right turn ahead

I’ve been a history teacher for the last 17 years and I love this time of year. Not just because it is sooooo close to summer and 10 weeks of freedom; but because this time of year I have built a solid relationship with my students and we can really start to have some fun.

I have a small group of AP European History students in my Period 3 class and I adore them. The AP test was two weeks ago, so class since then has been pretty laid back. Months ago, my friend and colleague, Liz, came to me about doing a joint project with our classes. She is the Foods and Nutrition teacher and she, too, had an advanced class Period 3. Thus, the greatest joint project of all time was created!

Liz and I divided the kids into six kitchen groups. Each group was given a country and they were required to create a main dish and a side dish from that country. In order to tie in history, the students had to create a presentation that discussed the history of the country, history of the food, and the events that influenced the food.

After days of prepping and cooking -the presentation day was upon us. OH MY GOODNESS! This was awesome. It was amazing! The kiddos loved it. The food was beyond my expectations, It was a perfect day! My love of teaching and my love of food all in one single place!

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Here are the group breakdown:

Italy – the kiddos made homemade Margarita pizzas and panzanella salad

India: Chickpea curry over basmati rice with garlic naan and hummus

France: Chicken Cordon bleu with asparagus and au gratin potatoes

I think these were my all-time favorites. I caved for this project and ate the meat. I felt like I had to. (Spoiler alert: it was worth it!) The chicken was so tender and juicy… and the cheesy potaotes… heaven on earth!

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Spain: Paella with cinnamon churros

Vietnam: Pho Nam

Germany: Spaetzle (that didn’t make it to completion!) and pretzels

This food was also incredible. I didn’t know the history of the Pho and I was amazed by how much European influence there was in the dish. And the pretzels – they were so good!!!

This was one of those days that I felt like I killed it in the teaching department. My kids were so impressed with their talents and I loved seeing them outside their element, having a blast!