Thunder Lab

Today in FACS we made Thunder Juice (smoothies) and Thunder Twists (Pretzels). I think the lab worked out fairly well. One group made me a small pretzel and I thought it was yummy! Here are some pics of the products!

Eggs Benedict, minus the Hollidaise Sauce

Today in foods we made eggs benedict. They turned out great, excpet for the hollandaise sauce. I looked and looked for a simple hollandaise sauce recipe that I felt would be affordable and simple enough for my students to make. I did not pick the right one. None of the groups were able to turn out a good sause, despite various attempts to alter the recipe. The students had a good time eacting the rest of the product though. At least students learned how to poach eggs today. And they learned a good recipe to NOT use for hollandaise sauce. :-)

Hmmm, I wonder what went wrong...

My FACS classes have been in the lab again. Today we made cookies- snickerdoodles and chocolate chip! Yum!! Teaching foods is always an adventure. A teacher is never sure what questions students will come up. A FOODS teacher is never sure what... product students will come up with. One of my lab groups called me over to their kitchen and showed me their pan of cookies. Then they asked me what they did wrong. This is what I saw:

Where to begin? Where to begin. We discussed the ingredients they used and based upon the flavor of the cookies (very eggish), we came up with a couple of reasonable ideas of what may have gone wrong. I hope it was a good learning experience.

This is what they were supposed to look like:

Muffins

In Foods we had been studying Carbohydrates. Our lab for this unit was to make muffins- we discussed what a perfet muffin looks like and the process to go about making them. We made 6 different kinds of muffins- each unit made a different one. The students had a good time making and sampling them. One group was so excited (or maybe just bored) for their muffins to bake, that they sat and watched them!

Each group had to bring a muffin to the front of the room so we could assess whether students foolowed the muffin method or not. Group 6 did a great job!!

Pizza

My FACS students are finally in the kitchen!! The classes yesterday and the class today made pizza. It was fun to see the students wearing the aprons they made (during the last unit) in the kitchens today. The pizzas turned out pretty good looking and my students liked them. They did a pretty good job in the lab. I was impressed.

Food Guide Pyramid Review

Today in Foods we reviewed the food guide pyramid. The students used tape to create the pyramid, then pictures of food to define each group. It was a good review of the materials and concepts we learned before the really long, great break we just had. The students had a good time working together to create their works of art and it was a good, quick way to get Foods on the brain!

Ice Cream and Apple Crisp

Today the Foods classes made homemade ice cream and apple crisp. My first period class did a great job making my classroom smell nice all day long! Everyone who walked in commented on the yummy smell. The ice cream was a little runny, but the flavor was good. Here are some pics of the products:

The students got a good workout with the ice cream. Since we don't have ice cream machines, we used ziplock bags. For the most part, there weren't any problems. We double bagged each step and duct taped the top. There were still a few groups who leaked though. Students commented on how cold their hands got while mixing the ice cream. Looking at the picture below it is hard to tell there is any ice cream in there! It was a fun lab!