Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Today we tasted all of the food that we made. We sampled cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, Stone Soup, cornbread, homemade butter, and lots of different types of bread. It wasn’t so easy making the butter. We had to pass a container with heavy cream and salt in it around the table. Each person took 10 turns shaking it until the milk turned into butter. We knew we were done when it looked like there was milk inside of the container. Mikey ended up finding the special stone in his soup while he was eating! We finished making our Most Thankful Things book. Everyone got to take a copy home. Ms. Stern read a few books over the past few days describing life long ago for children. They were: Sarah Morton’s Day, Samuel Eaton’s Day, and On the Mayflower. We learned that children long ago wore different clothing and more layers than we do. Boys had jobs working to harvest and hunt with the men, while the girls took care of chores around the house. They both had lessons that were taught at home. Children didn’t go to school back then. We also learned that children then had much harder chores than we do. We all agree that we’d rather live today than in the 1600s! Today was a great day. We realized that we all have LOTS to be thankful for. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Here are the recipes from our sampling:

Pumpkin Pie
1 (5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
1 cup milk
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust

In a medium bowl, combine pudding, pumpkin, milk, and cinnamon. Mix slowly for about 1 minute. Fold whipped topping into the mixture then spoon entire mixture into pie shell. Freeze until firm (about 4 hours). Let stand at room temperature for about 10 minutes before slicing.

Cranberry Sauce
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 package cranberries

Before cooking, rinse cranberries in cold water and remove stems or bruised fruit. Combine water and sugar in medium saucepan. Heat to boiling. Stir in cranberries, returning to boiling. Reduce heat; cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool to room temperature; cover and refrigerate until serving time.

Cornbread
Follow recipe on box.

Butter
Pour heavy cream in a container with a sealable lid. Shake vigorously until the butter solidifies and liquid is extracted. Drain the liquid. Add salt to taste.

Stone Soup
Beef bones
Stone (washed)
Yellow onion, chopped
Salt and pepper (to taste)
Pot filled with water
Carrots
Barley
Soup vegetable pack (found in the produce department)
1 can of stock (chicken, beef, or vegetable)
2 red potatoes

Brown the meat in the pot. Add the onions and allow to cook until tender. Add water to the pot. Include the rest of the ingredients. Allow to simmer over medium heat for 3-5 hours. Serve and enjoy!