rolls to make a wonderful top and bottom (the corner rolls are my favorite because they have two outside browned sides, a brown bottom, and a lovely golden brown top) and the rolls separate easily from each other after they are baked.
Cover the pan with plastic wrap and set the rolls in a warm place to rise. It takes about an hour for the rolls to rise; sometimes only 30-45 minutes, depending on how happy the yeast is that day. You can get some good talking done while the rolls are rising.
Once the rolls have doubled in bulk, remove the plastic wrap and bake the rolls at 375ºF until they are golden brown, about 20 minutes. You can brush a little more butter on them, if you want to. It makes them extra pretty.
By the way, this recipe can make about 4 dozen rolls. You could make a pan of rolls and use the rest of the dough for cinnamon rolls or scones. Just a thought.
Deep-Fried TurkeyRecipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2006
Ingredients
• 6 quarts hot water
• 1 pound kosher salt
• 1 pound dark brown sugar
• 5 pounds ice
• 1 (13 to 14-pound) turkey, with giblets removed
• Approximately 4 to 4 1/2 gallons peanut oil*
• *Cook's Note: In order to determine the correct amount of oil, place the turkey into the pot that you will be frying it in, add water just until it barely covers the top of the turkey and is at least 4 to 5 inches below the top of the pot. This will be the amount of oil you use for frying the turkey.
Directions
Place the hot water, kosher salt and brown sugar into a 5-gallon upright drink cooler and stir until the salt and sugar dissolve completely. Add the ice and stir until the mixture is cool. Gently lower the turkey into the container. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure that it is fully immersed in the brine. Cover and set in a cool dry place for 8 to 16 hours.
Remove the turkey from the brine, rinse and pat dry. Allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes prior to cooking.
Place the oil into a 28 to 30-quart pot and set over high heat on an outside propane burner with a sturdy structure. Bring the temperature of the oil to 250 degrees F. Once the temperature has reached 250, slowly lower the bird into the oil and bring the temperature to 350 degrees F. Once it has reached 350, lower the heat in order to maintain 350 degrees F. After 35 minutes, check the temperature of the turkey using a probe thermometer. Once the breast reaches 151 degrees F, gently remove from the oil and allow to rest for a minimum of 30 minutes prior to carving. The bird will reach an internal temperature of 161 degrees F due to carry over cooking. Carve as desired.
Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes
Prep Time: 15 Minutes Ready In: 1 Hour 20 Minutes
Submitted By: Carol Evans Cook Time: 1 Hour 5 Minutes Servings: 12
"You can make these ahead several days and store in the fridge. If baking cold, let stand 30 minutes first."
INGREDIENTS:
5 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, cubed
2 (3 ounce) packages cream cheese
8 ounces sour cream 1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons onion salt
ground black pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
Place potatoes in a large pot of lightly salted water. Bring to a boil, and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain, and mash.
In a large bowl, mix mashed potatoes, cream cheese, sour cream, milk, onion salt, and pepper. Transfer to a large casserole dish.
Cover, and bake for 50 minutes in the preheated oven.
Creamy Filled Pumpkin Patch Roll
Submitted by Nikia Glapa (NC)
Ingredients
Pumpkin Patch™
1 egg
1 cup water
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 Tbsp. softened butter
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, plus 2 Tbsp. for towel
8 oz. softened cream cheese
1/2 cup whipped cream
Directions
Combine first 4 ingredients in large bowl; stir to blend. Spread batter on greased, rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 17 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Sift 2 tablespoons powdered sugar over clean kitchen towel; invert cake onto towel. Roll-up the towel with cake; refrigerate at least 2 hours. Combine butter and next 3 ingredients in medium bowl; blend well. Fold in whipped cream. Unroll towel with cake; spread cake with cream cheese mixture. Roll-up cake; wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 2 hours; cut into slices. Makes 6-8 servings.
BEST WAY UNBRINED TURKEY (CONVECTION)
INGREDIENTS:
1 turkey, 12 to 16 pounds
2 tablespoons melted butter
4 tablespoons kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons pepper
1/2 cup chicken stock
INSTRUCTIONS: Preheat A convection oven to 375°. If your oven has settings for Baking or Roasting, select Roasting.
