Barcelona & Madrid, Spain, June 2013

Barcelona & Madrid, Spain, June 2013, a set on Flickr.

From June 24-July 1, 2013, four of my students, my brother, and I traveled to Barcelona and Madrid, Spain. I had never been to Europe (none of us had), and it was quite an adventure.

And 2 years in the making, We couldn't have done it without help, especially from the Pittsburgh restaurant industry. You. Are. Awesome.

I would like to thank everyone who helped us along the way:

- Alma Pan-Latin Kitchen, for donating the proceeds of their Father's Day brunch to the trip, as well as selling City Dining Cards on our behalf. You are so generous!

- YADA YADA Empanada, for your awesome fundraiser!

- Casa Rasta, for holding a benefit dinner and donating the proceeds to the trip. Gracias!

- PGH Taco Truck, for donating drink sales on several occasions.

- The countless people who bought flower bulbs, coffee, cookie dough, bears, dining cards, beanies, and much, much more to help out our cause!

- The teachers, staff, and administrators of the West Mifflin Area School District, who have been SO supportive of having our students experience other cultures!

- A special thanks to Meg A., who handles student activity accounts for the district, for putting up with my many deposits and check requests! You rock!

I am also happy to announce that I am planning another trip for 2 years from now - to COSTA RICA! This will be an exciting one, with zip-lining, whitewater rafting, kayaking, and horseback riding! See this link for details, and let me know if you're interested:

http://www.eftours.com/educational-tours/tour-detail.aspx?code=COB&year=2015

I hope you enjoy looking at our pictures from the trip! Please let me know if you have questions or feedback!

YADA YADA Empanada

I have been on a fundraising whirlwind this school year.

I have been planning a trip to Spain for students through EF Tours since last school year, and only got one kid on board.  I hate admitting defeat, so I pushed and pushed for kids to sign up - and got 3 more.  I still need ONE MORE KID to make it a "complete" trip (and it's this summer, so...I'm getting pretty worried), but since kids signed up late, I had to find lots of ways for them to raise the $3,000.

Hence - many, MANY fundraisers.

We've been selling City Dining Cards, West Mifflin beanies with ear flaps, flower bulbs, West Mifflin teddy bears...now we're selling Smencils and Pittsburgh Popcorn Company popcorn through March 8th (contact me if you want to order any!).

But perhaps my favorite fundraiser has been...EMPANADAS!  An empanada is what I like to describe as a "Latino pierogie", so that Pittsburghers understand.  A filling, usually meat (but not always), wrapped and sealed in a flaky pastry dough.  They're awesome, and I was so excited when Natasha Reyna, the owner of the company, contacted me about doing the fundraiser.  She had heard about me at the Hatch Chile Festival (which I'm so upset that I couldn't attend, as I had another commitment that day), and had been wanting to do fundraisers as part of her business. 

Of course I couldn't say no!  We arranged a tasting at Shadow/Ava Lounge in East Liberty, where I tried a Traditional (with ground beef & capers), Buffalo Turkey, and Spinach and Cheese empanada - I was instantly enamored, so we decided to have the students try the empanadas at the Spanish Club Christmas party, then hold the fundraiser over Christmas break and the beginning of the year.

Empanadas can add a smile to your plate!

My students are, for whatever reason, obsessed with buffalo chicken dip, so I had them try the Buffalo Turkey empanadas, plus I wanted to have the Traditional ones, as I thought they had a lot of flavor.  The kids loved them - even the Traditional ones - and had no problem agreeing to sell them as a fundraiser.

Mmm, Traditional and Buffalo Turkey Empanadas!

I've commented before on how my particular area of Pittsburgh seems a bit sheltered from the outside world, and this fundraiser proved it.  People didn't seem to understand what an empanada was (or how good they are, even when the kids told them), so we didn't sell as many as we had originally hoped.  As a result, instead of Natasha coming to school and having the kids help her make the empanadas, she was able to handle the orders on her own.  I picked them up from her, and when I did, I was SO glad that I had ordered 2 dozen for myself, as my car smelled DELICIOUS.

Regardless of our expectations, we still made REALLY good money from this fundraiser!  I hope that people in Pittsburgh (especially my area) try empanadas and fall in love with them as I have, because any time anyone sells them as a fundraiser, I WILL buy - they freeze for up to 6 months and reheat BEAUTIFULLY, even in the microwave, so they are the perfect food to have on hand at all times.  Whether as a snack or part of a full meal, I could eat YADA YADA empanadas ANY time!

Several people with whom I work, including other teachers and a security guard, also ordered the empanadas - and all I got from them was high praise.  They thought that the empanadas were FANTASTIC!  AND, not only did they get a great meal, but they helped out some students as well.

Top: Whole empadada  Bottom: Buffalo Turkey Empanada filling

If you're looking to get your hands on some of these scrumptious empanadas for yourself, try AVA Lounge (for immediate satisfaction), or contact YADA YADA Empanada about fundraising and catering options...

