Two for Tuesday: Buttermilk Cinnamon Syrup

Yep. You read that right. Syrup.

Because what syrup really needs is real melted butter and buttermilk to round out the whole American eating experience.

This was borne out of desperation. I made my standby of fluffy pancakes and cheesy scrambled eggs for dinner. I knew the bottle of syrup was running low, but also knew that I had another bottle in the downstairs pantry. I was right on the first point, and very wrong on the second point.

Allrecipes came through with this delicious and miraculously easy solution. I don't keep buttermilk on hand, but I put a half tablespoon of vinegar in a half a cup of milk and let it sit for five minutes. The original recipe made two and a half cups of syrup. I halved it for our family dinner. (Thie amounts give are the amounts I used. It filled my little creamer pitcher perfectly.)

Buttermilk Cinnamon Syrup

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup milk + 1/2 Tbs vinegar (or 1/2 cup buttermilk)
• 1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 Tbs corn syrup
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp baking soda

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add everything else except the baking soda. Stir. (The milk looks curdled and horrible at first. Don't panic. It blends in eventually.)
2. Bring to a simmer while stirring.
3. Whisk in baking soda. Mixture will froth like a volcano. Whisk 10 seconds and remove from heat.
4. Continue stirring (but not whisking.) Syrup will begin to lose its foamy top.
5. Let sit for a couple minutes, then pour into small pitcher for serving and pouring. It will be very thin at first, but will start to thicken as it cools.

This stuff is creamy, smooth, rich, and heavenly. The cinnamon is a very subtle flavor.

On a completely different subject.....

My family needs to love zucchini. I love zucchini. Zucchini is delicious.

And this scrumptious looking stuffed zucchini dish might be hitting our kitchen table sometime in the near future.

Life Skills

At the beginning of the school year, I was writting about how to make sure Sweetling really learned everything she would need to know to function as an adult. (Even though I don't really want to think about how few years we have left before she is an adult. Why do they have to grow up so fast?)

Shortly after that, I got a call that our co-op needed someone to teach the high school Life Skills class. Hmmm......

Yesterday was my first class. Other than me being the smallest person in the room, I'm really excited about the class. I decided that trying to teach life skills in a lecture format, or from a book, is just pointless. So, we're going to have a project driven class. I put together a syllabus and a list of projects and their requirements. Each week in class, the students will share with each other what they learned by doing that week's project. Then we'll briefly discuss the upcoming project with the time we have left in class.

I don't think this approach would work with a begrudging group of students, but I happen to have an awesome group of young men who I feel confident will really do great with individual projects that require a lot of self-initiative.

And because I labor under the delusion that someone else might be as interested in this as me, here is the front page of my syllabus for the class.

Welcome to Life Skills. This is a single semester, project driven class. Students will be expected to work independently to conduct research and complete multi-step assignments outside of class. We will be using class time to share the results of our projects and to discuss the next project. However, the bulk of the students’ effort and learning will be taking place outside of class.

The goal for this class is to help prepare the high school student to step into the role of an adult with confidence and integrity.

Students will be receiving a letter grade for this class. Each project will receive a letter grade, all of which will be averaged together for a final semester grade. Projects will be assigned a letter grade based on the following criteria:

A—Project completed with excellence. Project meets all given requirements PLUS includes an additional student selected and student driven element.

B—Project completed with excellence. Project meets all given requirements.

C—Project completed but is substandard OR lacks one requirement.

D—Project lacks more than one requirement.

F—No project is presented.

Please note that projects will be accepted up to one week late but will be marked down one letter grade on the grading scale. If a student is unable to attend co-op that week, projects can be emailed to the instructor before class time or can be sent to co-op with a friend or other family member. (With advance written notice, exceptions will be made for extended travel time.)

A single class is insufficient to completely prepare a student in all the skill and knowledge areas needed as an adult. However, we will try to focus on some key concepts. It is my hope that the experience of researching and problem solving can be used and applied to other areas of life as needed.

Several of the assignments will have more than one project option so that students may pursue an area of unique interest to them. Some projects will require more than one week to complete, and should be started in advance. A three-ring binder to organize projects and assignment sheets is recommended. Regular Internet access is invaluable for research. Parental involvement and assistance will also be needed for some of the projects.

