Cakes!!!

This week and on into next week is Cakes!! I have never taught a unit over cakes before but I have had experience teaching different methods involved in making a certain type of cake. There are all types of cakes that fall into 3 categories: shortened (lots of fat; i.e. pound cake, texas sheet cake), unshortened cakes (little or no fat; i.e. foam cakes, angel food cake) and chiffon/genoise cakes (combination of eggs, and some fat; i.e. jelly roll cake). I have made jelly roll cakes before in a class. They are fun and the kids love them, so that is how we are starting out this unit. Tomorrow I demo a pumpkin cake roll with a cream cheese frosting filling and then students make their own. After that lab, we move on to different kinds of cakes that fall into the 3 categories. So, the question again is, what are your favorite kinds of cakes?

I am personally not too much of a cake fan, I love sweets, but can pass on cake. If I had to pick, I really enjoy a great wedding cake that is moist and fluffy and has an excellent frosting on it (if you can tell, I am not quite sure what type of cake or frosting this would be, but I am determined one day to figure that all out)!

Soups and Sandwiches

So, this weeks lab was soups and sandwiches. We made 2 hot sandwiches that were fun and unique. We made 2 soups, Broccoli Cheddar and Homemade Chicken Noodle! They were great and the students enjoyed them too. I am a big soup fan! I especially love going to soup, sandwich, and salad type eateries. As it is called here, St. Louis Bread Co., (Panera), is one of my favorites. I like paninis and soups like baked potato, new england clam chowder, etc. What are your favorites?

Meat

So, this week's topic is meat. Before I taught it, I understood some of it but not everything. I really grossed some students out talking about the details behind slaughtering, the different cuts of meat, how it ends up on your table, cooking it to the right temperture,etc. But then I really got a lesson this weekend. My boyfriend killed a deer, a 10-point buck to be exact, and I had said that if anyone killed a deer this past weekend that I wanted to see everything about what to do once it's dead. Sorry, I am not a morbid person, it was just curiousity. So, he woke me up at 6:45am and said 'You ready.' I bundled up and got out there with all the frost covering the fields and trees. He showed me how you have to pull all the organs out and let them bleed out, then for the skinning, and last the cutting up of all the meat. And, if you are grossed out right now, this is life. This is the reality of how meat, poultry, fish and seafood end up prepared for you to buy, cook and eat from the grocery store!! (I apologize if you are sensitive to animals or if you are not a meat eater)

4 kinds of milk...

From Twitter....
Hint: Cow's milk is one of them! :)

Cheese!!

Ok first some websites I love for recipes and information:
http://www.cookscountrytv.com/
http://www.foodnetwork.com/
http://www.wheatfoods.org/Recipe-Recipe/Index.htm
http://www.dairymakessense.com/educator/
Now, for cheese....Again, I had a guest speaker today in my foods class that was from a local grocery store that brought the students an array of cheeses for them to sample. It was great! I love cheese! Ever heard of gouda, gruyere, gorgonzola, brie, havarti, feta, asiago, ....and so many more. What are your favorite cheeses? After the presentation today, I was left with lots of left-overs, so here's the plan for tonights meal. Spaghetti with meat sauce and some asiago and parmeasan sprinkled on top, fresh mozzarella garlic cheese bread toasted!

Food!!!

I decided that I am going to blog about food. I like to cook and I have taught several cooking classes. There are many foods that I like. I actually happen to be watching a cooking show right now. Currently, in the foods class that I am teaching, we are learning about grains. We had a great guest speaker from a local culinary school here come in and entertain the kids with all sorts of grains and stories! He inspired me to get back to eating healthier. I was really turned on to a variety of grains a couple years ago because of recipes my mom came across and cooked for us. Ever heard of bulgur, quinoa, couscous, wheat germ,?? How about risotto? Oh, how I love risotto (Italian rice)....speaking of risotto, my mom is supposed to send me a recipe that included butternut squash in the risotto recipe. I recently bought a butternut squash at the store not quite sure what I wanted to do with it yet; might make soup. Don't know yet, but I will blog about it when I do. Tonight's meal: penne pasta with yellow bell peppers, mushrooms, and a cheesy cream sauce with garlic toast (homemade, of course). Bon Appetite! Let me know your favorites!

New class

Ok, like Cindy said in her new post on her old blog, I too will give this another go around. I also feel that I am a very private person and all of the accounts and posting that we are doing for either blogger, or twitter is too much for me. I like technology but this class is making me realize I don't like it that much. I don't feel the need to post my every thought and comment throughout the day for other people to learn more about me. Throughout the course of our degree program I have very much enjoyed learning about all of the different avenues that we can explore and take students on and integrate in our classrooms, but at the same time I have realized that it is a pick and choose kind of thing. There are just some venues that I am not interested in being a part of. My head spins when I think about all of the sites that I need to check and update and post to........anyone else feel this way OR is it a shame that I feel this way because I am getting a degree in Educational Technology???