These are the kind of light, fluffy, round scones that one imagines having with berry jam, clotted cream, and china cups of tea. They are made with flour and baked in the oven and rather different from the large, quartered, barley flour or oatmeal griddle scones from which they are descended.
My childhood has many pleasant memories of making scones in sunlit kitchens and they are wonderfully versatile as they can be served with everything from sweet honey to umami Marmite and cheese.
If you make kefir at home keep in mind that you can use it in baking! Although the probiotics will die in the heat, they will leave behind an enriched milk with little lactose and will add a lightness to your baking.
1 to 1/2 cups milk (or 3/4 cup milk kefir + 3/4 cup milk)
Directions
Start oven pre-heating to 220’C / 428’F. Grease a baking tray or line with baking paper.
Measure and cut butter into a mixing bowl.
Sift in flour, baking powder, and salt. Add wheat germ and sugar.
Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles golden breadcrumbs.
Add 3/4 cup of milk (or kefir). Mix to combine.
Slowly add up to 3/4 cup of additional milk; stop to knead as you add the extra liquid. You want to draw all the dry ingredients into the mix without it getting too wet and sticky.
Pull off the dough into approximately 12 pieces. Roll into rough balls in your hand and then flatten slightly. Place on prepared baking tray.
Bake at 220’C / 428’F for 10 minutes. The scones should rise a great deal. Check if they are cooking evenly (and adjust their placement in the oven if not). Reduce the heat to approximately 180’C / 350’F and bake for another 5-6 minutes until golden.
Making homemade chalk is easy a great way to connect as a family!
Life in New Zealand has changed rapidly. Our borders are closed, domestic travel restricted, our schools and shops closed, and we are asked to remain at home in order to restrict the spread of Covid-19. Cars are now to be used only for essential travel (the doctor, pharmacy, or supermarket) and people may only leave their house to walk nearby. Social distancing is everything.
Our big field trip for today was walking to the top of the driveway and drawing pictures that the kids in the houses nearby can see from their windows. Creating chalk, with a few simple ingredients from the supermarket, has been both art and science. It’s also a way to share a little love and kindness with the community around us.
Why not bring a little colour to yours?
Life in lockdown: Share some love and decorate our streets!
How to make home made chalk
Ingredients
Cornflour
Water
Food colouring
Cardboard tubes
Waxed paper / baking paper
Scissors
Sellotape or rubber bands
Note: Alternative ingredients include plaster of paris + tempera paint, or a 1:2 ratio of very finely crushed eggshell + flour.
Directions
Prepare your moulds. Toilet paper rolls are a good size; I find a bread knife does a good job of sawing longer cardboard inner tubes into parts.
Cover the bottom of your cardboard tubes with waxed paper and tape / elastic band into place. You then want to roll more waxed paper and slot it inside (you may need to trim to size).
Pour cornstarch into a bowl and then add food colouring of your choice. Slowly add water and mix well. You want to add just enough water to create a very thick [viscous] mixture.
Pour or spoon the mix into your moulds.
Pop into a hot water cupboard (or somewhere warm to dry). You want as much of the water to evaporate as possible to dry before use (about 24-48 hrs).
You can then removed from the moulds and let the kids have fun!
Tip
If you add too much water then it will have difficulty drying (and remaining contained within the moulds). Never fear! Treat it as a chemistry and physics lesson all-in-one for the kids. You have just created a non-Newtonian fluid 🙂 You can take your ooblek outside for messy play fun with the kids. Pour it into your hands and watch how it becomes a solid if you clench your fist but magically liquefies if you release the pressure!
Today’s word is brought to you by Miss 5 and the colour pink!
Learning to read and spell with phonics
Classrooms around the world take all kinds of different approaches to learning to read, write, and spell. In New Zealand, research studies (McNeill & Kirk, 2014) found that most teachers did not teach their students phonemes, how to spell phonologically, sound-letter relationships, or spelling patterns. Understanding how to decode language is especially important for children with special learning needs, such as dyslexia and auditory processing disorder, as they require an explicit understanding of these topics (exposure to print media and general literacy is not enough to create an implicit understanding or ‘osmosis’ effect).
It is important to teach a phonological awareness of each alphabet sound (what ‘sound’ does the letter make). A good place to start can be putting a light coating of shaving foam in a flat tray and tracing the upper case letter with your finger while making the accompanying sound. After modelling, encourage the student to make 3-5 attempts. Speculate together what words might start with that sound. Tip: If dyslexia is indicated or they are struggling to distinguish letters, focus on capital letters as these are easier to differentiate visually.
When moving onto words, a good place to start is with short vowel ‘a’ as several phonics words families can be taught together. It’s common to start with CVC words [consonant-vowel-consonant].
When teaching an explicit awareness of phonemic awareness, ‘SAT’ is composed of: 3 letters, 1 syllable, and 3 phonemes. Within the -at phonically decodable word family are multiple words that have the same onset-rime.
Syllable: A unit of sequential speech sounds containing a vowel and any consonants preceding or following that vowel. (Henry, 2010. p.314)
Phoneme: The smallest unit of sound that conveys a distinction in meaning. (Henry, 2010, p.312).
