Culinary Class: Tea Time!

8th grade Culinary Class began this course reviewing measurements, learning about various herbs that are commonly included in store bought teas and making their own tea combinations.

Students worked in pairs to create delicious tea combinations. Here are some of their recipes:

Tea Combo #1

1 tsp honeysuckle

1 tsp rose petals

1 tsp chamomile

1 tsp lemon verbena

Tea Combo #2

1 tsp lemon balm

1 tsp rose petals

1 tsp spearmint

1 tsp ginger

Tea Combo #3

2 tsp peppermint

1 tsp lemon verbena

1 tsp chamomile

Culinary Class: Fresh Limeade & Lemonade

8th grade Culinary Class made Fresh Agave Limeade and Fresh Mint Lemonade the week of October 10th! It was delicious! Here are the recipes:

MINT LEMONADE

3/4 cups Lemon Juice, freshly squeezed

3/4 cups Cane Sugar

2 tablespoons Fresh Mint, chopped

2 cups boiling Water

4-6 cups Cold Water

Ice, as desired

Directions: Pour 2 cups of boiling water in a cup or bowl, add the sugar and mix until it dissolves. Finely chop the fresh mint. Squeeze fresh lemons. Mix all together in blender and add cold water and ice until you like the taste!

AGAVE LIMEADE

3/4 cups  Lime Juice, freshly squeezed

3/4 cups Agave Nectar

6-8 cups Cold Water

Ice, as desired

Directions: Mix all together in blender and add cold water and ice until you like the taste!

Culinary Class: Hummus & Tahini

8th Grade made Chickpea Hummus and Sesame Tahini in Culinary Class the week of October 3rd. Here are the recipe's if you'd like to replicate our delicious concoctions!

SESAME TAHINI
1/2 cup Tahini
1/4 teaspoon Cumin Powder
1/4 cup Fresh Lemon Juice
1/4 teaspoon Hing/Asafoetida Powder (can be purchased at Indian store or in the bulk spice section at Ward's in Gainesville)
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 tablespoons (or more) Fresh Parsley

Directions: Chop parsley, juice the fresh lemon, mix all ingredients in blender, and you're done!



CHICKPEA HUMMUS
1 can Chickpeas (rinsed and drained)
2 Lemons, Freshly Squeezed
1.5 teaspoons Salt
1/2 teaspoon Hing/Asafoetida Powder
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1/4 teaspoon Paprika
1/2 cup Tahini (optional, we used the recipe above)

Directions: Juice the fresh lemon, rinse and drain the canned chickpeas, mix all the ingredients in blender, and you're done!

Coat of Arms Project

ALA 5th through 8th graders have been working on their Personal Shields for 3 classes now. Class began with a visual review of a Coat of Arms, which can be seen here: CoatOfArms. We watched this video to learn more about the history of this tradition:

Students have finished their brainstorm sketch and are now transferring their work onto their Portfolio folders. Students will be finishing their Portfolios in class next week!

Guests Artists Visit Our Class!

Last week, ALA 5th through 8th grade Art Class welcomed two Guests Artists to our classroom. Vrinda Sheth is the author of the newly published book, Shadows of the Sun Dynasty. This is the first book of a Trilogy called Sita's Fire. Anna Johansson is the illustrator for this trilogy. This dynamic mother-daughter duo visited our class and gave us a behind-the-scenes look at the process of writing and illustrating for an original adaptation of the Indian epic The Ramayana. The book can be found on Amazon. ALA will also be offering Shadows of the Sun Dynasty at our book fair coming up this Wednesday.

For a sneak preview of the book's theme and illustrations, take a look at this short movie-trailer style video clip.

I made this video for an assignment in my teacher training course. I am looking forward to continue making them as an introduction to our Guest Artists throughout the school year!

The worksheet students completed in response to their experience with our Guest Artists can be seen by clicking this link.