Long Awaited Feast

Today was the day we have all been waiting for as a staff, and as 8th grade FACS students – The Faculty Thanksgiving Feast!

For the past week, the 8th grade students have prepared green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoe casserole and pumpkin pies.  The teachers absolutely LOVED the food prepared for them, and the teachers also brought food in for the faculty to enjoy.

The faculty helped out with the food to be enjoyed by bringing in some goodies to share with the staff, and then some of the staff even helped to set up and clean up the mess at the end of the day.

I am very proud of the 8th graders for their hard work and help during this “highlight” of our year!  We could not have done it with out them.  We also want to thank the 7th graders who were invited to the meal, we hope that you enjoyed the meal and we look forward to having you join us next year in the FACS program so that you can help prepare the meal for Thanksgiving and enjoy eating with us again!

Below are some pictures that were taken during the feast today – I hope that you find some joy in the photos and can see how proud these students are with a job well done!

I will update our blog again after Thanksgiving – Until then – enjoy your time off from school and Give Thanks for those who are a part of your life.

Mrs. Allen

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November “Friendship Bread” Activity

Today we made starter bgs of “friendship Bread” in FAC 4 FUN.  The students were given a gallon size ziplock bag and a packet of yeast to begin the project.  They then added the remaining ingredients to the baggies and will tend to their creation for the next 10 days, at which time they will divide out the bread, and give several bags to their friends and family members.  They will then bake their loaves of bread to enjoy with their families.

Here are some fun shots from the day

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This is the recipe for the starter of the bread, followed by how to create your bread when you are on day 10.

This is the Amish Friendship Bread Starter Recipe that you’ll need to make the Amish Friendship Bread (above). It is very important to use plastic or wooden utensils and plastic or glass containers when making this. Do not use metal at all!

Ingredients:

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110°F)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 cup warm milk (110°F)

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water for about 10 minutes. Stir well.

2. In a 2 quart glass or plastic container, combine 1 cup sifted flour and 1 cup sugar. Mix thoroughly or the flour will get lumpy when you add the milk.

3. Slowly stir in warm milk and dissolved yeast mixture. Loosely cover the mixture with a lid or plastic wrap. The mixture will get bubbly. Consider this Day 1 of the cycle, or the day you receive the starter.

For the next 10 days handle starter according to the instructions below for Amish Friendship Bread.

day 1:   Do nothing with the starter.

days 2-5:   Stir with a wooden spoon.

day 6:   Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk. Stir with a wooden spoon.

days 7-9:   Stir with a wooden spoon.

Day 10:   Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Stir. Take out 3 cups and place 1 cup each into three separate plastic containers or zip-lock gallon size bags. Give one cup and a copy of this recipe to three friends. To the balance (a little over one cup) of the batter, add the following ingredients and mix well.

1 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

 In a separate bowl combine the following dry ingredients and mix well:

 2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 – (5.1 oz) box instant vanilla pudding
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup nuts (optional)

 Add the above dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix and pour into two well greased and sugared bread pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.

You can also find some great variations to this recipe at  these two links:

http://www.armchair.com/recipe/bake004.html

http://www.armchair.com/recipe/amish/amshvar2.html

Turkey for you… Turkey for me…

Every year I look forward to the Adam Sandler “Thanksgiving Song” to be played on the radio…

excerpt of the lyrics…

Turkey for me
Turkey for you
Let’s eat the turkey
In my big brown shoe
Love to eat the turkey
At the table
I once saw a movie
With Betty Grable
Eat that turkey
All night long
Fifty million Elvis fans
Can’t be wrong
Turkey lurkey doo and
Turkey lurkey dap
I eat that turkey
Then I take a nap

I look forward to that afternoon Thanksgiving nap, and I can’t believe that Thanksgiving is so close already this year… The semester just seems to fly on by! With that being said – We have a lot of things happening between now and then – The most famous thing being the Thanksgiving luncheon for the Faculty that the 8th grade students will be helping to prepare.  The staff always does a pot luck dinner of sorts, I conduct a lesson on safe food handling and show the students how to properly prepare and dress a turkey.  The 8th graders will prepare pumpkin pie, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, and mashed potatoes.

Not quite as exciting is learning the parts of the sewing machine so that we can sew our pillows, and then hand sew our teddy bears.  I love sewing with the kids and I can’t wait to see our 8th graders boxers when they are done.

Thanksgiving is a time to sit back and give thanks for all the wonderful things that are a part of our life and our world.  There are so many things that I am thankful for… Good health, wonderufl family, a job, freedom tobe who I want to be, and so much more…

What things are special to you, and what do you look forward to most at Thanksgiving time?  Are there special foods that you eat during that time?  If so, why not share the recipe with us?  I am sure that others would love to make those goodies as well!  Feel free to share your recipes under the RECIPE tab at the top of the page by submitting a comment.

I hope you all enjoy the Thanksgiving Holiday season and I look forward to seeing all the goodies that you create during FACS 4 FUN, FACS class, and at home!