Onset-rime: The onset is the initial consonant or consonants within a syllable. The rime is the vowel and any consonant that follows, within the syllable. (Nicholson & Dymock, 2015.p.87)
-at words
cat
fat
sat
hat
mat
rat
bat
-an words
can
fan
man
ran
van
tan
pan
-ap words
tap
cap
gap
lap
nap
map
zap
-am words
jam
ham
Sam
High frequency words
a
can
and
I
see
Activities to try
Playdough letters
Make or buy laminated upper case letter mats. Ask the student to help you make each of the letters needed to make one of the CVC words above. While making the letter, explain that there is a sound that matches the letter and model making it,
When the word is complete, show how to sound out the letters to make the word.
Silly Spelling
Using toys, containers, or pictures drawn on paper, create a ‘treasure chest’ for real words and a ‘rubbish bin’ for fake words.
Use 3D letters to make one of the words above; let’s use CAT as an example. Demonstrate how to sound out the letters. Ask the student if they think it is a real word or fake word. Write CAT on a strip of paper and place it in the treasure chest.
Ask the student to remove the first sound [C] and swap it for a different one. Let’s say they add ‘L’. Ask the student if they think LAT is a real word or fake word. Write LAT on a strip of paper and place it in the rubbish bin.
Explicitly discuss how the end sound (-at) is staying the same and ask if they can think of any words that rhyme with CAT. Demonstrate with another word such as HAT.
Jumbled Words
For some learners, it can be difficult to focus on ‘flat’ worksheets and working with kinaesthetic 3D letters can be more helpful. If the entire alphabet is placed in front of them and they are asked to spell RAT this may be visually overwhelming. Try scaffolding the activity:
Level 1: Have the word (and a picture) on a card in front of you. Model spelling the word with the 3D letters and sounding out each letter. Point out that you are matching the letters with the order on the card.
Level 2: Place on the letters that are needed in front of you. Explain to the student that you were trying to write [MAT] but the letters got muddled. Sound out the letters in the word and ask the student if they can put the letters in the right order to match the sounds.
Level 3: Place five letters in front of you. Advise the student that you feel they know the word [MAT] so you have a game that is a little harder. Explain that three of the letters are needed to spell the word and two of the letters are tricks. Sound out the letters in the word and ask the student if they can put the letters in the right order to match the sounds.
You might find that they identify the correct letters but place them in the wrong order. Praise them for finding the right letters and help place them in the correct order. Teach them that there is a pattern that they can learn for this phonic word family. Show them how the -at words they have been learning all have -at at the end and only change the beginning letter.
Phonics Strips
Create your own sliding phonics strips. These are a great visual activity for showing how changing a phoneme can alter the word.
Phoneme Boxes
Show students how to chunk words into their individual phonemes by using phoneme boxes. Explicitly discuss the difference between the number of letters that a word has and the number of sounds that a word has.
Students are likely to begin with CVC words where there are three letters and three sounds. The English language is full of all kinds of oddities (with its blend of Anglo-Saxon, Romance languages, and Greek roots). They will go on to encounter words like M|OO|N which has 4 letters / 3 phonemes; or CL|O|CK which has 5 letters / 3 phonemes.
It can be helpful to pick up a visual phoneme chart that shows all 44 sounds of spoken English and gives examples of their use.
These colour changing molecules can be changed from indigo to brilliant blue or bright pink with a few simple experiments!
Pigments are molecules that contain colour and the ones in red cabbage juice ( anthocyanin ) are pretty special. By adding a base or acid, we can both change their shape and their colour! The pigments are easy to collect and the basis for two easy home experiments: Colour Changing Magic Potions and Making Litmus Paper.
First, you will need to collect some magic molecules from a red cabbage: click here to find out how.
Change your purple cabbage juice to blue by adding a base and to red/pink by adding an acid.
Directions
Pour your prepared red cabbage juice into two clear glasses or small bowls.
Into one glass, stir 1 tsp of baking soda. Watch the solution turn blue – indicating that the pH has turned basic.
Into the second glass, stir 3 Tbsp of white vinegar. Watch the solution turn red/pink – indicating that the pH has turned acidic.
For fun, pour the glass containing vinegar into the glass containing baking soda and watch them foam! Tip: for less mess, pour both solutions into a big bowl!
Make your litmus paper to test acids and bases – it’s easy!
You don’t need expensive chemistry kits containing dangerous chemicals to have fun doing science at home. This simple (and colourful) experiment will help you make you own litmus paper so that you can test acids and bases using simple household ingredients. You can also test these by making a colour changing magic potion!
First, you will need to collect some magic molecules from a red cabbage: click here to find out how.
You will need your red cabbage juice (cooled and strained) and some paper towels. I folded mine twice to make thick squares.
Quickly dip / submerge the paper towels into the red cabbage juice. Don’t hold them under for too long as you want them to collect the colour pigments but not get so soggy that they fall apart. It’s a little like candle dipping – you may need to do a couple of dips to get a good colour.