And here is the list of projects with their due dates and their requirements.


Christian Life (due January 30th)

1. Complete a personal gift inventory. (There is a youth or an adult version on kodochrome.org or you can use another of your choosing.)
2. Give an interpretation of what this inventory means for you. This can be a written essay, a power point presentation, a video file, or other format.)
3. Research options for personal discipleship and present your findings.
4. Keep a record of when and where you are engaged in discipleship. Make note of the strengths and weaknesses of this plan.

Time Management Log (due February 6th)

1. Record how you spend your time for three consecutive days. Pick days that are fairly typical of your normal life.
2. Add up the amount of time you spend in various categories (school, work, sports, activities, tv, computer, video games, hobby, etc). Create a graph or visual display of the proportion of time.
3. Make a basic weekly schedule for yourself based on the activities and time breakdowns you are currently using.
4. Review your time log and weekly schedule. Are there any areas which should be adjusted? What and how?

Project Completion Sheet (due February 13th)

1. Pick any medium or large project that is of interest to you and is something you haven’t tried before.
2. Write out the steps needed to complete your project and the approximate time you think you will need to complete each step. It’s better to estimate a little high in terms of time needed than to estimate too low.
3. Look at your weekly schedule and pencil in when you will complete each step of the project.
4. Work on the project, make note of time differences, difficulties, and what you did to adjust in each of these areas.

Post High-School Options (due February 20th)

1. Research at least three different and specific options you might like to pursue post high school. These options should be ones which can be pursued within a few months of graduation.
2. Make a list of the requirements needed for each option as well as the benefits to be gained by pursuing them.
3. For each option, complete a brief financial analysis (cost to pursue the option or wages earned from the option.)
4. How on track are you for meeting the requirements of any of these options?

Menu and Grocery List (due Feburary 27th)

1. Create a basic 6 day meal plan for one or two people. Include balanced choices for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
2. Using your meal plan, create a grocery list for all needed ingredients or components of your plan.
3. At any store, or stores, of your choice, compute how much you menu would cost for a week. If you “purchase” some of your food in bulk, include both the total cost for the trip as well as the cost for just the amount you would have consumed that week.
4. With this data, project how much you would be likely to spend on groceries for a two week period and for a month.

Housekeeping Schedule and Application (due March 5th)

• Option ONE—Check out FlyLady.com. Read about her concept of developing daily routines and dividing the home into cleaning zones. Either complete her detailed zone cleaning list for this week, or complete a daily mission for the zone each day of the week. Share what you learned.
• Option TWO—Take over all regularly scheduled cleaning in your home for the week (including laundry, dishes, etc). Share what you learned.
• Option THREE—Develop your own cleaning schedule for a home. How will your schedule ensure that both the regular maintenance and the less frequent deep cleaning gets accomplished? Try out your schedule for one week. Share what you learned.
• Option FOUR—Use another resource of your choosing to implement a housekeeping system. Try it for a week and share what you learned.

Computer Maintenance (due March 12th)

• Option ONE—Learn what you can about spyware, firewalls, virus protection software, and data back up. How do each of these affect the performance of a computer.
• Option TWO—With the permission or assistance of an adult, learn how to install software.
• Option THREE—With the permission or assistance of an adult, learn how to install or upgrade hardware or how to set up a computer.
• Option FOUR—Research the rates outside services charge for data recovery, virus removal, or other computer repair services.

Home DIY Project (due March 19th)

• Option ONE--Pick any home or garden repair, decorating, or building project that you would like to attempt. Use the internet or library resources for instructions and get permission before you begin. Work on and complete the project. Take before and after photos and share what you learned.
• Option TWO—Assist in any home repair or building project which requires skills or knowledge that is new to you. Share what you learned.

Community Service (due March 26th)

1. Complete at least three hours of community service in a field or area which you have never worked in before.
2. Explain how and why you picked the project and whether it was a good match for your skills, abilities, and interests. If it wasn’t, what would be a better match?
3. How can you continue to include volunteering in your regular life?