Remove the turkey from the packaging; rinse and dry well. Brush 2 tablespoons melted butter over the skin; sprinkle 4 tablespoons kosher salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper over the skin and in the cavity. Tuck the wing tips under and tie the legs together. Place bird breast-up in a V-shaped roasting rack in a shallow roasting pan.
Roast for 45 minutes. Baste with 1/2 cup chicken stock.
Return turkey to oven and baste with pan drippings every 20 minutes until internal thigh temperature reaches 165°.
A 12- to 16-pound bird will cook in about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours.
Let turkey rest for 20 to 30 minutes before carving.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Giving Thanks for This Time
My holiday season has officially begun. On Friday we gathered with friends to take part in our first traditional activity of the holidays, our Operation Christmas Child box party. Our participation in this wonderful program sets the tone of our celebrations and reinforces the value that this season is an opportunity to give more than to receive. Today we took 33 shoe boxes full of gifts to the church for a blessing and then to the drop off site. It's such a blessing to be able to do this each year.
Tomorrow, I will pick my parents up at the airport. I am so excited for this Thanksgiving weekend. Three of my four sisters, and their families will join us, along with two of my aunts and uncles and two cousins. There should be 23 in all for dinner on Thursday.
I spent part of yesterday and today making Christmas ornaments that will be favors for our guests. I'm pretty pleased with the ornaments. They are old alphabet blocks upon which I pasted a photo of our home on one side and the date and name on the other side. I think they look really nice.
I spent a larger part of today putting together recipes, a grocery list and a schedule for Thanksgiving day. It's good to see it all on paper. Having a plan always helps me feel more relaxes about the challenges that I know are going to come along.
Here's the menu.
Deep Fried Turkey
Roasted Turkey Gravy
Sweet potato casserole
Make Ahead Mashed potatoes
Shoe peg corn
Sage dressing
Creamy Wild Rice Dressing
Cranberry sauce
Rolls
Pumpkin Roll
Bourbon Pecan Tart
Apple dumplings
Here's the plan.
Monday
Pick Mom and Dad up at the airportRoast chickens for dinner. Use leftovers for chicken enchiladas.
Make pumpkin roll
Tuesday
Grocery shopping
Make chicken enchiladas. Freeze.
Wednesday
Make apple dumplings, bourbon pecan tart, cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole, make ahead potatoes
Pick up tables and chairs
Chop onions and celery
Brine one turkey
Thursday
Breakfast and Macy’s Parade
Set table
Snacks for lunch
12:00 prep dressings 2 9X13 pans
1:15 Roasted Turkey 2 hours in oven 20 minutes rest time
1:30 Dinner rolls 2 hours prep and rising ½ hour to bake
1:45 Deep Fried Turkey 30 minutes to bring to room temperature 45 minutes-1 hour fry time 30 minutes rest time before carving
2:00 Sage dressing 1 hour in oven (put back in oven when turkey comes out)
2:15 Creamy Wild Rice Dressing 45 minutes in oven (put back in oven when turkey comes out)
2:30 set out Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes and Thanksgiving Sweet Potatoes
3:10 Put Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes and Thanksgiving Sweet Potatoes in oven
3:15 Make Gravy
3:30 Shoe peg corn – 20 minutes
4:00 Dinner
We are going to rent tables and chairs so that everyone can sit together for dinner. I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to buy new table clothes and napkins or if I'm going to go with mix and match that I already have. I do know that I need to pick up another eight person place setting of silverware. I've got all the plates and serving pieces that I need. It feels wonderful to be able to look forward to every moment of the coming week. I am so thankful.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Weekly Recap: November 14-18, 2011
We are making this recap short and sweet. It's been a good week. We are all excited to have next week off. Happy Thanksgiving to all!
M7: High - Latin - Drawing pictures and quinque.
Low - Falling my bike.
S9: High - Operation Christmas Child - Giving kids toys.
Low - Writing three book summaries on one day.
H12: High - Writing - NaNoWriMo is going really well. I'm writing fast and I like my book.
Low - Attitude - I complain about things when I don't want to do them. I need to work on that.
Me: High - Knowing that we are on track for the year and get to take ALL of next week off!
Low - Forgetting that my book club met this week. I missed one of my favorite monthly activities.
M7: High - Latin - Drawing pictures and quinque.
Low - Falling my bike.