Place the purple paper towels on a clean tray (that won’t stain) and put them somewhere warm (like the hot water cupboard) to dry until the next day.
You now have litmus paper! Cut them into strips for easy dipping.
Testing Acids and Bases
Directions – Part 2
Using glasses or small bowls prepare the solutions that you want to test. Your litmus paper will stay purple in ph neutral solutions, turn red-pink in acidic solutions, and turn blue in basic solutions.
Dip away!
We used:
Bases: soapy water, baking soda, baking powder.
Acids: vinegar, lemon juice.
Don’t worry if your experiment doesn’t go perfectly (ours didn’t!); simply use it as a talking point to discuss why things didn’t turn out as expected. In our case, the detergent and baking powder didn’t dissolve properly which meant that out litmus paper stayed purple (recognising the ph neutral water). For more ideas on common acids and bases: click here.
These colour changing molecules can be changed from indigo to brilliant blue or bright pink with a few simple experiments!
Pigments are molecules that contain colour and the ones in red cabbage juice ( anthocyanin ) are pretty special. By adding a base or acid, we can both change their shape and their colour! The pigments are easy to collect and the basis for two easy home experiments:Colour Changing Magic Potions and Making Litmus Paper.
Materials
1/2 red cabbage
Hot water
A food processor (or a big pot)
Bowl
Fine colander or flour sieve
Simply blending the red cabbage in boiling water produces amazing bubbles!
Directions
Shred or coarsely chop the red cabbage.
You can then choose whether to boil or blend. I chose blending and it’s meant to result in slightly better colour.
Boil: Pop in a pot with enough water to cover the cabbage and boil for 15 minutes.
Blend: Pop in a food processor with about 3 cups of boiling / hot water. Blend until the cabbage is finely processed and then leave to soak for 15 minutes.
Allow the cabbage mixture to cool and then strain the juice into a bowl. Tip: The juice will stain so glass is great if you have it. I used a flour sieve to strain mine into a glass pyrex jug.
You now have the cabbage juice you need for your two science experiments!
Added Extras
You can also freeze leftover juice in ice cube trays to make all natural coloured icing for birthday cakes or cupcakes!
Peanut Butter Cookies (Vegan). Free from dairy, egg, and soy.
These are a soft chewy peanut butter cookie with a hint of chocolate that went down very well with an audience of young taste testers. They are comparatively low in sugar with good amounts of fat, fibre, and protein. For a crunchier cookie try these Chocolate Peanut Butter breakfast cookies.
I note that the peanut butter used contains only two ingredients: peanuts + salt. It’s also easy to make peanut butter at home as an alternative to commercial brands containing sugar, molasses, and hydrogenated oils.
Note: Consider mixing this up by doing a 1/2 cup apple and 1/2 cup diced peaches.
Tip: Leaving the skin on the zucchini is fine but feel free to peel it if you don’t want any green specks in the muffins.
Directions
Preheat oven to 180’C / 360’F.
In a food processor, blend the apple, zucchini, vanilla, eggs, maple syrup and coconut oil until smooth. (If you prefer a rougher texture then mixing in a bowl is fine).
Mix in the flour, baking powder, brown sugar, almond meal, and wheat germ.
Spoon mixture into muffin tins.
Bake for 25-30 mins (or until a toothpick comes out cleanly).
This delicious slice is full of goodness from almonds, brazil nuts, and cashew nuts. It can be served as a dessert or be frozen and added to school lunches. I wish I’d found such an easy way to make allergy free chocolate earlier!
NOTE: This is a small batch perfect for an 18x15cm pyrex dish; feel free to double the recipe for a larger quantity.
Line a pyrex dish with baking paper with overhanging sides so that you can lift it out easily. (This works better than greasing for slicing and freezing).
Place the base ingredients into a food processor. Blend until well combined and sticking together. Press into the prepared dish and place in the fridge.
Wash the food processor and then use it to blend the middle ingredients until smooth.
Pour the fruit mix over the base and then place in the freezer for 30 minutes to set.
Place the ingredients for the top into a bowl and blend until smooth.
Spread the chocolate mix over the frozen middle layer and return to the freezer for another 20 minutes to set.
Remove the slice from the freezer. Lift out the baking paper and slice into small serves. Enjoy delicious goodness!
Tip: The chocolate will soften easily in summer temperatures so this is best stored in the fridge or freezer. For school lunch boxes, place it in frozen.
These sweet treats are high in natural goodness and fruit fibres, do not contain refined sugar, and contain valuable trace minerals from the almond, brazil, and cashew nut butter.
There are a few different ways that you can make this recipe and I have endeavoured to include options without over-cluttering. Keep in mind when subbing ingredients whether it will impact the recipe overall; i.e. coconut oil or butter will solidify in cold temperatures and hold a gluten free version together better than rice bran oil; using almond meal rather than flour will give a substantially different texture.
Ingredients
1 cup flour + 30g fine instant oats
OR: 1/2 cup sunflower flour (or almond flour) + 1/2 cup gluten free oat flour
Flying Solo 