Wednesday, November 25, 2015

A Day in the Life: Emeryville Children's House Shares their Sourdough Bread Recipe

For the past week, the Emeryville Children's House was busy baking homemade whole wheat sourdough bread to cut and toast for croutons for the stuffing for the turkey we ate at our Thanksgiving feast. It may seem like a lot of extra steps, but it's our third year doing it, and we really enjoy it!

The children like this bread so much that they have asked us to share it with all of you.

First, we begin with sourdough starter. Our starter is over fifty years old and was started by Mrs. Williamscraig's grandmother. She gave us our starter and our bread recipe. If you don't have your own sourdough starter already, you can make it! First, you take 3/4 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of water, and mix it until you have a smooth paste. Then you put it into a wide-mouthed glass jar (like a pickle jar), put saran wrap and a rubber band over the top, and let it sit out overnight.
The next day, make another paste of 1/2 cup of flour and between 1/4 cup and 1/3 cup of water, mix it until it is smooth with a wooden or plastic spoon, stir it into your jar, and re-cover. This is called "feeding" the starter.
If you feed your starter for three days in a row, you will notice lots of little bubbles beginning to form, and a mildly sour, yeasty smell. The level of starter should also be rising in the jar. On the fifth day after you began the process, your starter should be ready to use.

To make one loaf of whole wheat sourdough bread, you will need:
1 cup of water, between 100-110 degrees Fahrenheit

Taking the temperature of the water.
1 Tbsp sugar
1 packet standard yeast (not rapid-rise)
1/2 cup sourdough starter (please remember to use a plastic or pyrex measuring cup, not metal!)

Adding the starter from a glass measuring bowl.

Stir these together in a large bowl and wait 10-15 minutes. Then add:
2 1/2 c whole wheat flour (or a blend of whole wheat and unbleached bread flour)
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp sea salt

Stirring in the flour.
Oil your hands a little and knead the dough in the bowl until smooth and elastic. The surface should look shiny if it is ready to rise. Just before you cover it, pinch out an egg-sized portion of dough and feed it to your sourdough starter. Then the starter can be covered and refrigerated. If you use a jar with a metal lid, it is good to keep a layer of plastic wrap in between the jar and the lid.

Feeding dough back into the starter. 
Cover the bowl of dough with a dish towel and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk (1 1/2 - 2 hours). Then oil a loaf pan and press the dough gently into the pan.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 42 minutes.

Caring for your sourdough starter:
Starter is *almost* impossible to kill. Even if you forget about it for months in the refrigerator and a brown liquid begins to form, pouring off the liquid and feeding it for 2-3 days in a row should restore it to good health again. If you use it regularly, simply take it out of the refrigerator the night before you intend to use it, let it come to room temperature, feed it, and let sit for about an hour before using.

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Thanksgiving Feast Preparation

The whole school is busy preparing for the Thanksgiving Feast....

We are breaking off green beans in IC!

We are preparing the ingredients to make cornbread in CH.

The cornbread mix is ready to go in the oven!

Next thing we have to do is to wash the potatoes.

A Day in the Life- Emeryville Children's House



It's fun to explore Mandarin with our Movable Character Box! 

Friday, November 20, 2015

Making Jam in The Erdkinder/High School!

Earlier in the fall, the EK and HS students picked over 20 lbs of organic strawberries at the farm. We froze them until we had time to find a couple of days consecutively in our busy schedule to make our own organic, strawberry jam!

Our plan is to sell the jam at our upcoming Holiday Faire on December 16 and 17! Check the PRINTS newsbrief for details of the Faire and be sure to stop by to purchase the jam and other hand-crafted holiday items and baked goods!
Cutting up frozen strawberries for jam.
Adding and mixing sugar and pectin with the strawberries.
Pouring the jam into the jars.


8 done, 52 more to go!
Finished at last!

Thanksgiving Break, Thursday and Friday, November 26 - 27th


School closed for Thanksgiving.  

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

A Day in the Life: Emeryville Children's House

11月15日は七五三でした。七五三には子供たちに千歳飴が手渡されます。
November 15th was Shichi-go-san, a Japanese traditional festival 
to celebrate the growth and well-being of young children. 
On this day, children are given Chitose Ame (thousand year candy) 
which symbolizes healthy growth and longevity.

エミリービルキャンパスでは、変わり千歳飴をみんなで作りました。
In Emeryville, children made a soft candy that resembles Chitose Ame.

コンデンスミルク、粉砂糖、きなこ、ごまなどの材料を混ぜて丸めた後、
細く長くのばします。
We mixed condensed milk, powder sugar, soy powder and sesame into a ball,
and rolled it thin and long.

冷蔵庫で冷やして固めた後、細長くきったクッキングシートで包みます。
After the candy was hardened in the refrigerator, we wrapped the candy with
a strip of baking sheet.

自分たちで作った千歳飴袋に千歳飴を入れてできあがり!
We put the wrapped candy in a bag that we made!

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Grandparents Day - San Mateo

Grandparents Day was a lot of fun!

We read books together in Nido.

I showed my grandparents how I work on my drawing.

Our grandparents watch as we sing along with the teacher!

I am showing my grandparents how we prepare snack in CH.

We served snacks and drinks to our grandparents.

Now we sit in a circle and show our grandparents the songs we like to sing!

We offered our grandparents tea and a snack.

I am showing my grandparents some of the work I've been working on in EC.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

A Day in the Life: San Mateo Elementary Community

We are practicing our Chinese calligraphy today.

I am carefully writing my Chinese characters with my brush and ink.

It takes a lot of focus to write the characters neatly!

Monday, November 9, 2015

A Day in the Life: Emeryville Children's House


I am practicing making words with the movable alphabet. Today I am practicing words that have "u" and "g" in them so that I can be as confident with them as I am with other letters.

Friday, November 6, 2015

A Day in the Life: Emeryville Children's House

11月15日の七五三のために、千歳飴袋を作っています。
I am making a bag for Shichi Go San, which is going to be observed on November 15th. 
I will fill it with Chitose Ame (thousand-year candy) later next week!