S9: High - Operation Christmas Child - Giving kids toys.
Low - Writing three book summaries on one day.
H12: High - Writing - NaNoWriMo is going really well. I'm writing fast and I like my book.
Low - Attitude - I complain about things when I don't want to do them. I need to work on that.
Me: High - Knowing that we are on track for the year and get to take ALL of next week off!
Low - Forgetting that my book club met this week. I missed one of my favorite monthly activities.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Thanksgiving On My Mind
I intended to prepare the second Redwall Feast with S9 this weekend then I became obsessed with Thanksgiving. I started looking at recipes, thinking about seating and napkins, and planning sleeping arrangements. I also spent some time on Saturday morning talking about the menu with my husband.
During our conversation, my husband began to wax poetic over the rolls he remembered from our junior high school cafeteria. Yes, we went to junior high together. Yes, the rolls were worth remembering. They were tall and buttery. They were served warm and they pulled apart in a light and fluffy goodness that can best be compared to cotton candy. They were exquisite.
I have always made my own bread. I have my grandmother's tried and true bread recipe that I use for almost all my bread needs. It makes lovely pizza dough, cinnamon rolls, loaves and rolls. It is delicious but it is not light and fluffy and it does not pull apart like cotton candy. So, I went on a quest to find a contender to stand up to childhood memories.
This is the recipe I found and it is the one we will be enjoying on Thanksgiving day. These rolls were light and fluffy and if they didn't pull apart exactly like cotton candy, they were pretty close. The recipe calls for a heavy duty mixer. I did all the mixing and kneading by hand and it worked fine. I also left out the dough enhancer and the rolls were lovely.
“Sunday Best” Dinner Rolls
Added by Terri @ that's some good cookin' on July 27, 2011 in Breads, Dinner Rolls
Servings 36
Ingredients
• 2 Tablespoons Yeast
• ½ cups Sugar Plus 1/2 Teaspoon, Divided
• 2 cups Warm Water, divided
• ½ cups Butter, Melted, Plus More To Dip The Rolls In
• 3 whole Eggs
• 7 cups To 8 Cups White Flour
• ½ cups Powdered Milk
• 2 Tablespoons Dough Enhancer
• 2 teaspoons Salt
Preparation Instructions
Dissolve yeast and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar in 1 cup warm water.
While the yeast is proofing, add the remaining 1 cup of warm water, melted butter, remaining 1/2 cup sugar, and eggs to the mixing bowl of an electric mixer such as a Bosch or KitchenAid. When the yeast has doubled (it only takes a few minutes), add it to bowl. Mix on low speed just until the ingredients are combined.
Add 4 cups flour, powdered milk, dough enhancer, and salt. Mix on a medium speed for 7-10 minutes. Turn off mixer and let mixture rest for 10 minutes.
Add 2 more cups flour and mix on medium speed until ingredients are well incorporated. With mixer running, add more flour, 1/2 cup at a time, just until the dough cleans the side of the bowl. This is an important step because it marks the difference between a roll that has just the right amount of flour and one that has too much or too little flour. Turn the mixer to a higher knead setting and let the mixer do its thing for 8-10 minutes until the dough is very smooth and elastic.
Turn off the mixer and let the dough rest for 10 minutes. I leave the dough in the mixer bowl. This is where you really save time on this recipe. After the dough has rested, you can start forming the rolls.
Lightly butter a 9 ” x 13″ metal pan. Use a metal pan, not a glass baking dish. Pinch off enough dough to form a 1 1/2″ ball. You can vary the size of your rolls by how much dough you choose to make each one. Sometimes you might decide that you want bigger rolls if you are using these for sandwiches, sometimes you might be in the mood for something a little more traditional. Look at the amount of dough you are using for your roll and imagine it double its visible size. That’s how big your finished product will be—maybe even a little bigger. I make my rolls so that I can get 4 rolls across the pan and 5 rolls lengthwise.
Dip each roll into some melted butter before putting them into the pan. The butter provides two things: it allows the rolls to make a wonderful top and bottom (the corner rolls are my favorite because they have two outside browned sides, a brown bottom, and a lovely golden brown top) and the rolls separate easily from each other after they are baked.
Cover the pan with plastic wrap and set the rolls in a warm place to rise. It takes about an hour for the rolls to rise; sometimes only 30-45 minutes, depending on how happy the yeast is that day. You can get some good talking done while the rolls are rising.