Car Maintenance and Repair (due April 2nd)

• Option ONE—If you don’t already know how, learn how to safely jump a car or how to change a flat tire. With supervision, practice the new skill.
• Option TWO—What is the recommended maintenance schedule for changing the oil in a car? How do you check the oil level? If you haven’t done so before, find someone who will let you assist in this process. How much does it cost to do it yourself? How much does it cost to have it done somewhere?
• Option THREE—What fluids go into a car? Where do they go? How do you check their levels? When should you add more or change them? How do you check the tire pressure? With supervision, check all these items on a car and add more if needed.
• Option FOUR—Assist a friend or family member with any car repair or tune up.

Apartment Costs (due April 16th)

1. Shop for a basic apartment in the area which you might like to live. How much is the rent? The utilities? The deposit? How much is it to get phone or cable connected?
2. What furniture would you need to move in? How would you get these items? (Include dishes, towels, pots and pans, small appliances, etc)
3. What basic cleaning supplies would you need? How much would they cost? (hint—check the dollar store for some of these)
4. How much money, total, would you need to have in savings in order to move into this apartment?

Personal Budget (due April 23rd)

1. Using the research from your post high school options, your apartment cost project, and your menu and grocery list project, complete a possible personal budget. How much money would you need to earn in a pay period to make such a budget work? (don’t forget items such as gas, car insurance, phone bills, entertainment, clothing, tithing, and savings)
2. Is your budget achievable based on the type of jobs you might be likely to get soon after high school? If not, what adjustments could you make?
3. Do you know how to balance a checkbook against a bank statement? Ask your parents to let you observe how they balance their own accounts.
4. Keep a real record of your own spending and any earnings for a one month period. Is how you are handling money now consistent with how you hope to handle money in the future?

Safety (due April 30th)

• Option ONE—Research dating violence. What warning signs should you be aware of? How do you protect yourself on a date and in a relationship? (Remember, abuse isn’t always physical. Men can often find themselves in a relationship with an emotionally abusive woman.) Share what you learn.
• Option TWO—Research identity theft. What precautions can you take to protect yourself from fraud? Share what you learn.
• Option THREE—Take a self-defense class.

Relationship Reports (due May 7th)

1. Select and read ONE of the following books:
• For Young Men Only, or For Young Women Only, by Shaunti and Jeff Feldhann;
• Love and Respect, by Dr. Emmerson Eggerichs;
• The Five Love Languages, by Gary Chapman;
• Saving Your Marriage Before it Starts, by Les and Leslie Parrott
2. Write a brief report or summary of a few of the key concepts you learned in the book.
3. Talk to your parents or to another married couple you know and respect. Ask them about their marriage. What makes it strong? What difficulties did they have to overcome? What advice would they give to a newlywed couple?

Jesse Owens

I've just realized I've been avoiding posting on the "week in review" because our history projects this year haven't been as photogenic as our projects last year. We've still been learning, and I really like Homeschool in the Woods. All the same, Sweetling's main project has been writing articles for a newspaper (which doesn't lend itself to a photograph....unless I get her to dress up as an intrepid reporter). Likewise, Toa of Boy has been working on the components of a lap book, again, not the most exciting thing to photograph.

And without photos, just saying "this week we learned about some of the famous people who became between 1870 and the break out of WW2," just doesn't make for an interesting blog post.

But, it does when I tell it in a story like this.

Our lesson last week was a huge smattering of famous Americans from the Industrial Revolution through the Great Depression. As always, I popped the Time Traveler disc into the Media Center PC which is hooked up to the big flat screen in the living room. We read the lesson, and as we were reading, we'd pause and do google searches on the people and topics we were reading about. We pulled up photos of P.T. Barnum, of Jumbo, and Tom Thumb. We pulled up photos of Buffalo Bill and Anne Oakley.  We listened to "The Entertainer", to "Stars and Stripes Forever", and to a few famous hymn written during this time. We watched the Fantasia 2000 segment of Rhapsody in Blue as well as a silent film of Harry Houdini performing a rope escape. We read about Helen Keller, Jesse Owens, Charles Lindbergh, and Amelia Earhart--people who did what others claimed couldn't be done.

The next day, Sweetling churned out another page of newspaper articles and Toa of Boy put together a fan book of many of these famous people. The day after that, Toa of Boy added five fact cards to his 100 cool things about America, choosing 5 of these famous people to highlight. Sweetling added an advertisement for The Greatest Show on Earth to her newspaper.