...and let me know that you're doing it, because I will need to re-stock!



YADA YADA Empanada
Phone: 412-295-0598
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YadaYadaEmpanada

El Dia de los Muertos 2012

I did the impossible (with help from Mexico Lindo):



And then I proved to the kids they wouldn't die or get sick:



And then...the real fun began: Watching kids try something new :-)

DUE TO A COMPLAINT, THE VIDEO HAS BEEN REMOVED.

It was by far the most interesting Dia de los Muertos (pardon my lack of accents, too - Blogger does not allow for such "special" characters to be typed in directly) EVER.  A video that I have shown for many years now from Teacher's Discovery led me on a search for chapulines (grasshoppers) in Pittsburgh.  Many of my students will never travel to Mexico in their lifetime, let alone around the Day of the Dead, but I wanted to do SOMETHING to give them an authentic experience, right from the source.

Well, that search failed - no chapulines in Pittsburgh - but luckily my friends at Mexico Lindo in Squirrel Hill found them for me on their recent trip to Oaxaca, Mexico and were kind and daring enough to bring them back here to Pittsburgh.

With only a few minor gagging incidents, 44 kids were bold enough to try the chapulines.  Many commented that they weren't bad, while some others pretty much psyched themselves out (hence the gagging) and thought they were gross.  I, of course, thought they were good, having tested them out myself for several days prior (figuring that if I didn't get sick - or worse - all would be well.)

We all survived.  We all lived.  And now - we can all say that we ate grasshoppers.  Something new.  Something different.  Something memorable.

Now, my biggest worry - how do I top this next year...?

See below for the full-length video of each student trying the chapulines.

DUE TO A COMPLAINT,. THE VIDEO HAS BEEN REMOVED.


Mexico Lindo
2027 Murray Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15217 (Squirrel Hill)

Website: http://www.mexicolindo.biz
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mexico-Lindo-Mercado-y-Galeria-de-Artesanias/37506054466
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mexico_Lindo

...Casa Rasta helps the Spanish Club

Kids hate fundraising.  Fact.

I know that when I had to fund-raise, my parents took countless catalogs to work, family members, friends-of-friends, etc. to get them to buy things that they probably didn't need - frozen pizzas, chocolate bunnies, pies, wrapping paper, lottery tickets...I could go on forever.  Why?

To save themselves money.

Fundraising, though, doesn't always save that much money - I mean, my parents bought a lot of those things for the fundraiser.  Most of them were used, but I'm sure others were not - but regardless, they got something out of the deal now, to save money later.

Imagine trying to get kids to fund-raise for Spanish Club.  There's way too much competition.

Marching band, AFJROTC, baseball, football, softball...kids have to fund-raise for opportunities in so many areas that getting them to fund-raise for Spanish Club is like pulling teeth.  However, we need to fund-raise to be able to afford activities - the less money we have, the less we can do.

Who wants to be in a club where you don't do anything?

To alleviate some of the aggravation of getting kids to raise money, James had an idea - why don't we do a fundraising dinner at Casa Rasta?  People could pay a fee, and the proceeds (minus the food cost) would go to the Spanish Club.  We would also hold raffles to raise some more funds.

As always - genius.

Antonio and Laura, the owners of Casa Rasta, have been so kind to us - and they offered to do the event on a Tuesday, the only day of the week that the restaurant is closed, and therefore, their only day off.  Although the restaurant space itself is small - only 11 seats - we decided to do the best we could in inviting enough people to fill the place (ok, OVERfill the place), while raising a decent amount of funds to cover the cost of future club events.

My tacos (from clockwise from top left): Rajas, Birrio, Soyrizo

17 people came to the dinner - 6 over the seating capacity.  We made it work.  Diners had the choice of 3 tacos OR 1 taco and 1 burrito, plus their choice of drink.  We raffled off 8 baskets - each diner had 3 free tickets for the raffle, while having the option for purchasing additional tickets.

Each diner had a spread like this - well-worth it!

We raised $246.  That's $246 additional for club activities that we didn't have before.  $246 that students don't have to worry about raising (or paying themselves).  I'm pretty happy about that, and I'm sure they are, too!

The best part?  It was a good time.  Definitely a good time - great company, great food, and an opportunity for a few groups to meet - my family, Twitter followers, and teachers.

I have so many people to thank for making this event successful:

Antonio and Laura from Casa Rasta: Thank you so much for giving up your day off to help us out!  Your generosity does not go unappreciated in any way, shape, or form.  Your food is amazing, and I'm so glad that more people got to experience it!  Muchisimas gracias!

Burgh Gourmand: Thank you so much for your organization of this event!  In addition, your generosity in donating raffle prizes is overwhelming.  So many foods from so many places - cactus, sardines, gelatin, hot sauces, etc. You are truly THE BEST!

