Happy Year of the OX!

 

Did you have your jiaozi last night?

  Here's a how to from Cooking in the Children's House

Jiaozi (Chinese New Year Dumplings)

1 pack (30) dumpling wrapper 1 lb. ground pork (optional)
1 Chinese cabbage, chopped
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
6 fresh shiitake mushrooms
4 water chestnuts (optional)
1 clove garlic or 1 slice ginger, finely chopped
2 T. vegetable oil

Sauce
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
6 tablespoons water
½ teaspoon sesame oil
pepper, to taste

To prepare filling
Mix all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
Heat oil in a wok. Add the garlic or ginger and fry till golden brown. Add in all the vegetables and stir-fry until tender. Stir in the sauce mixture and fry until dry.
To wrap dumpling
Place some of filling in the middle of wrapper and use finger to wet the edge with water. Fold up. Work from right to left, press and shape the dumpling.
To cook dumpling
Bring water to a boil in a pot or wok. Add the dumplings and return to the boil. Remove the dumplings with a slotted spoon when they float to the surface. Jiaozi can also be fried in a skillet or wok.

 

From the vault: Jolly Goblin!

 

I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.”

—Henry David Thoreau

From the vault: Honeybees!

Bzzz!

From the vault: Peanut Butter!

From the vault: Quesadillas!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Perspective

I am writing a non fiction book for children about, wait for it...tea. Sound a bit insipid? After a few hours this morning I took a little break and my mind wandered back to the stark reality of the present. April 15, 2020.

Question to self: "Is what your doing helping?" I let it sink in for a while. Chewed on it, swallowed, and saw a child reading about camel caravans on the Silk Road and about the Boston Tea Party. Perhaps for the first time encountering the terms "colonization" or "fair trade". History can sometimes be a hard thing for kids to understand. It seems like fiction but it isn't. It doesn't feel real but it evokes real empathy. The history of something as everyday humdrum as tea may appear not to address anything important. Or does it?

As a Montessorian I am steeped in the philosophy that my task is not to fix things, but rather to create an environment ripe for understanding. Real understanding - of history, and perhaps even an awareness that it is history we are living right now. Time can be relative - especially when one is immersed in a book or learning something new. Even if it's something about a boring old cup of tea. Learning about history kids can see their place on the continuum and ultimately make decisions with an expanded perspective. That, my chamomile friends, is knowledge.

A Decade of Learning

We hold things in our hands for just so long. They slip away or are replaced by new things to touch and explore. The dream of a beautiful school for young children began much earlier than ten years ago. We have just been holding it close for that long here in this place. What a golden time we have had with memories that we will never let go. May it be so for many years to come and offer something lovely for children to hold onto forever. 

Thank you!

Summer!

Summer is a great time for children to explore the world around them, experience the joy of self-discovery and enjoy a variety of age-appropriate activities geared for their individual needs and interests. As a Montessori Children's House camper, your child will get all of this and more.

Our child-centered Montessori summer camp is playful, relaxed, and fun. It is an ideal change of pace for the summer months for our 2.5 – 8+ year old campers. We combine the best of Montessori – love of learning, free choice, independence, mutual respect, and hands on learning– with the charms only summer can afford – plenty of sprinkler and water fun, outdoor games, nature walks, gardening, fantasy play, arts and crafts, cooking, sewing, science experiments, and picnic lunches. Your child will make friendships through play, improve motor, language, and socialization skills, and continue their personal path of growth.

Our MCH summer camp is open to everyone – all families, friends, and neighbors of Montessori Children's House. If you desire a great way to transition your child entering our program in the fall, a first time camp experience, a camp staffed with our experienced and nurturing teachers, consistency and convenience for your family, or the option to choose individual weeks as needed, look no further than MCH. We can’t wait for your child to enjoy this fun-filled time of year with us!

Qualities We Look For

Parent/Teacher Conferences are coming up, and we are deep in the effort of communicating what exactly goes on at MCH for your child. It is a good time to revisit this article from Montessori For Everyone to remind us all of the sterling qualities of a Montessori child.

How we Celebrate

Once the sugary Halloween kickoff to the holiday season is over we snuggle into the pace we have developed at our school to comfortably enjoy the time between October 31 and December 31. Much of the comfort lies in our observation of Montessori principles in all we do with the children. We keep to our familiar routines as families feel theirs perhaps scattering or speeding up. Our cooking classes take place on Thursdays so we can reap the rewards at the snack table the next day or take them home to share with family. Rolling and grinding, stirring and measuring skills are practiced but an additional benefit of cooking together is to give the children an opportunity to develop a love of preparing food with friends. Each week there are numerous requests before Thursday arrives of, "Is it cooking day today?"

We make herb bread and cranberry-orange relish just in time for a contribution to the Thanksgiving table.

In December we explore traditional European dishes, like potato latkes and Santa Lucia buns.

As is the custom at our school gift giving often involves a cooking project and our last one of the year is a festive holiday sleigh made of graham crackers and decorated with lots and lots of love.

Cooking in the Children's House--#2 Orchard Applesauce

Apple Harvest

O down in the orchard

'Tis harvest time,
And up the tall ladders the fruit pickers climb.
Among the green branches
That sway overhead
The apples are hanging
All rosy and red.
Just ripe for the picking,
All juicy and sweet.
So pretty to look at
And lovely to eat.--Helen Leuty

One of the great pleasures of fall here in the Midwest is a trip to the apple orchard. It is our tradition to take the first field trip of the school year to a local orchard and then come back and make delicious from scratch applesauce. This process--literally orchard to snack table--gives the children a real sense of how one of their favorite foods is created.
First stop is a tour of the apple orchard

then inside to the sorting area

with a peek at the pie and cider making

and the cold storage room!

this orchard has a donut machine...

and lets each child take home a bag of apples!

Back at school we get to the applesauce making--

As it cooks it spreads an aroma of cinnamon apple deliciousness throughout the school. What a wonderful fall tradition to share with each other. Yum!

Applesauce

8 apples                   

¼ t salt

½ cup water

¼ t nutmeg

½ cup sugar

½ t cinnamon

Quarter apples, remove cores and add to water. Stir in sugar, salt, and spices and simmer for one hour. Adjust sugar for sweetness of apple. 

Apple Star

It is very beautiful to take an apple and cut it across the middle because throughout the center you find the shape of a star. You cut apples into very thin slices this way and give them to the children and they eat around the center star.

Apple Facts

What you don’t know about apples will seldom hurt you a bit. Sure, there are experts who know and use certain varieties for certain dishes, and you will too. But all apples are good to eat out of hand depending on your taste for sweet or tart, soft or firm. And there are many varieties good for all purposes. A few of these are:

McIntosh                       Jonathan

Ida                                  Cortland

For pies and baking:

Northern Spy               Wine sap

Wealthy                         Rome Beauty

Baldwin                         Spartan

For lunchboxes and salads:

Red & Golden Delicious             Honey crisp

3 medium apples=1 pound

3 medium apples (peeled & sliced)=2 ¾ cups

1 average apple=80 calories