Tiger Butter Pancakes

Tiger Butter!

This week brought a very fun and ongoing studio partnership with our amazing in-house storyteller (and Head of School!), Bekke.

Bekke shared the tale of some rather vain tigers whose antics eventually turn them into tiger butter and, naturally, what are you gonna make with tiger butter? Tiger butter pancakes. So what else could we do but spend the day making pancakes?

The children asked that I share our very simple studio recipe.  We made two different varieties but this is by far the easier of the two: oats, eggs, a ripe banana, baking powder, a splash of vinegar, a sprinkle of salt, and a teaspoon of cinnamon. Blend it all up, pour it onto the griddle, and tope with tiger butter (room temp. butter mixed with honey) voilà: Tiger Butter Pancakes!

Enjoy the story, the cooking, and the children making the whole thing their own.

Stone Soup, Grandparents/Special Friends Day and Gratitude

What a full week I have to share with you!  A week overflowing with collaborations and celebrations!

First off, our executive director and resident story teller extraordinaire, Bekke, told the story of Stone Soup to the children.  If you don't know the story there are lots of online resources but none compares to Bekke's (she put a Lakota Sioux spin on hers, weaving native traditions into the traditionally European tale).  Here is a  link to a simple one I found this morning.  Stone soup is a perfect story for Thanksgiving too!  (In case you get inspired to share).

The children were so captivated by the story that they asked to make stone soup in the studio.  Not yet having any ingredients to offer, I asked how they might make it with the materials available.

In a blink the children collected supplies and set to work, drawing, coloring and cutting their contributions before adding them to the soup.

On Thursday we made the real thing.  The children carefully cut all the vegetables into small, bite sized pieces to share with their loved ones on Grandparents and Special Friends Day.

Rhiannon joined me to make dozens of delicious gluten-free corn muffins to add to the festivities.

And BJ spent a day with me, stringing sliced fruits to make garlands that will dry and adorn the studio in the months ahead.

 On Friday we set the bounty on display and opened our doors to greet family and friends.

The atmosphere was enthusiastic!
Throughout the day the children and their friends wrote their gratitudes on brown paper to be added to the Love Tree and dished up their culinary creations.

It was certainly a week to be grateful for!
I am wishing you a wonderful holiday filled with gratitude and thanksgiving, may your days be lit with wonder and your moments bright with curiosity.
See you in December!

Here's a little clip of Bekke's story to get a taste of the tale:

Dia de los Muertos

BJ and I joined forces again in the studio for our monthly celebration.  Our October theme was Dia de los Muertos, aka the Day of the Dead.  This lively Mexican holiday is celebrated from October 31 through November 2.  It is not a Mexican version of Halloween.  Rather, it's a social holiday that originated thousands of years ago amongst the Aztec, Toltec and other indigenous peoples.  Here death is considered a natural part of living. The dead are members of the community who return to earth for a temporary visit on Dia de los Muertos.  This fun-filled holiday is celebrated with altars, festivities, special foods and more.
To kick off our celebration, Bekke told a wonderful story about a helpful ghost called La Planchada to a rapt audience.

BJ and I joined forces in the studio with a celebratory altar...

art...

Conversations about loved ones we have lost...

And Mexican hot chocolate!

 Here is a photo op of the recipe you can follow... just add milk to the Abuelita mix, nutmeg, cinnamon sticks and star anise.  Yum!

To add a little Halloween flair, we also carved pumpkins and roasted seeds.
It was a wonderful day.  The altar pictured below will be up through next week if you'd like to stop by to see it or add a loved one of your own to our remembering wall.

A for Apple

It's apple season and we are celebrating!
At the start of the week Bekke told a story about Hercules 11^th labor and the golden apples.

Later in week I shared a Waldorf story about how the star got into the center of the apple.  The children delighted in the discovery.  (Did you know if you cut the apple in half across the middle you can see the star inside?)

On Thursday, we spent some time observing and drawing apples.

And cooking apple butter with BJ.  

The recipe is as follows:

• 6 large apples peeled, cored and finely chopped (we used gala in one batch and granny smith in another)
• 1/3 cup       raw sugar
• ½ cup          light brown sugar
• 1 tsp             ground cinnamon
• 1/8       tsp        allspice
• 1/8 tsp        nutmeg
• splash          apple cider vinegar

Instructions

• Place the apples in a slow cooker: Top with sugars and spices.  Mix well.
• Cover and cook high 5 hours on low 10 hours stirring once halfway until the apples are tender and dark brown.
• Uncover and puree with an immersion blender.
• Cook on high, uncovered for 2 hours stirring occasionally until thickened.
• Spoon into jars or containers, cover and refrigerate.

A wonderful time was had by all.  
Happy Fall and enjoy the harvest, the changing temperatures and the colorful leafy display ahead.
See you next week.

Tension in storytelling

Several years ago, in the studio, children began to explore good guy and bad guy play.  At the time I was very uncomfortable with battle play in general and even more so in the studio. Thankfully the children were such patient teachers.  They taught me the importance of making space for children to wrestle with big issues through play, including issues of conflict and duality.  This week the children reminded me how important tension is in the arc of a story telling. This time the source of that tension wasn't a bad guy but TIME and the urgency of travel.  These three children crafted an elaborate story while working to overcome the challenges of air travel.  Here is a sampling of their words:

D. In our world everyone is a worker.  Got it? Everyone is a worker!

W. Yea workers.  Let’s go to Chicago.

D. Workers get out here! (gathering people) We’re all workers right?  HURRY. we've gotta go or we’re gonna run out of time.

W. No these are the people who are going to Chicago, they aren’t the workers?

D. Okay.  Are these the workers?

W. Yes.

D. Okay we all need to hurry or we’re gonna run out of time!

W Okay HURRY.

VROOOOOOMMMM

The energy was hurried and frantic... they were clearly battling the hands of time.