Thanksgiving recipe changes for our vegetables and Thanks for a good life.

My Husband and I returned from our vacation in Mexico.  We are so thankful being able to enjoy our life together celebrating our 27th anniversary.  Although the place we stayed was amazing it made me realize the world is full of those that have and those that have not.  We are blessed with family, love  and careers,  and I am ever grateful for these things.

Upon my return I was hired for two days to work with students from my former districts ALC (Alternative Learning Center) to prepare a reward meal for the students trimester end.  It was a lovely celebration and great to see the students enjoy and appreciate a meal together.  We made a traditional U.S. Thanksgiving meal.  Turkey, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Green Bean Casserole, Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Salad, Pumpkin and Apple Pie.  The meal was a great success and it was nice to see students in this positive setting. 



At Home

While preparing for our small Thanksgiving day meal at home.  (Only 9 this year, missing my son and his girl, my dad and sister and my brother...) I decided that we should keep some family favorites but other things need to change.   We do not need EVERYTHING filled with fat and grease so I am using new recipes for my vegetables.

Sorry to the soup and fried onion companies there will be NO green bean casserole in our house. The sweet potatoes will not include sugar!

Green Beans

Instead I sautéed onions in 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Then added a 1/3 cup of balsamic vinegar and 2 Tablespoons of Agave` in the sauce pan reduced the sauce and poured it over my beans.  I will bake it at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes with no lid on Thursday.

 

Broccoli

I also made broccoli with a light cheese sauce using a rue.  I used 2 Tablespoons of olive oil and 2 Tablespoons of flour.  I then added 1/2 cup of milk, 1 cup of water and salt and pepper to taste.  (Seriously, I used water because I ran out of milk, but you can use more milk for a richer sauce.) I then whisked in 1/3 cup of sharp cheddar cheese and poured it over my broccoli again I will bake it at 350 degrees on Thursday for 8-10 minutes.  (If you want a cheesier sauce add more shredded cheese.)

Although this is a cheese sauce it is lightly salted and not processed by a factory. 



Sweet Potatoes

Just going to slice them, coat them with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic and roast them on a pan.  Mmmmmm, just like summer on the grill. 


I hope that those of you in the U.S. have a great Thanksgiving, and my friends from around the world I am grateful for your friendships. 

With love from your retired FACS teacher!
Jane

Morbid thoughts, but important for those left behind.

Recently a local news station did a story on several people who had a family member die at a rather young age. Those left behind did not have information about their loved ones wishes or their finances.  These are important things to consider and talk about with your spouse, friends, children or those that will take care of your "stuff". 

No one ever wants to talk about death and the devastation that it brings to a family and friends, especially when the person is fairly young.

As I have mentioned, my husband and I travel annually on our motorcycle together on long vacations.  When we leave I always email our adult children with information about "what to do if something happens."  I am a realist, I always have been.  Let us face it, traveling is always dangerous but is more so on a bike.

Things that you should tell your loved ones:

• What law firm has your will on file.  (If you do not have one, get one.  There are on line programs to do this if you can not afford to do so.)   
• Make sure your will is updated periodically
• The name of your bank
• A list with your banking passwords
• A list with other important passwords
• Your financial planner information
• Your life insurance information
• All other insurance information
• Your credit card information
• Your accountant, if you have one
• The names of your executor
• Your safe code, if you have one
• Your social security information
• A list of other things that those left behind may need. Everyone is different.

It is also wise to tell your loved ones where they may find all of the above information in your home in case they lose their list.

Death and dying is an unpleasant situation but it happens to each of us.  Being prepared for the worst and hoping for the best is always the best solution.  Having that, "I will do it soon" attitude can also get you into trouble. Do it now, it can only help.

With love from your former/retired FACS teacher,
Jane

Football scandle in the news. Are these things a reflection of societal short comings?

I have a great deal of interests.  Some of them are not typical for a person that has been in the FACS profession.  I like to be a girlie, girl, but I also like to ride motorcycle all over the countryside.  Another thing I do is follow professional sports pretty closely.  I love baseball and football. 

My mother listened to baseball on the radio very avidly.  She got to the point at the end of her life where she would talk about a person from the Minnesota Twins by his first name (like they were a close friend) and we would say, "Who are you talking about?"  I watch more sports than my husband.  Not because he doesn't like sports but because he says he has better things to do with his time.  (Point taken.)

