Hello,
The holiday season is upon us, as is the hustle and bustle and excitement that comes along with it. During this time it is important to maintain the established routines that you have worked so hard to develop this school year. Holiday parties, household guests, and school concerts can make this challenging. Keep your children on strict bedtime schedules and homework routines to maintain the structure that will be needed during the busy time. Once vacation starts, vary your schedule to accommodate your activities, but a few days before the kids return to school, help them get back to their regular sleep schedule so 2014 starts off on the right foot.
High school juniors, keep your eyes peeled for your PSAT scores!
Happy Holidays!
Betty
Betty Bodenweiser
Director
Foundation for Learning
December begins the SAT/ACT cycle for high school juniors. PSAT results will be revealed early in the month; these scores will give us detailed information about specific areas that our students need to focus on in preparation for taking the tests in the spring. Once the PSAT scores come in, please give us a call so we can answer your questions and reserve a place on both Donna and Elin’s calendars. Our students typically begin SAT/ACT prep in December or January, so it is important to call early to secure your preferred time slot.
SAT, ACT and SSAT Schedules
- As children we were taught that the first Thanksgiving took place in Plymouth Colony (in present-day Massachusetts) in 1621, but did you know that it was more than 200 years later that President Abraham Lincoln declared the last Thursday in November as a national day of thanksgiving?
- That Sarah Josepha Hale, who actively campaigned to have Congress declare Thanksgiving an official national holiday, also penned the ever-popular nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb?” Congress did, in fact, make this declaration in 1941.
- That approximately 42.2 million Americans travel 50 miles or more from home on Thanksgiving? We Americans certainly yearn to go home for the holidays!
- That just six states—Arkansas, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, and Virginia—account for nearly two-thirds of the turkeys that are raised in the U.S. each year?
- That Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin are the top cranberry growing states?
- That California, Illinois, New York, and Pennsylvania are the major pumpkin growing states? Total US pumpkin production exceeds 1.5 billion pounds each year!
- That North Carolina produces more sweet potatoes than any other state in the US? Along with California and Mississippi, over 2.4 billion pounds of sweet potatoes are grown each year!
- That the Guinness Book of World Records documented the largest pumpkin pie ever baked weighed 2,020 pounds? Baked on October 8, 2005 by the New Bremen Giant Pumpkin Growers in Ohio, the recipe called for 900 pounds of pumpkin, 62 gallons of evaporated milk, 155 dozen eggs, 300 pounds of sugar, 3.5 pounds of salt, 7 pounds of cinnamon, 2 pounds of pumpkin spice, and 250 pounds of crust. That’s a lot of pie!
- That across America, “traditional” Thanksgiving dishes are quite varied? You’ll find oysters on the East Coast, Dungeness crab on the West Coast. Stuffing may be made from cornbread, might include sausage, and maybe even chestnuts, depending on the particular region.
- That the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade took place in New York City in 1924 and featured animals from the Central Park Zoo?
- That Snoopy has appeared as a giant balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade more times than any other character in history? More than 3 million people line the streets of NYC each year to view the parade and over 44 million people watch the parade on their TVs each year as a part of the Thanksgiving Day tradition.
Try these fun, regional Thanksgiving Holiday recipes (and be sure to include the kids in the kitchen fun!)
King’s Arm Tavern Cream of Peanut Soup (Williamsburg, Virginia)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 ribs of celery, chopped
¼ cup butter
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cups smooth peanut butter
1 ¾ cups light cream
Chopped peanuts (for garnish)
2 qt chicken or vegetable stock
Sauté onion and celery in butter until soft, but not brown. Stir in the flour until well blended. Add stock, stirring constantly, and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and puree in food processor or blender. Add peanut butter and light cream, stirring to blend thoroughly. Return to low heat and heat until just hot (about 10 minutes). Do not boil. Garnish with peanuts and serve immediately.
