Italian Cooking Class

There is a Mom in our UK group from Italy and she has been offering monthly Italian cooking classes for the kids.  We were finally able to attend, as it is a very popular class.

We were learning to make Cocoa Tagliatelle which I had never heard of before

Kids look excited to learn they are making noodles from scratch and out of Chocolate:)

4 eggs

320 grams of flour,  40 grams of unsweeten cocoa, and 5 grams of salt and then mixed first by a spoon and then by hand 

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and using your hands and fingers mix all together.
Add a splash of water as necessary and work the dough for about 5/10 minutes or until it doesn't show creases. Don't splash on flour as this only makes it more dry but don't put too much water either or it will turn too sticky.

Place the dough in a cool place/fridge for about an hour prior using your rolling pin to make it flat.

When rolling out the dough remember you want to aim for a  few millimetres of thickness 

My kids using a noodle machine for the first time.  Little Man loved it

Drying noodles.

As this is fresh pasta it won't take long to cook add a touch of olive oil in boiling water and allow plenty of room for the pasta in the pan this can cook in few minutes or until it floats on the surfice.
Try not to leave the pasta in for more then 10 minutes or it will be too soft and won't stay together plus can became "mushi" :-)
A good tip is always taste it first. 

Tasting their creations, serve with Bolognese sauce -- while the noodles are darker in color you really can't taste the chocolate too much.

Yum Yum it was very good:)

We won't have time to attend anymore Italian cooking classes while here but it has sparked an interest at home:)

Visiting a Jewish Synoguage

We are continuing our religious studies at home and with the Home school group.  This month we have been learning about the Jewish faith and had the opportunity to visit the Cambridge Jewish Synagogue

Some of the books the children and I have read to learn more about the Jewish faith

Visiting the Local Orthodox synagogue 

The altar and the ark (cabinet in the bac)

The everlasting light is always lit and hangs above the ark cabinet 

The partition to keep men and women separate during services.

Being shown the prayer shawl worn during the service by men

Being shown the old testament and I learned that Hebrew is read left to right

The Ark Cabinet opened and it holds all the sacred  Torahs.  They are read on Sabbath and only by men

Each scroll has a coat of arms per se and this one is of the 10 commandants

This one is of the 12 Jewish tribes

We were told that the Torah's are all hand written.  The red one in the cabinet was over 100 years old and brought over from the Soviet Union during the mass exodus of Jews from the country.

A small Torah scroll was brought out for the children to see

Being shown the Torah next to the book held by the congregation.

Small books have the english and Hebrew translations

Being shown the Menorah and the children heard the story and its importance.

We also learned a little about Kosher laws.

We were showns signs found on food packages that signify if something is kosher

Kids were given Matzos crackers to taste.

The next facility that we are scheduled to visit is the Catholic church in June.  Unfortunately we will not be able to attend as we are moving but I hope to be able to continue to do this with my children on own or with our next home school group.

Visit to Cadbury World

Out of all the field trips we have been on while living in the UK my kids desperately wanted to go back to one place more than any other.  Cadbury World of Chocolate!!!  We met up with a few US homeschoolers and visited the factory once again.

Kids were so excited to be back--they remembered every room and almost every activity that was there from 4 years ago.

The first thing you do is walk back in time to the discovery of  the cocoa pod

Several holograms then explained who and how it was brought to England

There were a few people dressed up in Victorian clothes to explain how Mr. Cadbury came up with his ideas

Mr. Cadbury was a Quaker who owned a tea shop and then ventured into the world of Chocolate with his two sons

Next we saw some films on how the chocolate is made -- kids loved watching the Cadbury eggs film:)

There is a Cadbury ride that features Cocoa beans doing lots of things, like fishing,  ice skating and such...sort of silly but the kids seemed to really enjoy it

Then we went to the shop to watch the Chocolate masters work.  

The kids were allowed to mix the chocolate to cool it.  

Write in chocolate

And the best activity of the day eat warm chocolate --  Excellent!!!

The inside tour lasted about 90 minutes and then we went outside to the playground to eat lunch and then play at the playground

There was one more building to explore and at the end they had yet another  chocolate tasting counter, this time we could add something to our warm chocolate such as marshmallows, cookies, gummy bears, or turkish delight

Even better this was a much bigger sample than the last one.  Once we were all on a Chocolate high we climb back into our cars and drove home

But not before shopping in the Chocolate factory store when I bought some Cadbury chocolate mishaps to take back home real cheap:)

Making English Scones

My friend came over yesterday and showed me how to make proper English Scones.  When our family  are out and about touring it is always a treat to stop at a little tea shop and have a cup of tea and a scone.  I will miss that when we return to the states, but now I can make my very own:)

Ingredients flour, sugar, salt, margarine,  egg, milk, raisins  baking powder 

sift 8 oz self raising flour, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 2 oz sugar, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
then add 2 oz soften (not melted) margarine and crumpled into the mixture by hand

add 1 beaten egg and gradually add milk (very little at a time) until the the mixture all sticks together

add 1/2 cup raisins, mix but don't over handle the dough to much

place into a greased round tin, this batter will raise so spread it out.

You can add lines with a knife if you like

brush a little egg or milk to the top

Bake for approx. 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees.  Use the tooth pick test to see if the inside is done

You can add butter, jam to your scone but the way my family likes it is:

to add lots of clotted cream

Then add raspberry or strawberry jam to it and serve with a fresh pot of English tea!!!

This is an excellent recipe.  Not sure if you can find clotted cream in the states but it is the best cream ever!!!!

Enjoy:)!