Teaching Philosophy

So I haven't posted in a while, but I'm back! But this post will be a bit different than my other ones. After this one, I'll go right back to cooking. I've tried some awesome recipes that I'd love to share. In this post, I will be sharing my teaching philosophy, an assignment for one of my classes right now. I am currently working on my bachelors in English Education. I've had a lot of educational classes that have taught me so much about the best ways to teach kids and help them succeed. Something I think is not only critical in an English class, but also fun, is Small Group Collaboration. As a teenager, I loved getting into small groups and going over discussion questions (I may have loved it for the wrong reasons, but that's OK). Now I find that it helped me be able to vocalize my thoughts and opinions, which I have found very valuable out in the real world. I would like my students so be able to take a book (even if it was Farewell to Arms by Hemingway and they hated it) and be able to have a conversation about its deepest themes and big questions. What was Hemingway trying to say with this tragic love and war story? How can we learn from it, even if you had to put toothpicks in your eyes to stay awake while reading it? I remember as a teenager reading this book by Hemingway and thinking, "What an awful ending!". But now as an adult, I can start to relate to some of its themes and messages, even though I still hate the book. Hopefully when I do become a teacher, I will try to pick books that relate to my students' lives, but I still want them to be able to find meaning amongst chaos and confusion and be able to communicate that meaning to other people.

White Hot Chocolate

Who came up with white chocolate? Whoever it was, my mom has a couple words to say to them. Her hate for white chocolate brings our family great joy and laughter. Christina opens up a white chocolate KitKat sitting five feet away from Mom: Mom gets up and sits further away. Dad wafts white chocolate scent towards Mom from his White Chocolate Peppermint Bark: Mom gags and reprimands Dad. 

My mom once ate a whole bunch of white chocolate as a kid, got sick and gave it all to the porcelain throne. Ever since, just the smell of white chocolate brings back those unpleasant feelings. Because of this, I’ve never really had much of white chocolate. I decided to go out on a limb and try a recipe for white hot chocolate. I think I liked normal hot chocolate better, but it is pretty good. It is sweet and extremely creamy and rich. Make sure that when you add the white chocolate that you stir constantly until all the chocolate is melted. I left the rum out which goes in at the very end, but if anyone tries it with the rum, let me know how it tasted.  

http://www.marthastewart.com/353194/white-chocolate-hot-cocoa-coconut-and-rum

Spicing it up vs. Spicing it down

Lately Ryan and I have tried to find some healthy snacks to substitute for cookies, Doritos and popcorn. I poked around the Food Network site and stumbled upon a salsa recipe. 

Ryan’s favorite food type is Mexican. He grew up in Arizona and is no stranger to hot and spicy food. Actually, his family can’t get enough of it. Whenever I go down to visit, they try to grow my tolerance for spicy stuff, which isn’t always an easy process. Needless to say, my bland preference clash with Ryan’s some of the time. But I finally found a salsa that we both like!

I’ve realized that simplicity is my best friend. The ingredients are pretty simple except for the mango, which is a little tricky since it’s hard to find good, fresh mango produce in Utah during the winter. Other than that, this salsa is a great snack or appetizer for people that have a hard time stomaching spicy food. 

 http://allrecipes.com/recipe/quick-mango-salsa/detail.aspx

Shish Kabobs

When it comes to grilling up the meat, I let Ryan take over. Soon after we moved in to our new place about two years ago, my mother-in-law, Lisa bought Ryan a nice, new grill for graduation. Every guy needs his own grill to complete his manhood. We use this grill a lot for our meals, but when winter comes we have to figure something else out. Recently, I found this shish kabob recipe but we had already put the grill away in the garage. Luckily, last week’s snowless weather allowed us to sneak the grill out one more time this year to try out this recipe. 

The ingredients for this recipe are pretty simple and cheap. I stole the skewers and some bacon from my parent’s house, so that really helped our budget. The mushrooms and chicken take an hour to marinate so make sure you get that done first. I had Ryan as my right hand man in the kitchen, and then sent him outside to handle the grilling. The best thing about this recipe is the tangy flavor! The pineapples are just succulent and the chicken wrapped in bacon is to die for. I recommend this to any and every one.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-and-bacon-shish-kabobs/

Funeral Food

Last week was dead week for English majors, so I had ample time to cook. Thanksgiving motivated me to try some different things. Ever since I can remember, Thanksgiving at our house had basically the same things. Turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, etc. But this year was different. My mom tried a lot of new things. Instead of mashed potatoes (which are usually my favorite), we made funeral potatoes and sweet potatoes. At first I was disappointed we wouldn’t be having mashed potatoes but the substitutes were just as delicious.

I guess “funeral potatoes” is a Utah thing because the out-of-state people I’ve talked to have no idea what this dish is. The confused look on their face helps me see the cogs turning. Funeral potatoes? Well, they are exactly the way they sound. People in Utah (it’s probably more of an LDS thing) usually make this dish to feed the guests after a funeral procession. I wasn’t sure why my mom chose to make this for the 35 or so guests we had this Thanksgiving, but we definitely had enough leftover, just in case Mom dropped dead after the stress of all that preparation.  

Anyway, here is the recipe for Funeral Potatoes. If you like potatoes, you’ll definitely like this!

http://saltlakecity.about.com/od/diningnightlife/r/Funeral-Potatoes-Best-Recipe.htm

Toffee in a Can

I have made a remarkable discovery: Sweetened condensed milk can transform into toffee with the help of a pot of boiling water. IT IS SO GOOD. This is Ryan’s new favorite. There are so many things you can do with this can of sweet goodness. I kind of followed a recipe called “Banoffee Danger Pie” from another blog. 

We start with the sweetened condensed milk. All you have to do is take the label off the can and stick in a pot of boiling water, cover it and boil for 2.5 hours. I usually do three cans at a time. 

The rest is fast and easy! I used a premade crust, but the time that I made my own crust it made a difference. If you need to make something fast for the lady’s club tonight, I’d use the premade crust. Cut three bananas up and place them at the bottom. Pour your toffee can on top and spread it evenly over the bananas (I don’t use the whole can because a thick layer makes the pie too rich and messy). Put it in the fridge for a half hour or more, so the pie can set. Then plop your whip cream on top, spread around and for a more elegant look, you can grate chocolate shavings on the top. WA-LA! I’m so glad I found this recipe. Check out this on the blog Brooklyn Limestone blog. It has a lot of other great stuff. 

http://www.brooklynlimestone.com/2010/08/recipe-banoffee-danger-pie.html#.ULg9X4Ybv9o

We Want Ham!

One of my favorite foods Thanksgiving has to offer are the sauces for the meat. Turkey is the backbone of our Thanksgiving and we couldn't do without the the meat's better half. My mom made homemade cranberry sauce this year instead of using the can. And I'll tell you, homemade sauces are ten times better than the canned or store bought stuff. My mom went all out this year and made almost everything from scratch. I'm really proud of her efforts and the way she took all of these gymnasts into her home. Sometimes I think she does too much, but she really cares about people and wants to make them feel welcome in our home. This Thanksgiving was a success because of her.

Usually turkey and cranberry sauce take up most of my plate but I have now found my new favorite Thanksgiving backbone. This year, my mom tried a new Pineapple Ham Sauce that I could eat by itself. Its just another great, simple recipe. The ham and this sauce were gone first with our 30 something guests. One change we made to the ham sauce was using honey mustard instead of plain mustard. It turned out amazing.

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1727,147160-231194,00.html