This past week while I followed the news coverage about the Miami Dolphins football team my heart sank.  As I read the stories and watch the interviews I feel as though some of the locker room antics resemble school or should I say, school gone out of control.  We have a large group of men, playing a game, making a great deal of money in a short period of time.  Often they have not experienced this type of financial gain and don't know how to handle it or the notoriety that goes with it.  (They need a FACS professional!)  Like a group of teens, going through school in four years, meeting a bunch of people, studying many subjects in a short period of time. 

But more disturbing than anything is the locker room shenanigans that for some seems the norm and others, a not so pleasant situation that is coped with to move forward.  I have heard many players say the Martin should have just asked these men to stop with the behavior that bothered him.  I say, although none of us really knows what happened with that team; if it was so bad he had to leave, it was not as simple as requesting people to stop with the comments.  It wasn't as simple as a punch in the face or a message on the phone either.

Many have said that this is the way it is, no one else will understand.  I don't really think that is true.  Every industry has a group of people working together and there are teams are formed in their work environments.  They are not as extreme as a football field but there are teams.  And...having a husband and friends working in the manufacturing industry it is pretty darn cut throat. 

Some football locker rooms have not moved forward with time.  I remember in the 70's hearing stories about my winning hometown high school coach and being shocked at what happened in the locker room and thinking, "That is awful!"  I know you can't just pat a man on the back and say do better next time, but there have to be better ways than using racial comments and slurs. 

Sometimes when I look at my former place of employment I feel like we have taken steps back in time with racial equality and it bothers me a great deal.  We can not judge people by their ethnic background and their race.  It is a very unfair practice to hold a couple of peoples bad behavior to a single population, and classify all that fit into that category on the same level.  At the same time, when I see the most popular sport in the United States model this very poor behavior it does not speak well for the future of our children.

I suggest professionals working with young children use this football scandal as a teachable moment.  You may be very surprised about the discussion and the conversation.  It seems there are times as educators that we do not discuss certain subject areas because it is uncomfortable.  I feel as though this is wrong.  Kind of the, if we don't talk about race in my classroom it does not exist, mentality.  Personally the less we talk about it the more uncomfortable it gets.  And, just maybe, this not talking about it behavior might very well be where the friction begins. 

I will be very interested in the outcome of this latest football issue and I hope that the industry chooses wisely in its investigation.  A whole nation of young people are watching along with the rest of us.

With love from your former FACS teacher, Jane.

Another story from my former classroom that I CAN NOT resist. Proof: We need FACS!

I talk to the person that has taken my place on a regular basis because she has my former schedule.  For me it was old hat but, it is four different preps in classes that were pretty much created by me, and do not always have a standard.  I often did not write things down and well, my random work is sometimes hard to follow, for anyone else but me.

I had strange things happen in my classroom but I rarely had time to share them.  Now I have time.  This one is going to make you cry with either sadness or laughter.  Take your pick.

Here goes my replacements story:

She was walking around checking on student clean up after a lab.  A student was washing dishes.  My former classroom is very small and you do have to look over peoples shoulders to see what they are doing.  When she looked over the shoulder of the dishwasher she gasped, held her breath and calmed herself.  The student did not have a dish clothe to clean his dishes.  He had his sweatshirt sleeves pulled over his hands, in the dishwater, and was using his sleeves as the dish cloth. 

Frankly I don't think I can top this story.  Ever! 

There is nothing else to say but children need time in the kitchen!  Proof positive.

With love from your retired FACS teacher,

Jane

Random rambling, about food, from a former FACS teacher, now a sub with out a job, today!

This past week end the number one son and his girl visited our home.  I always love their visits. 

There are many reasons but several of them are:

1.  Grown up children are pretty darn enjoyable.
2.  He comes with a girl.  (I have been in the land of testosterone for a long time.)
3.  The girl and I have common interests.
4.  We all just enjoy our time with each other.

Number one's girl seems to have been raised in a family vary similar to ours.  She loves to bake, cook, sew, knit and do crafty kinds of things.  For this I am very grateful to her Mom for exposing her to these things and I "hope" she becomes a family member someday.  (Not a hint but a declaration.)

She was looking at my cookbooks during a lull on Saturday.  I showed her a cookbook I had from my Dad's mom and the pages were never turned.  Then I showed her my Mom's, Mom's cookbook and my Mom's cookbook and you could not read the tabs on them.  She laughed.  Then she took the unused cookbook and paged through the recipes. 

