Lenten Pretzels

On Friday, the kiddos and I baked Lenten pretzels.  We learned from the "Holy Heroes Lenten Adventure" program, that pretzels originated as penitential food for Lent.  We also found out that the first pretzels were made in the Italy in the early 600s.  A monk was making Lenten bread with flour, salt and water because he could not use butter, milk and eggs due to the much more strict abstinence requirements than we have today.  He made them into the shape of prayer, as it was common to cross your arms over your chest when praying.  They were given to children as rewards for knowing their prayers.  They were also distributed to the poor and were a good form of sustenance.

After hearing all of this from the program, they were anxious to make their own.  So, after our school work was complete, we followed the recipe provided and they came out really tasty!  The kiddos put salt on the first batch and cinnamon sugar on the second.  We had a lot of fun!  :-))

Maple Sugaring at Springton Manor Farm

Today we went on a field trip to a farm (originally part of William Penn's manor) that gave the kids hands-on lessons in maple sugaring.  2 of our kiddos volunteered to measure the tree to see if it was large enough to be tapped, each got a turn to drill a hole in it and then watch the sugary sap pour out into the bucket. 

Did you know that the sap travels inside the tree at over 50 miles an hour?  I sure didn't.  Each child got to listen to the sap inside the tree with a stethoscope and my kiddos are still talking about hearing the "fast, swishing" noise!  We were told how the maple sugaring process started with the Native Americans, continued to the colonials and pioneers and is much the same today.  It was a lot of fun and we had awesome weather to boot!  :-)

After tapping the tree (we learned that it takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup!), the kids all were treated to a taste test of syrups.  They had to decide what they thought taste better: pure maple syrup, Aunt Jemima's or corn syrup.  Maple syrup won in the group as a whole (there were 20 kids), but only got votes from two of our kiddos. The other two, predictably went for the Aunt Jemima in all of its artificial splendor.  :-)

We were treated to a tour of their barn where there were all kinds of baby animals.  The baby lambs were born only 2 days ago.  The piglets were born the beginning of this month, along with the goats.  What a wonderful treat to see the beginnings of new life as we are about to begin springtime!

Another wonderful day of memories made with the kiddos!  :-)

Flashback: Valentine's Day

The kiddos and I had a great Valentine's Day afternoon.  They asked me to bake them cookies. When I suggested that we all make them together, there was nothing but lit up eyes and big smiles.  That is one of the incredible beauties of homeschooling-- being together.  There is nothing like the special bonding that comes from doing, sharing and learning together all day long and of course, there is the awesome fringe benefit of dropping everything and going to the kitchen to make cookies together!  :-)  These are the moments that they will never forget and for which I am grateful beyond words.