And I didn't write up a week in review because I didn't have any pictures to make our learning look interesting. And somehow, I thought we weren't doing as many cool projects and learning activities as we had done last year.

Then Sunday night at church, the kids were asked to name some people who were truly great. The nearly all boys group came up with Michael Jordan and another basketball player whose name I'd butcher if I tried to recall it.

And then Toa of Boy raised his hand and said, "Jesse Owens." And then he proceeded to give a brief reason of why Jesse Owens was truly great.

I had this "aha" moment where I realized, wow, we really are learning cool things this year after all!

Yeah, I know, I'm slow like that.

Jesse Owens, I am not.

Two for Tuesday: Spaghetti Pizza

This is a great answer to the "what's for dinner?" question.

Spaghetti Pizza (or Pizza Spaghetti, if you prefer!)

This was born out of the realization that I had little on hand to make a decent dinner with, not a lot of time, and I didn't want to fall back on my boring old staple of plain spaghetti. Thus the last minute birth of Spaghetti Pizza!

Ingredients

• 1 lb spaghetti noodles ( a little less than a pound actually)
• 28 oz jar of spaghetti sauce
• shredded mozzarella cheese
• any pizza toppings you might have on hand (pepperoni, diced ham, chopped peppers, etc)

 Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 425.
2. Pour a tablespoon or two of oil onto of a large pot of water. Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. Add spaghetti noodles.
3. While noodles are boiling, grease a 9x13 or so casserole pan. Also, heat spaghetti sauce in a separate pan. Complete a scavenger hunt through your fridge and pantry for "pizza toppings".
4. When noodles are cooked (but not mushy), drain water COMPLETELY. Trust me on this one. Put a lid on the colander and shake all the water out. 
5. Spread noodles in the greased casserole dish. The entire pound probably won't fit. (Remember, you need to leave room for sauce and toppings.) Put the extra noodles in a container for lunch leftovers or something.
6. Spread warm spaghetti sauce over the noodles. 
7. Sprinkle shredded cheese over the top until sauce is covered. 
8. Top with whatever ingredients you have on hand. Place toppings on half or on sections if you have certain family members who don't care for a particular topping.
9. Pop it in the oven for just long enough to melt and slightly brown the cheese. (Just like a 'real' pizza.)
10. Allow to cool for 5 to 10 minutes, then cut it with a pizza slicer and use a spatula to serve out the pieces. (They won't maintain their structural integrity, but that's ok.)

We had this last night for dinner, and my family loved it! It might just go on our regular menu rotation. 

 Meanwhile, I just finished baking a batch of pineapple zucchini muffins. My children are very skeptical about such a combination. A conversation with a certain young lady went like this:

Sweetling: What kind of muffins are you making?
Me: Pineapple zucchini muffins.
Sweetling: Wait, seriously?
Me: Yes, they will be delicious.
Sweetling: Of course. And you're not crazy at all, are you?

I have just laid down the "you have to ate least try these" law with both my children. It's good to be the Mom, baby.

Weekly Wrap-Up: In With the New!

I don't think I've written a week in review since August. But, to quote Flylady, "....just jump in where you are."

This week. I'm just going to focus on this week, and not go into a lengthy explanation of how I got so far off track.

This week started with taking down the Christmas tree. That's always a bittersweet thing. I like the Christmas tree, and yet, I'm also ready to get back to a routine. (Well, I'm a little ready to get back to a routine.) In our family, each year we take turns deciding how the tree will be decorated. This year, it was Mama's turn. (My mama, my mama lives with us now.) She decided we were each going to make heart shaped paper ornaments and write our favorite Scripture verses about Jesus on the ornaments. It was lovely.

Since the tree was all decorate in red and pink hearts, I considered petitioning leaving it up until mid-February for Valentine's Day. But, in the end, the tree needed to come down so that we could get back to the business of school.

So, by Tuesday, we had gotten back into the swing of things. We're using Homeschool in the Woods' Time Traveler series for our history curriculum, and our timelines are coming along so well, we need the entire living room floor to spread them out.

Art led us to a cool pop up of Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Waters (part of our Time Traveler's pack). AND, to a neat cardinal in winter art project, courtesy of Deep Space Sparkle.