Once the rolls have doubled in bulk, remove the plastic wrap and bake the rolls at 375ºF until they are golden brown, about 20 minutes. You can brush a little more butter on them, if you want to. It makes them extra pretty.
By the way, this recipe can make about 4 dozen rolls. You could make a pan of rolls and use the rest of the dough for cinnamon rolls or scones. Just a thought.
During our conversation, my husband began to wax poetic over the rolls he remembered from our junior high school cafeteria. Yes, we went to junior high together. Yes, the rolls were worth remembering. They were tall and buttery. They were served warm and they pulled apart in a light and fluffy goodness that can best be compared to cotton candy. They were exquisite.
I have always made my own bread. I have my grandmother's tried and true bread recipe that I use for almost all my bread needs. It makes lovely pizza dough, cinnamon rolls, loaves and rolls. It is delicious but it is not light and fluffy and it does not pull apart like cotton candy. So, I went on a quest to find a contender to stand up to childhood memories.
This is the recipe I found and it is the one we will be enjoying on Thanksgiving day. These rolls were light and fluffy and if they didn't pull apart exactly like cotton candy, they were pretty close. The recipe calls for a heavy duty mixer. I did all the mixing and kneading by hand and it worked fine. I also left out the dough enhancer and the rolls were lovely.
“Sunday Best” Dinner Rolls
Added by Terri @ that's some good cookin' on July 27, 2011 in Breads, Dinner Rolls
Servings 36
Ingredients
• 2 Tablespoons Yeast
• ½ cups Sugar Plus 1/2 Teaspoon, Divided
• 2 cups Warm Water, divided
• ½ cups Butter, Melted, Plus More To Dip The Rolls In
• 3 whole Eggs
• 7 cups To 8 Cups White Flour
• ½ cups Powdered Milk
• 2 Tablespoons Dough Enhancer
• 2 teaspoons Salt
Preparation Instructions
Dissolve yeast and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar in 1 cup warm water.
While the yeast is proofing, add the remaining 1 cup of warm water, melted butter, remaining 1/2 cup sugar, and eggs to the mixing bowl of an electric mixer such as a Bosch or KitchenAid. When the yeast has doubled (it only takes a few minutes), add it to bowl. Mix on low speed just until the ingredients are combined.
Add 4 cups flour, powdered milk, dough enhancer, and salt. Mix on a medium speed for 7-10 minutes. Turn off mixer and let mixture rest for 10 minutes.
Add 2 more cups flour and mix on medium speed until ingredients are well incorporated. With mixer running, add more flour, 1/2 cup at a time, just until the dough cleans the side of the bowl. This is an important step because it marks the difference between a roll that has just the right amount of flour and one that has too much or too little flour. Turn the mixer to a higher knead setting and let the mixer do its thing for 8-10 minutes until the dough is very smooth and elastic.
Turn off the mixer and let the dough rest for 10 minutes. I leave the dough in the mixer bowl. This is where you really save time on this recipe. After the dough has rested, you can start forming the rolls.
Lightly butter a 9 ” x 13″ metal pan. Use a metal pan, not a glass baking dish. Pinch off enough dough to form a 1 1/2″ ball. You can vary the size of your rolls by how much dough you choose to make each one. Sometimes you might decide that you want bigger rolls if you are using these for sandwiches, sometimes you might be in the mood for something a little more traditional. Look at the amount of dough you are using for your roll and imagine it double its visible size. That’s how big your finished product will be—maybe even a little bigger. I make my rolls so that I can get 4 rolls across the pan and 5 rolls lengthwise.
Dip each roll into some melted butter before putting them into the pan. The butter provides two things: it allows the rolls to make a wonderful top and bottom (the corner rolls are my favorite because they have two outside browned sides, a brown bottom, and a lovely golden brown top) and the rolls separate easily from each other after they are baked.
Cover the pan with plastic wrap and set the rolls in a warm place to rise. It takes about an hour for the rolls to rise; sometimes only 30-45 minutes, depending on how happy the yeast is that day. You can get some good talking done while the rolls are rising.
Once the rolls have doubled in bulk, remove the plastic wrap and bake the rolls at 375ºF until they are golden brown, about 20 minutes. You can brush a little more butter on them, if you want to. It makes them extra pretty.
