We have come to a critical place as educators–to embrace technology or try to beat it down by forcing kids to keep it in their lockers or not bring it to school. While technology should not distract from learning it can enhance it if we let it. Here are some Apple App’s to aide in teaching Family Consumer Sciences.
I stumbled upon cake pops a few years ago and decided to give them a try with my hospitality students. We were making food to sell as a fundraiser at the prom fashion show. These are delicious and genius creations sure to be a crowd pleaser.
At the end of two summers ago the board of education came knocking on my door to let me know that they want to renovate the culinary room over the summer. Of course that is great news because the kitchens haven’t been redone since the late sixties early seventies–yes, we still have the olive green stove hoods and refrigerators!
I came across this blog that is written on school lunch by an anonymous teacher that goes by Mrs. Q. She has made a project out of eating school lunch every day and documents the progress. She is an advocate for improving the national school lunch program. Interesting read if you have time.
“The Chocolate show is the largest international show exclusively dedicated to the chocolate industry. Celebrating all that is special about chocolate, it provides chocolate professionals with a unique communication platform. All those working in the industry and chocolate lovers of every kind can get together to express their views, share experiences and enjoy their passion for chocolate.”
Food Inc. (DVD): If you haven’t watched this documentary I would highly recommend it!
In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation’s food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government’s regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation’s food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won’t go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults
Encouraging people to learn where their food comes from is becoming a popular trend these days and rightfully so as all the packaged, processed food we consume tends to cause some people to forget where their food actually comes from. Depending on your students background, some may have never been to a farm or have ever grown their own gardens. What better way to discover the origin of food then take a field trip to the orchard? Picking apples, peaches, and pears is a lot of fun. So you’re going to pick a whole lot of fruit for what? To bake with of course! Here are a few of my favorite orchard recipes.
My students were aghast that the new Five Guy’s Burgers and Fries that opened up in town were selling 800 calorie hamburgers! Apparently one of them had done their research. I wanted to confirm this information for myself hoping it was only an exaggeration so I went to their website. Quite frankly I was surprised at what I found and thought surely not all restaurants were the same. My hunch was correct, not all restaurants and fast food places are the same some were much worse than an 800 calorie burger! Thus a new lesson was born.
Measuring flour and other ingredients can make all the difference in a baked good’s success. Baking is a science and the slightest amount over or under what the recipe calls for can mean an inferior product or inconsistent results. Teach your students with confidence after learning the difference between these two methods.
Since there are already a lot of lessons on yeast and yeast breads, this is a compilation of my favorite yeast recipes, lessons, videos and scientific explanations.
