Catch-All

 

What's Cookin'?

Fruit Salad with Cream Cheese Topping:
I tried this grape salad recipe from Kelly's blog.  The organic grapes I got on clearance (that looked good when I got them) were moldy by the time we got home.  Plus, I didn't have sour cream.  But I was really craving it, even though I had never tasted it before!  So.....

I used:
1/2 package cream cheese
2 Tablespoons (+/-) of rapadura
Fresh homemade buttermilk to thin to taste
3 large plums; chopped

This was outstanding!  Go see her original post for the real recipe :).

Individual Quick Pan Bread:
Another unfollowed recipe.  This quick almond pan bread was just what we needed at breakfast today.  Of course, I couldn't just follow the recipe.  Apparently I wouldn't make a great scientist!

What I did:
4 Tablespoons unbleached/unbromated flour
2 Tablespoons creamy Jersey milk
1 egg

I was using a tiny pan and wanted to share my experiment so I made 3 small flat breads instead of 1 big one.  For the original recipe go here.

What's Schoolin'?

Youngest is:
~finishing up her Grasslands lapbook (summer caught us mid-way through it so now we're finishing that up at a steady pace). 
~I can't order her Math yet so she has been doing some Math practice from last year's curriculum and we'll do Kahn Academy until I can order next month. 
~She has also been doing shelf work and I've been trying to really pay attention to what she chooses and what needs to be weeded out. 
~ She likes me to photocopy a page from a book she is reading for pleasure.  Then she draws the symbols for parts of speech over the words.  This is great practice.
~Every day she finds a new grasshopper in the garden for her pet for the day.  She has made cages out of Legos and sets up a proper environment with fresh grass, etc.  They actually just sit on her finger as if they are tamed. :) 
~ She has been volunteering in a 1-yr-old classroom.  It is so heartwarming to see her in the hall or playground with the little ones.

Olders are:
~finishing up their Chemistry lapbooks/notebooks to finally give Chem the stamp of 'complete' in life; except for middle dd who wants to CLEP it.  She'll do CLEP Professor from DIVE before moving into Physics. 
~They are studying hard for an upcoming contest which counts for Science.  The details of anatomy that they need to learn is mind boggling! 
~They are done with El Cid and are reading Lazarillo de Tormes today and tomorrow so we'll be ready to delve into Don Quixote on Monday.  [I almost have that post ready!]
~Oldest is going through some of the resources for personal finance I mentioned at this post. 
~Middle dd is about to start prepping for the PSAT.

4-H is in full swing already and keeping us busy!
The olders have their first jobs.
We have also been doing several community service projects and some leadership activities. 
We were finally able to get the Vet Assistance Prep curriculum from 4-H so they can start on that.  I only wish we had gotten it a year ago!!

Phew!  I should really do a post of our classes for this year.  It really helps me when I see others post their annual plans.