By the way, this recipe can make about 4 dozen rolls. You could make a pan of rolls and use the rest of the dough for cinnamon rolls or scones. Just a thought.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Weekly Recap: November 6-November 11, 2011
The best thing about this week for me was that it didn't include any evening activities. I enjoy sports but when the season is over, I'm very happy to enjoy family time together.
H12 enjoyed writing this week. NaNoWriMo is going well. She's just beginning chapter 6 in her book. Algebra and grammar were a bit more challenging to complete. H12 tends to slide to the dramatic when she'd rather not do something. I'm trying to help her just ask for what she wants rather than prefacing a request with nervous breakdown. It's a process. We took a break from algebra this week and reviewed multiplication instead. Grammar didn't get finished today but I am assured it will be done by Monday a.m. We'll see.
S9 found the Redwall food to be as tasty as he'd anticipated. You can read about our Redwall feast here. Several more meals are planned and S9 is looking forward to trying more new dishes. S9 is almost finished with his math book as well. I'm going to have to get my act together and decide where we go next. Skill wise, he's well past grade level. I think maybe I'm going to try the Life of Fred books with him.
A big surprise for me this week was that S9 started his own novel. Up until this point, writing was at the top of the least favorite subjects list. He came to me on Tuesday and asked for a notebook so that he had a clean place to write his novel. The novel is definitely in the Brian Jacques style. No surprise there. We have lots of work to do in the areas of punctuation and spelling but the story, characters and descriptions are pretty impressive.
M6 finished her math workbook and is ready to move onto her next math book. She's flying through OPGTTR now. On a normal day she does two or three lessons before she's had enough. At the library last week she selected several chapter books and I've seen her reading them silently for a few minutes at a time. Sitting still is still a challenge for her but reading seems to be worth the effort as long as it's not required.
In history this week we talked about the relationships between early American settlers and native Americans. We also learned about William Penn and the founding of Pennsylvania. We started listening to The Witch of Blackbird Pond. All of us are really enjoying the story and it's given us lots of topics for discussion.
H12 enjoyed writing this week. NaNoWriMo is going well. She's just beginning chapter 6 in her book. Algebra and grammar were a bit more challenging to complete. H12 tends to slide to the dramatic when she'd rather not do something. I'm trying to help her just ask for what she wants rather than prefacing a request with nervous breakdown. It's a process. We took a break from algebra this week and reviewed multiplication instead. Grammar didn't get finished today but I am assured it will be done by Monday a.m. We'll see.
S9 found the Redwall food to be as tasty as he'd anticipated. You can read about our Redwall feast here. Several more meals are planned and S9 is looking forward to trying more new dishes. S9 is almost finished with his math book as well. I'm going to have to get my act together and decide where we go next. Skill wise, he's well past grade level. I think maybe I'm going to try the Life of Fred books with him.
A big surprise for me this week was that S9 started his own novel. Up until this point, writing was at the top of the least favorite subjects list. He came to me on Tuesday and asked for a notebook so that he had a clean place to write his novel. The novel is definitely in the Brian Jacques style. No surprise there. We have lots of work to do in the areas of punctuation and spelling but the story, characters and descriptions are pretty impressive.
M6 finished her math workbook and is ready to move onto her next math book. She's flying through OPGTTR now. On a normal day she does two or three lessons before she's had enough. At the library last week she selected several chapter books and I've seen her reading them silently for a few minutes at a time. Sitting still is still a challenge for her but reading seems to be worth the effort as long as it's not required.
In history this week we talked about the relationships between early American settlers and native Americans. We also learned about William Penn and the founding of Pennsylvania. We started listening to The Witch of Blackbird Pond. All of us are really enjoying the story and it's given us lots of topics for discussion.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Establishing a Reputation
In my mind, I have a reputation. I am dependable, trustworthy, helpful, kind, generous, resourceful and creative. I believe that those who know me would agree. In fact, I just asked my husband if he felt those words were descriptive of me and he agreed and added faithful and critical thinker to the list. What I forget is that each time I move, I have to re-establish my reputation. In fact, I forget this so completely that I expect those around me to just know that I am all these things upon first meeting me.