She found a couple of recipes and said, with a question in her voice, "What is tomato aspic?"  She proceeded to read a couple of other recipes that included gelatin and said, "Shrimp and shredded carrots in gelatin?" 

I started laughing, explained these foods to her and together we decided that the world is fine with out these foods any more. 

I have made "Tomato Aspic" once.  It was a college lab.  Personally I thought it was ridiculous and knew that I would never make it again and would choose to never teach that lesson in a high schools. 

There have been occasions when I have done some fine dining and found some sort of aspic on the menu but I have never ordered it. 

Thinking about these foods I realize that after the war, the 50's and 60's really brought on the beginning of technology and food.  We started looking at food and how we could make it easier to prepare.  This processing, in my opinion, is what has gotten us into some trouble with obesity. 

I am not declaring that every food coming from a large company is bad, but there are a great deal of them that are not good for us. 

All this recipe discussion led me to thinking about foods that you might be familiar with, that you think we no longer need around, and would never miss.  What are some of those foods for you?  And just maybe, you have a story about that food to share.


With love from your former FACS teacher.  Jane

Family and Consumer Sciences is still around, but it needs support, and people to believe in its roll in communities

Recently when Rocco Dispirito made a statement on national television about his work in communities showing children how to make foods I may have gone a little crazy.  But, in my own defense, I think that it was rightly so.  People stating bring back Home Economics, stating that they have "new" programs teaching children how to cook; these are the kind of statements that make me wonder what people think happened to Home Economics/Family and Consumer Sciences.

Chef Art Smith, made famous through Oprah, stated on the same Katie show as Rocco that he has a program in place after school teaching children how to prepare nutritional food.  I find that wonderful, but I also ask myself why we aren't pooling together and joining forces with chefs? Why are FACS professionals going unnoticed?  Chefs should be lobbying with us and for us.  What happened to us as FACS professionals that the image that is conjured up when people say Home Ec seems to be negative?   What can FACS professionals do to change that image?

Recently when I posted a letter on Rocco's Facebook site; a woman I do not know posted this comment:

 "Jane.... are you aware that most states are discontinuing Consumer and Family Studies from the curriculum? I think it is totally a disservice to the youth of today, but it is falling by the wayside just like Physical Education, Industrial Arts and Art."

I know that there are many programs being cut, but there are still many programs in place.  As an organization we need to continue to place the work that we do in the public eye.  This has been a great year "getting FACS in the public eye" but our presence needs to continue for our profession to continue.  

To keep us out there we as an organization, we need to campaign for funding from business and government.  We need to cut out some of the red tape that our organization sometimes creates.  We need to reach out to FACS educators that may not be involved in the national organization and see the good that they do on a daily basis.  If we do not we will diminish and I don't think that any of us wants that to happen. 

If you are a person not involved in the FACS profession reading this blog, please support your local Family and Consumer Sciences educator and help them keep their programs ALIVE.

Family and Consumer Sciences is a very general field that dips into the pot of many areas.  This is the reason that every child should be a part of what we do.  We are teaching about careers, parenting, families, economics, nutrition and we are part of everyday life in general.  Let us not be ashamed of that concept but proud that what we do is essential.  We are a group of bright talented people that really just do not know how to market what we do.  Let's get marketing!

With love from your retired FACS teacher.

Jane

AAFCS Teacher of the Year 40th Anniversary: Sign up a teacher from your state for FCS teacher of the year!

As a member of the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences I know that we honor outstanding teachers every year for their work in the classroom.

This year is the 40th anniversary of that award.  I encourage those of you are active members in the association to nominate a member from your state affiliate for Teacher of the Year.

It is a wonderful celebration and an honor to be proud of for everyone.  The nominees must be members of the association for three years, and the program you are sharing should be in place for three years.  The due date for submission is December 16, 2013. 

If you attend the conference and show your work at the curriculum showcase you will receive a $100 stipend from the ESAE community.  Honorable mention teachers will receive $200.  The national teacher of the year will receive a large cash prize and will be treated like a king or queen!

Below there is a link to the information about FCS teacher of the year.


http://www.aafcs.org/Awards/teacheroftheyearguide.asp

This link is a brochure about the teacher of the year program in AAFCS.

http://www.aafcs.org/res/teachers/2013_TOY_Brochure.pdf

Please consider sharing your program at our national conference.

Sincerely,

With love from your retired FACS teacher,
Jane