Cooking 101

I don't usually write posts about our core curriculum classes; however, since this math class was a bit out of the ordinary, it will get a spot on our school blog. All throughout the year we have been learning about different types of measurement as part of our math curriculum. We first looked a lot at the measuring of time by learning the calender (days, months, and years) and then learning about telling time (seconds, minutes, and hours). Once we tackled these rather big types of measurement, we broke off into some of the smaller measurement classes. For instance, we talked about measuring temperature with our weather unit. We also did small units on weight and length measurement. Then, when I saw that Easy Bake Ovens were being sold off for pennies (since the light bulbs used in them will soon be illegal) I decided we would add a very basic fractions class and do a measurement unit on cooking.

The whole week that we studied fractions I motivated the kids to get their work done by telling them about our Easy Bake Oven. Then, when the last fraction worksheet was complete, we finally got to kick off our two week Cooking Class. The first night the kids cooked up all of the Easy Bake Mixes that came with their oven for our family home evening treats. Then, we got to the real fun. We looked up recipes online and began cooking a little something in their oven each day. For example, on Tuesday the kids made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for their gymnastics coaches. Or, on Friday, we cooked up hot dogs on a slice of cheese and Ritz cracker for lunch. The following Monday the kids even baked a four layer cake for our Hoskins Family Birthday Party. With each recipe (all except the hot dogs and s'mores where there was no measuring) we talked about teaspoons, tablespoons, and cups. We also reviewed all of the fractions we had covered. And, for a little something extra, we talked about what the different components of the recipes were for--i.e. eggs=emulients, baking soda and powder=leaveners, sugars=sweeteners, etc. The kids LOVED it.





Before too long, however, the kids, and in particular Madison, wanted to cook other things, and in the real oven. So, what could I do but let her give it a try. For a few days I had her help me with everything I made. She mixed ingredients, cooked the crepes, and even helped with the clean up. Then, on the last day of our cooking class, I turned it all over to her. I gave her my buttermilk pancake recipe and told her she was in charge of cooking breakfast. She located all of the ingredients, measured and mixed them, and then cooked the pancakes all by herself (I did turn on the stove for her, but that was all.) I was pretty proud of my little culinary student. As you can see from the picture, she was pretty proud of herself too.



While our next math unit on money won't be quite as tasty as our cooking class, hopefully, with the new cash register Santa brought, it will be equally entertaining.

Oh, and one last funny cooking picture. This is Mason's idea of helping.