Earlier this year, in September, my children and I joined a co-op in our area. Each parent involved in the co-op is assigned a job during the co-op time. I was given the joy of co-teaching the 2 year old classroom. Upon accepting the assignment, I was told that there wasn't a curriculum or a particular schedule of activities. We could decide how much or how little we wanted to plan for the children. My partner, also a new parent to the co-op, and I are both mothers of four. Our children range in age from 16 to 7. We are familiar with two and three year olds. We understand development and play. We know that reading to children is the best thing we can do. We played, we read, we colored, we stuck stickers, we laced, we traced, we played. We felt pretty confident that we could handle this class of five.
We were wrong. The co-op let us go for six weeks, the entire first session, and at the beginning of the second session they reassigned us with more experienced teachers. They didn't reassign us because of anything we had done, they said, but because there were parents who wanted their children to have more challenging activities and not just play. The three and four year old classroom was doing crafts. They had themes. The children in that program were learning and being challenged. The children in our class were being cheated because of our lack of experience. Of course, it wasn't anything that we had done. Rather, it was all we hadn't done. Now, I'm being trained by a more experienced teacher so that I know how to manage a class of two and three year olds. Hopefully, by the end of my training, I'll be able to handle the assignment I've been given.
I keep reminding myself that no one here knows anything about me except what I've shown them. I keep reminding myself that I haven't given anyone here any reason to believe that I can do more or better. I keep reminding myself that being offended or hurt really has no purpose. I keep trying not to be indignant, outraged, frustrated, angry. I keep reminding myself that homeschool mothers are a tough crowd. I keep reminding myself that everyone in the co-op is an expert, an overachiever, a parent striving to make sure their child has the very best that life has to offer.
Just because I believe that teaching a two year old the alphabet is as useful as teaching a dog to shake hands, doesn't mean that anyone else agrees with me. Just because I believe that free play, listening, learning to cooperate, share, negotiate, and entertain yourself and others is the work of pre-school, doesn't mean anyone else agrees with me. Just because I believe I am a competent, creative and capable teacher doesn't mean that anyone agrees with me, especially if I haven't shown it to be true.
I find myself wondering if it wouldn't be better just to be quiet and thought incompetent. That would limit the jobs I'm asked to do in the future. What purpose does it serve to prove myself once again? Do I really care?
Earlier this year, in September, my children and I joined a co-op in our area. Each parent involved in the co-op is assigned a job during the co-op time. I was given the joy of co-teaching the 2 year old classroom. Upon accepting the assignment, I was told that there wasn't a curriculum or a particular schedule of activities. We could decide how much or how little we wanted to plan for the children. My partner, also a new parent to the co-op, and I are both mothers of four. Our children range in age from 16 to 7. We are familiar with two and three year olds. We understand development and play. We know that reading to children is the best thing we can do. We played, we read, we colored, we stuck stickers, we laced, we traced, we played. We felt pretty confident that we could handle this class of five.
We were wrong. The co-op let us go for six weeks, the entire first session, and at the beginning of the second session they reassigned us with more experienced teachers. They didn't reassign us because of anything we had done, they said, but because there were parents who wanted their children to have more challenging activities and not just play. The three and four year old classroom was doing crafts. They had themes. The children in that program were learning and being challenged. The children in our class were being cheated because of our lack of experience. Of course, it wasn't anything that we had done. Rather, it was all we hadn't done. Now, I'm being trained by a more experienced teacher so that I know how to manage a class of two and three year olds. Hopefully, by the end of my training, I'll be able to handle the assignment I've been given.
I keep reminding myself that no one here knows anything about me except what I've shown them. I keep reminding myself that I haven't given anyone here any reason to believe that I can do more or better. I keep reminding myself that being offended or hurt really has no purpose. I keep trying not to be indignant, outraged, frustrated, angry. I keep reminding myself that homeschool mothers are a tough crowd. I keep reminding myself that everyone in the co-op is an expert, an overachiever, a parent striving to make sure their child has the very best that life has to offer.
Just because I believe that teaching a two year old the alphabet is as useful as teaching a dog to shake hands, doesn't mean that anyone else agrees with me. Just because I believe that free play, listening, learning to cooperate, share, negotiate, and entertain yourself and others is the work of pre-school, doesn't mean anyone else agrees with me. Just because I believe I am a competent, creative and capable teacher doesn't mean that anyone agrees with me, especially if I haven't shown it to be true.
