The Hippie Moose: homeschooling

Over the March break my sister came down with her two boys and in an effort to keep them all amused we decided on a ferry ride. It was a pretty cold day and this offered a lot of amusement for free.

The bonus in it all was that I finally got over to the Wolfe Island Wind Farm to see the turbines up close. They are amazing.

The kids even enjoyed following the route the energy takes from turbine to Joe Smiths home. They had it all mapped out at the information hut. I love the unexpected lessons that we can take home and do more research on!

March 22, 2010 1 comments

I just found a pretty cool book at the library. If you have boys, or girls of a certain personality, you should give it a look! It's called "100% Pure Fake". There are instructions on how to make fake blood, puke, poop, brains, etc. My boys are lovin' it. It certainly brings out their disgusting- joke nature. So far we have made fake blood, a dead finger in a box, and fake pee which is appropriate since we have three dogs. Next up, edible dog poop made of oatmeal, cocoa powder, green food colouring, etc.

February 02, 2010 2 comments

This past week I did a lesson with the boys on how to make butter. Originally I was going for a straight imparting of information but it turned into a bit of a science experiment. You see I bought the wrong dairy product. I reached for whipping cream and came away with table cream. I didn't realize my mistake until we were well into it so I had to think fast to redeem myself. I guess I could have said "hey look, I bought the wrong thing!" but why? After our first run we got our hands on some whipping cream and did it all again!

First experiment (500 ml Table Cream): Shake time: 40 min. Butter achieved: about 1/4 cup.

Second experiment (500 ml whipping cream): Shake time: 14 min. Butter achieved: about 1 cup.

We made a few loaves of bread with the buttermilk and had daddy help us with a taste test to round out the experiment.

For those who would like to give this a try, you will need WHIPPING CREAM (learn from my mistakes people), a big ol' mason jar with lid... or other seal able container which allows lots of shaking room (the more space, the faster the process), a bowl, a wooden spoon, and a sieve to drain off the buttermilk from the butter.

Pour milk into the jar. Shake like crazy. You will eventually get whipped cream... keep going. As soon as the liquid separates from the milk solids you're golden! Pour it all out into the sieve, KEEP THE MILK (it's great for making bread, biscuits, pancake batter, etc.) Plop your butter into a bowl, take a wooden spoon to it to extract any remaining milk... and presto! You can stir in a pinch of salt if you like, or go unsalted.

January 31, 2010 4 comments

Here is the recipe I use with the boys for bread... I think they have made it enough times to almost be able to do it solo! (It's from the book: "From Amish and Mennonite Kitchens" by Good and Pellman). This goes out to fellow homeschool mama Jordin!

White Bread

1 pkg dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp.)

1/2 cup warm water

1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp salt

2 cups warm water

2 1/2 tbsp. melted shortening

6-7 cups flour

1. Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water.

2. In large bowl combine sugar, salt, water, and shortening. Add yeast mixture. Gradually add flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto floured surface and knead until smooth. Place in greased bowl. Cover and let rise 2 hours. Punch down. Divide into 2 portions and form loaves. Place in greased bread pans. Prick tops with fork. Let rise until higher than pans (1 1/2 - 2 hours)

3. Bake at 375 degrees for 25-20 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. Remove to cooling rack. You can brush tops with butter if desired.

My FAVORITE bread recipe is posted HERE but is a bit more labour intensive and not appropriate for kids because of the boiling water.

A while back Mother Earth News did some articles about No-Knead Breads.... I really want to try this one.... I will let you all know how it goes...

Easy, No-knead Crusty Bread

January 19, 2010 9 comments