International Recipes

Lesson planning for social studies always takes me far longer than any other subject, in part because I intertwine other subjects with social studies - art, reading, writing, etc. I utilize library books in social studies far more than in any other subject each year. I am *almost* done with planning social studies for next year. Our focus is economics, geography, and studying various cultures around the globe. I have picked out a variety of holidays that we will learn about and celebrate in some fashion (Holi, Passover, Sabbath, Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Diwali, Three King's Day, St. Lucia Day, St. Nicholas Day, Australia Day, Chinese New Year, Purim, etc.), but I haven't yet figured out exactly what we will do to celebrate or learn more about those holidays yet. When we studied countries and cultures in 2015-16, we also tried various recipes from around the world. This was definitely NOT Nadia's favorite aspect of school that year. She *loved* eating brigaderio (Brazilian recipe), but in general she couldn't stand trying new foods. I'm trying to locate some new international recipes that hopefully at least most members of the family will enjoy. We shall see how that goes!

We already eat pierogies (Polish), chicken cordon bleu, German apple cake, shepherd's pie, beef stroganoff, and quite a few Mexican and Italian dishes such as quesadillas, taquitos, burritos, enchiladas, nachos, taco salad, tacos, spaghetti, chicken parmigiana, pizza, lasagna, stuffed shells, manicotti, rigatoni and meatballs, baked ziti, chili con carne, Stromboli, calzone, meatball sandwich, ravioli, pasta e fagioli, omelets, baked spaghetti, and garlic bread.

Some of the recipes I've chosen thus far include: tourtiere, chomeur's pudding, quiche Lorraine, croque monsieur, challah, crispy potato kugel, chimichangas, fajitas, chicken gyros, chocolate mousse, pommes aligot, French onion soup, tiramisu, crepes, Swedish meatballs, Swedish apple pie, hasselback potatoes, brigaderio (haven't made it in 5 years), flourless chocolate cake, pannenkoeken, fruit kuchen, jerk chicken, tortilla Española, beef empanadas, bacon and egg pie, scones, bunuelitos de jamon, Anzac biscuits, Sopa Paraguaya, and focaccia bread. I'm hoping some of the new recipes will end up being added to my recipe rotation. I need to add quite a few more to this list over the next few months because for one thing at the moment I don't have any recipes from Asia or Africa. 

A local farm market is having a great sale on chicken this week. I've been reading that they are expecting we'll have a meat shortage here in the US. So I ordered 80 pounds of chicken today because I can get it for $1.25 (or less) per pound. I've never even bought 20 pounds of chicken breast at one time before much less 80 pounds! That will last us for several months (maybe 6?). We were hoping to buy a chest freezer, but they are even harder to find than toilet paper. Thankfully Paul's family will help store the chicken for us. It might be 60-90 minutes away from our house, but it will be frozen, and Paul can bring a little bit home when needed over the coming months. 

P.S. We saw the movie "Harriet" yesterday, and I give it two thumbs up!