I find myself wondering if it wouldn't be better just to be quiet and thought incompetent. That would limit the jobs I'm asked to do in the future. What purpose does it serve to prove myself once again? Do I really care?
Sunday, November 6, 2011
A Feast Fit for Redwall
During our history lessons last year my son, then 8, discovered The Redwall series by Brian Jacques. We listened to the first novel on cd and he was captivated. Since that time he has made a steady diet of the rest of the books in the series. He devours everything Redwall. In the course of his reading, we learned so much about a wide variety of animals with which I was totally unfamiliar. Stoats, pinemartens, voles, sables, ermin, sloworms.
We also learned about an entirely new kind of food. Pasties, ales, custards, tarts, leeks, nunnymolers. The Redwall books are full of feasts. The descriptions that Jacques includes in every one of the books is sure to leave even the pickiest eater drooling. Even the everyday meals are worth a few lines.
A few days ago, I was online reserving the Redwall books that S9 hadn't read yet. In my search, I came across The Redwall Cookbook. S9 was beyond thrilled. The opportunity to taste what he'd been reading about for the last six months was a dream come true. He spent hours reading the cookbook then he pulled me into his plan.
A feast fit for Redwall was his goal. He'd gone through the book and picked out fifteen recipes that he thought would be perfect for our Redwall feast. While I appreciated his appetite and his vision, I couldn't get my mind around cooking fifteen dishes, many of which included things like turnips and currants. After some discussion we decided that having several feasts and a tea or a special snack might be more manageable. We made a menu for each meal and tea and then S9 made the grocery list while I read the recipes.
Tonight was our first Redwall feast. S9 helped me with all the preparations. It was the first time he'd spent that much time helping me with a meal. His job is usually setting and clearing the table. Meal prep was new to him. He loved the roll of chef. He peeled carrots and turnips, cracked eggs, stirred custard, sauteed onions. His culinary skills doubled in one evening.
Our feast consisted of salad, cornbread, Shrimp'n'Hotroot Soup, Mole's Favourite Deeper'n'Ever Turnip'n'Tater'n'Beetroot Pie, Honeybaked Apples with Custard Sauce and Mossflower Mulled Cider. I think we were all surprised by how much we enjoyed the food. Not everyone liked every dish but everyone found something that they enjoyed. S9 ate everything and asked for seconds of the Shrimp'n'Hotroot Soup and then asked for thirds.
Our Redwall feast was a total success. I might even add Shrimp'n'Hotroot Soup to our regular meal rotation. We've got plans for several moreRedwall meals. S9 can't wait to take on the roll of chef again and I'm looking forward to enjoying the delicious tastes of Redwall.
We also learned about an entirely new kind of food. Pasties, ales, custards, tarts, leeks, nunnymolers. The Redwall books are full of feasts. The descriptions that Jacques includes in every one of the books is sure to leave even the pickiest eater drooling. Even the everyday meals are worth a few lines.
A few days ago, I was online reserving the Redwall books that S9 hadn't read yet. In my search, I came across The Redwall Cookbook. S9 was beyond thrilled. The opportunity to taste what he'd been reading about for the last six months was a dream come true. He spent hours reading the cookbook then he pulled me into his plan.
A feast fit for Redwall was his goal. He'd gone through the book and picked out fifteen recipes that he thought would be perfect for our Redwall feast. While I appreciated his appetite and his vision, I couldn't get my mind around cooking fifteen dishes, many of which included things like turnips and currants. After some discussion we decided that having several feasts and a tea or a special snack might be more manageable. We made a menu for each meal and tea and then S9 made the grocery list while I read the recipes.
Tonight was our first Redwall feast. S9 helped me with all the preparations. It was the first time he'd spent that much time helping me with a meal. His job is usually setting and clearing the table. Meal prep was new to him. He loved the roll of chef. He peeled carrots and turnips, cracked eggs, stirred custard, sauteed onions. His culinary skills doubled in one evening.
Our feast consisted of salad, cornbread, Shrimp'n'Hotroot Soup, Mole's Favourite Deeper'n'Ever Turnip'n'Tater'n'Beetroot Pie, Honeybaked Apples with Custard Sauce and Mossflower Mulled Cider. I think we were all surprised by how much we enjoyed the food. Not everyone liked every dish but everyone found something that they enjoyed. S9 ate everything and asked for seconds of the Shrimp'n'Hotroot Soup and then asked for thirds.
