Sourdough Bread

        

 

 

 
 

Sourdough bread uses wild yeast instead of packaged dry yeast. Wild yeast is naturally found on many foods. If you feed it, it will grow. On day one, we mixed equal amounts of flour and water and let them sit overnight. Each day, we added more flour and water to feed the starter.  As the wild yeast begins to grow, we can see bubbles, and smell a very sour odor. By day 3, our starter, who we named Annabelle, had a very strong smell!

As well as yeast in the starter, there is also bacteria (the good kind). As the yeast and bacteria feed on the sugar in the flour, they give off carbon dioxide and lactic acid. This is what produces the bubbles and the sour smell.

On day 5 our starter was ready to use. We mixed 2 cups of the starter with 4 cups more flour. Because it was our first time making sourdough, we used some dry yeast as well to ensure success. We made it into a pan of pull apart buns, and had them at our Family Day Family dinner. Everyone enjoyed them.

Of course, after taking out the two cups of starter for the recipe, we fed Annabelle again. The starter can continue to be used as long as you keep feeding it. Next we plan to try some sourdough bread using the starter and whole wheat flour, and we will try making a loaf with only the starter for leavening.

As we were starting the recipe, the starter smelled so bad we didn’t think the end result would be any good. But it turned out to be delicious!

Foam

Foams can be delicious. 

Egg whites can be whipped into meringue. Cream can be whipped into whipped cream. And gelatine can be whipped into marshmallows.

The key to making a foam is to beat a protein. As it is beaten, the proteins are denatured (changed from their natural state) exposing the hydrophobic (water hating) and hydrophilic (water loving) ends of the protein. 

Beating the mixture also adds air. The denatured protein strands form circles around the air with the hydrophobic ends pointing in, and the hydrophilic ends pointing out towards the water. This makes lots of bubbles that we recognize as foam.

To observe the process, we made marshmallows. First we softened gelatine in some water. Then we slowly added in a simple sugar syrup and whipped it in the mixer for 15 minutes. After that, we added some vanilla, and spread it out in a pan. The pan had to sit overnight to dry out (torture not to be able to try them right away!)

The next day we cut them into squares and dusted them in icing sugar. Then we ate them ALL.
Just kidding. That would make us very sick. They are basically sugar, sugar, more sugar, and coated in sugar. Did I say sugar?

Eggs Benedict

We did some reading about emulsions, that's where two liquids that don't usually mix are combined so that one liquid is evenly distributed in the other. An example of an emulsion is Bernaise sauce, so we made Eggs Benedict.

The recipe we followed said to make the sauce first and then set it aside while you prepare everything else. I think it would have been better to do the sauce last. After preparing the sauce, it looked and tasted good, but by the time everything else was ready, the sauce had separated.

The sauce was basically made by wisking some lemon juice into egg yolks (this raises the temperature that the yolks cook at allowing you to heat them enough to kill harmful bacteria without getting scrambled eggs) and then slowly adding melted butter. Even though our sauce separated, it still tasted good and everyone enjoyed lunch.

We did some research after clean up, and apparently if the sauce separates it can be fixed by wisking another egg yolk in the double boiler and slowly pouring in the separated sauce. That's good to know if we try making this again!

Working at the co-op

The kids wanted to volunteer at the co-operative again this year, so we went up to ask what we could do. Next thing we know, we are harvesting food and running the farm stand.

It has been a great experience. We have learned to recognize different plants and how to properly harvest them. We then set out the food in pretty baskets and arrange them to make a pleasant presentation.

The kids are responsible for running the cash register, and start each day by counting their float. They have to weigh people's vegetable choices with a hanging scale and calculate prices. They are getting lots of practice at dealing with customers and making change.

When supply runs low, they have to run around and do more harvesting to restock. It is a busy time, but everyone is having fun. At the end of a shift we clear vegetables off the farmstand, count the money in the register, and make sure everything is well stocked for the next day.

And then, of course, we choose some delicious vegetables to bring home for dinner. Peas, carrots, tomatoes, and lettuce are the favourites!

South Korea

an-nyeong-ha-se-yo!

Our travels took us to South Korea this week as we learned about the peninsula east of China.

We started off learning a korean song, discovering the meaning behind their flag and doing some mapping activities.

We learned about the history of Korea and the conflict that has occured there over the years.  We read about what it is like to live in North Korea and prayed for the people there.

I found out that they are actually remembering what I teach them (always nice to know!).  Sean noticed that it was 'Korea week' and started telling them a bit of the history -

  Sean:  there is an area in between North and South Korea -

  Jennifer:  you mean the demilitarized zone?

  Sean  that's right.  It's a span of a quarter mile -

  Jennifer:  actually our book says it is 2 miles wide.


I guess they were listening to me- NICE!

Other activities of the week:

We learned about 6 animals and put them on our animal board.

We made and decorated some crowns while learning about Korea's history of metal craft and elaborately decorated metal crowns (ours were made of cardstock and stickers with a little glitter.)

Homeschool turned into "Hotel School" this week as we spent a few days on vacation.  While away we learned about and played some popular Korean games: Kawi, Bawi, Bo (known to us as rock, paper, scissors) and Jae gi cha gi (hacky sack).  No pictures of the games, but here's one from our trip.  We spent a lot of time swimming, and tired out all the kids!

We ended up our week with a recipe - Korean beef. 

This recipe did not go over as well as last weeks.  It turned out pretty good, but the kids did not enjoy it at all.

That's it for this week, time to say goodbye to Korea and continue on our travels...

China

Ni Hao!

This week we stamped our passports and headed off for a week of learning about China.  

We started by finding China on the map and learning some facts such as the capital city, the language spoken and a bit about the government.

We learned to sing a song in Mandarin, and write numbers from 1-10.  We also read about some families that live there and what their lives are like. 

The girls did some mapping activities and did some research on the Great Wall.  They then started making their own model of it.  It took awhile to get done, but now their playmobile people are able to go sightseeing in China and walk along the Great Wall!

Next we learned about 6 animals that live in China and put their pictures up on our Animal Classification Board.  The girls enjoyed researching these animals and were surprised to find out that the pangolin - with it's scaly skin - is actually a mammal!

Lots of other fun activities occurred throughout the week...

Making Chinese Lanterns:

And Chinese Fans:

And making some paper (which was invented in China):

We finished off the week making some Chinese food for dinner - fried rice, sweet and sour pork, and a cucumber salad.  I didn't expect this to go over well since my kids normally dislike rice with a passion.  But they did try it...





And they liked it!!

 

They asked that whenever I make rice from now on, could I please use this recipe.  I think the chopsticks made it taste better too.  After dinner Allie said "Now I know how HARD it is to live in China - the kids have to eat their rice with chopsticks!"



Chemistry Class - reactions

This week we looked at how molecules act when introduced to other molecules.  They always follow the rules, and sometimes a reaction will occur.  The girls enjoyed their lab this week where we were able to observe some reacions occurring.

First they made observations of the liquids being used (lemon juice, vinegar, milk, baking soda solution)...

Then they predicted what would happen...

lemon juice mixed with milk formed particles of curdled milk...

lemon juice mixed with the baking soda solution made many bubbles...

after the "bubble explosion" Allie was a bit apprehensive to do any more mixing...

vinegar mixed with baking soda made more bubbles...