Yield: 10-12 servings
Grandma’s Candied Yams (North Carolina)
3 medium sweet potatoes (about 2 lbs)
2 tbsp butter
1/3 cup raisins
Pinch of salt
½ tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup maple syrup, honey, or molasses
2 tbsp lemon or orange juice
½ to ¾ cup miniature marshmallows
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large pot of boiling water, cook sweet potatoes until tender, about 40 minutes. When sweet potatoes have cooled, peel them and cut into ½ inch slices. Place in baking dish, dot with butter and sprinkle with raisins. Top with salt, cinnamon, and maple syrup, honey, or molasses. Drizzle with juice and bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven, top with marshmallows, and bake for an additional 5 minutes, until marshmallows have browned. Serve hot.
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
New Prague Hotel’s Candied Apple Wedges (New Prague, Minnesota)
6 to 8 apples, Jonathan or Winesap
2 tbsp butter
1 cup brown sugar
Pinch of salt
Core apples and slice into wedges. Do not peel. In a frying pan, dissolve brown sugar in butter. Add apples and a pinch of salt. Cook uncovered on very low heat for 1 hour, turning frequently. Serve immediately.
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Grandma’s Baking Powder Biscuits (Maine)
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 ½ tbsp cream of tartar
1 ¼ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp salt
2 tbsp shortening
¾ cup milk
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In large mixing bowl, sift together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Work shortening into the mixture, first using a wooden spoon, then your fingers or pastry blender, a fork, or two knives. Stir in enough milk to make the dough very moist but not sticky – the secret to moist, puffy biscuits.
Turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured board. Knead it up to 10 turns and then pat it into a flat circle. With a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough into ½-inch thickness. Cut into biscuits with a lightly floured 2-inch round cutter or glass. For crispy-crust biscuits, place biscuits about 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet, closer together for soft-crust biscuits. Prick the top of the biscuits with a fork. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the sheet immediately and serve hot.
Yield: 16 biscuits
Mulled Cider (Arkansas)
2 sticks cinnamon
12 whole cloves
2 tsp whole allspice
1 gallon apple cider
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 lemon, thinly sliced
Tie cinnamon sticks, cloves, and allspice in a small cheesecloth bag. Pour cider into a large, heavy enamel kettle, then add bag of spices and brown sugar. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Remove the bag of spices. Pour cider into a metal or heatproof punch bowl, float lemon slices on top, and serve hot.
Yield: 12 servings
Once upon a time in the Kingdom of Castles there lived a prince in search of a bride. The prince searched throughout the kingdom. One afternoon, after many hours of seeking hither and yon, the prince spied a fair maid fetching some water from Castle Creek. The prince fell instantly in love.
“Greetings and well met, fair maid!” said the prince, “I am Prince Phillip, future king of all this land. Will you marry me?”
“Nay, bold prince, it cannot be,” said the fair maid, “unless you can answer my riddle. For the man who marries me must be clever beyond compare.”
“Speak your riddle then, beautiful maid, and I will answer it, and you shall be my bride.”
“You are confident, good prince, but we shall see if you are clever. Here is my riddle:
Forty men and forty horses
may not move it one hair.
As large as yonder castle,
yet lighter than air.
What am I?”
The prince proceeded to make 99 guesses but each time the fair maid replied, “Nay, nay, try once more.” Finally the prince smiled a princely smile and said: “I have got it at last, and now you will be my bride!”
The prince gave his final guess and the fair maid smiled and held out her arms and said, “Now I shall be your bride, for you are clever indeed!”
What is the answer to the fair maid’s riddle?
Answer next month!
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LAST ISSUE'S PUZZLER: Five Famous Americans, with ANSWERS
Our feature article last month showed Helen Keller with Alexander Graham Bell. Helen also met and touched and befriended many other famous Americans.
QUESTIONS: Can you name all five famous Americans shown with Helen Keller in the photos below?
ANSWERS:
1. Mark Twain, author
2. Charlie Chaplin, actor
3. Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady
4. Dwight D. Eisenhower, US President
5. John F. Kennedy, US President