Our Redwall feast was a total success. I might even add Shrimp'n'Hotroot Soup to our regular meal rotation. We've got plans for several moreRedwall meals. S9 can't wait to take on the roll of chef again and I'm looking forward to enjoying the delicious tastes of Redwall.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Weekly Recap: October 31-November 4, 2011
This week we enjoyed trick or treating, the beginning of our second session of co-op, plenty of time in the sunshine and history lessons that were even more interesting because of my trip to England and France last spring.
M6 enjoyed her Latin more than anything else this week. She thought the words were easy and she's enjoyed working regina, aqua and corona into conversation and play. She continues to fly through grammar, reading and writing. While she's still completing the first grade math that we began in April of last year, nothing there has slowed her down. She should finish the book before Thanksgiving. I'll have to do some research to see where we go next.
Football was the only thing that S9 could talk about when I asked him about his week. He spent several minutes talking about his coach and the other players, his best plays and his worst plays before I told him that I'd meant to ask him about school. History was his favorite subject. He's been reading an abridged version of The Three Muskateers today. History that involves kings, soldiers, adventure and battle is S9's passion. We spent part of this evening watching The Three Muskateers on dvd. He really enjoyed that as well.
Another project that S9 and I have taken on is a Redwall Feast. Since discovering Redwall last winter, S9 has worked his way through almost all the books. I believe the last few books are in his room waiting to be read. While we were ordering the last couple of books from the library we came across the Redwall cookbook. S9 was thrilled. We went through the cookbook and selected a list of recipes. If our plan works out, we'll be fixing two meals and two teas. S9 helped me write the menu and make the grocery list. Our first feast will be on Sunday. I'll let you know how we like Hotroot Soup.
NaNoWriMo kicked off on Tuesday. H12 has been looking forward to this event and counting down days. Writing was definitely the highlight of her week. Her novel is a futuristic adventure story. I'm really looking forward to reading the finished product. While she would have preferred to skip the rest of her school work this week and spend all her time on writing I have promised her the entire week of Thanksgiving off. H12 would also tell you that her least favorite subject this week was algebra. No surprise there. Even though she fusses, she's doing well and seems to understand each new lesson. The video on Monday, reinforcement Tuesday through Friday schedule has been a perfect fit for her.
M6 enjoyed her Latin more than anything else this week. She thought the words were easy and she's enjoyed working regina, aqua and corona into conversation and play. She continues to fly through grammar, reading and writing. While she's still completing the first grade math that we began in April of last year, nothing there has slowed her down. She should finish the book before Thanksgiving. I'll have to do some research to see where we go next.
Football was the only thing that S9 could talk about when I asked him about his week. He spent several minutes talking about his coach and the other players, his best plays and his worst plays before I told him that I'd meant to ask him about school. History was his favorite subject. He's been reading an abridged version of The Three Muskateers today. History that involves kings, soldiers, adventure and battle is S9's passion. We spent part of this evening watching The Three Muskateers on dvd. He really enjoyed that as well.
Another project that S9 and I have taken on is a Redwall Feast. Since discovering Redwall last winter, S9 has worked his way through almost all the books. I believe the last few books are in his room waiting to be read. While we were ordering the last couple of books from the library we came across the Redwall cookbook. S9 was thrilled. We went through the cookbook and selected a list of recipes. If our plan works out, we'll be fixing two meals and two teas. S9 helped me write the menu and make the grocery list. Our first feast will be on Sunday. I'll let you know how we like Hotroot Soup.
NaNoWriMo kicked off on Tuesday. H12 has been looking forward to this event and counting down days. Writing was definitely the highlight of her week. Her novel is a futuristic adventure story. I'm really looking forward to reading the finished product. While she would have preferred to skip the rest of her school work this week and spend all her time on writing I have promised her the entire week of Thanksgiving off. H12 would also tell you that her least favorite subject this week was algebra. No surprise there. Even though she fusses, she's doing well and seems to understand each new lesson. The video on Monday, reinforcement Tuesday through Friday schedule has been a perfect fit for her.
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