Showcased behind the cardinal is some bare winter tree branches. We took our camera outside and snapped some pictures of branches highlighted against the blue sky. We each took turns with the camera and zoomed in on the section of branches we wanted to photograph. Of course, it was a warm, beautiful, sunny day....so this turned into an excuse to take a walk around the neighborhood.

Back inside, we pulled the photos up on the computer, talked about the negative space in between the branches, and used our photographs to inspire us when we drew the branches behind our cardinal.

Then we followed Deep Space Sparkle's directions to complete our art. We painted the sky using blue metallic acrylic paint. We painted in the cardinal and the branches and used a thin black brush to add details.

We haven't done the final step of using a Qtip dipped in white paint to add snowflakes. We're waiting for the rest of the paint to dry first.

Sweetling's science has been on hold since October. Her November subjects got paired to the bone in order to free her up to participate in NaNoWriMo. This week, she got back to her amazing glider. Check him out...I put a folding yardstick by him for a scale.

His wings are covered in this cool plastic which she shrunk to a perfect fit using a hair dryer. Supplies and directions were all part of her Education Exploration science curriculum.

Toa of Boy is more than ready to move on in science, and he wants to study space next. So, Apologia's Exploring Creation through Astronomy has been ordered and is being shipped. In the meantime, Chapter Two is available as sample pages on Apologia's home page. Chapter Two is all about the sun, so we read about the sun, got a soccerball and a peppercorn to compare the size of the sun with the size of the earth. (It was supposed to be a basketball, but we don't have a basketball, so we did our best.)

And, most importantly, Toa of Boy got to witness a small fraction of the awesome energy of the sun by using a magnafying glass to burn a hole in a leaf outside. (We tried a piece of paper first, but wound up using a dried leaf.)

Not bad for a first week back in a long time!

To read what other homeschoolers are doing this week, hop on over to Weird Unscocialized Homeschoolers.

One for Wednesday: Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Ok, it's really Two for Tuesday. On a Wednesday. And though I was going to post just one recipe, I now have another.

So it is Two for Wednesday, really. But I can't use that as a blog post because it doesn't have any poetic value.

Maybe there's some sort of 12 step program for alliteration addicts.

Anyway, love this cookie recipe. It makes a TON of cookies (maybe 4 to 5 dozen?). Be warned. You should half it if you don't want to spend all afternoon taking trays of cookies in and out of the oven. But they keep well, and they are full of whole grains. And, most importantly, they are delicious.

I always divide the dough and make half with semi-sweet chocolate chips, and half with white chocolate chips. Plus, I believe cookie dough is the stuff that holds the chocolate chips together, so I tend to go heavy with my chips. Stir in as much or as little as you and your family personally like.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 and 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 4 eggs
• 3 cups packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 5 cups rolled oats
• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 cups EACH of white chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to just 325. Not 375 like most cookies!
2. In a huge bowl, cream  together butter and brown sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time, and vanilla.
3. Add oats, flours, baking soda, and salt.
4. Divide dough. Place half in another bowl.
5. Add between 1 and 2 cups chips to each bowl. (White in one and semi-sweet chocolate in another).
6. Scoop by heaping teaspoon to cookie sheets.
7. Bake at 325 for 10 to 12 minutes. Don't overbake!

I think a couple batches of cookies might be hitting the counter in the near future. The very near future. We've burned through almost all the Christmas goodies. Time to restock!

And the Two part of my Two for Tuesday. I haven't made these yet, but I've asked the Jedi to give me one more week to do something with the pumpkin sitting near my desk downstairs. The pumpkin might be volunteering for this:

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Told you I was in a cookie mood.

New Year's Resolutions

Every year, I promise myself I WILL NOT make any New Year's Resolutions. I never keep them.

Yet, every year, I come slinking back and make a couple New Year's Resolutions. Telling myself the lie that this year, this year, it will be different.

Here I am again. But this year, this year, it will be different.

This year, I'm not makin a whole list of resolutions. This year, I'm going to start small and keep it simple. I'm going to make one resolution. Only one. I'm going to keep it for a month. Only a month. And they are going to be small, manageable, easy things. Small manageable easy things that will make my life better.

January's goal is to remember to turn the dishwasher on before I go to sleep.

Simple, right?

And how happy will it be to start the day out with clean dishes.