Mexico Lindo Mercado y Galeria de Artesanias: Thank you so much for donating the "luchador" purse!  My Aunt Marie ended up winning it, and I KNOW she'll get use out of it!

Decor and Mexican Coke

Fonzi's Synergy Fitness: Thank you so much for the t-shirt and 1 month gym membership with training!  Who won?  My mom.  Marie is jealous.  Regardless, it WILL get used!  Yay!

Pittsburgh Prep: Thanks for your generous donation of a basket for our raffle!  Anyone who needs a college readiness academy for services  like SAT or ACT prep MUST check them out!  They are AWESOME people who work hard to ensure that students get the preparation they need for college!

Nancy Cardone: You are SO AWESOME for donating the wrapper purse to raffle off!  Joanne will totally use it, and I'm glad you won a basket in return!  Hooray for karma!

Mr. and Mrs. McMonagle: Thanks for coming and being so supportive!  Now we can do more fun things with the Spanish Club!  Woo hoo!

My family members - Mom, Dad, Mark, Marie, and Dan: Thanks for coming out and trying a new place (and supporting the Spanish Club at the same time!  Two-fer!)

Friends - Joanne, Clara, Nancy (again) and Tom: Thanks so much for coming and being so supportive!  It seems like everyone had a great time!

#TACOYES Twitter Team - Sara, Justine, & Pam: TACOS!  Who can resist?  Thanks for coming out to Casa Rasta for #tacotuesday and supporting the Spanish Club's activities at the same time!

Hopefully, we can do more events like this in the future - they're fun to attend, enjoyable to plan, and help raise funds for a good cause, all while still being Spanish language (and food) -oriented.  

Anyone else want to help us out?

Casa Rasta

2102 Broadway Ave.

Pittsburgh, PA 15216

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/#!/CasaRastaPgh

...Coffee & Cookie Day: The Final Numbers

So proud.

Coffee & Cookie Day came and went.  So, so many cookies were brought in between my classes and Mr. McMonagle's.  My classroom smelled like a bakery that had just opened it's doors for the day - cookies in the display case, with some still in the oven, the smell of coffee in the air for those who enjoyed the combination.

I baked my Oatmeal Maple Raisin cookies - about 7 dozen:

My Oatmeal Maple Raisin Cookies

Students brought in anything from M&M, to chocolate chip, to sugar cookies.  Some bought packages of cookies, which is totally fine - students will buy anything with which they are familiar:

Cookies from the students (I had to put them out in shifts! This isn't anywhere near all of them!)

 We had cookies and other pastries generously donated by Sugar Cafe, Oakmont Bakery (thanks to James), and Vanilla Pastry (those were in Mr. McMonagle's room):

From Oakmont Bakery (yeah, don't worry, I dropped the price on those!)

From Oakmont Bakery, Sugar Cafe, and a few students! (banana bread & cinnamon rolls - so yummy!)

 Greek Gourmet in Squirrel Hill even donated some hummus and pretzel/carrot snack boxes for us to sell!  They went pretty quickly (I had one as my lunch - homemade hummus is definitely the way to go!)!:

Mmm, pretzels and hummus from Greek Gourmet!

Three students - Marissa, Sara, and Jimmy H. - got pretty creative with their cupcakes!:

The "M" was purchased too quickly for me to get the best picture!

Silver sprinkles make everything pretty :-)

  I strategically set up carts for adding cream and sugar to coffee, and adding tea and hot chocolate mixes to hot water:

Tea and Hot Chocolate Cart

Sugar and Creamer Cart

And after a long, busy day of hustling all of these, our total at the end of the day, between both my room and Mr. McMonagle's was...

$913.93! 

But WAIT!  We did have cookies left over, so the students in charge of the You Light Up My Heart Dance that night said that they would continue to sell our cookies, and give us the money - all of it - for Make-A-Wish!  Amazing!

So what was the FINAL total???

$953.93!!!!

I am incredibly proud of everyone for their accomplishments.  At LEAST one child will get his or her wish granted as a result of our efforts.  Thanks to the students who donated items, anyone who donated cookies, coffee, sugar, napkins, plates, plasticware, etc., and anyone who spent or donated any amount of money toward this total.

Next year, our goal will be $1000.00 - and we will surpass it, I'm sure...

In the meantime, please patronize the businesses that helped us out!  Gracias!

Make-A-Wish: http://www.wish.org

Sugar Cafe: http://www.sugarcafepgh.com

Greek Gourmet: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/23/270707/restaurant/Squirrel-Hill-CMU/Greek-Gourmet-Pittsburgh

 

Vanilla Pastry: http://www.vanillapastry.com/

 

Oakmont Bakery: http://oakmontbakery.com/

…El Día de los Muertos 2011

Halloween came and went, but that's never the end of the craziness for me.  

As a Spanish teacher, I have to acknowledge the celebration of “El Día de los Muertos”, or “The Day of the Dead”.  Put simply, it is a Mexican holiday held on November 1^st and 2^nd to celebrate the spirits of those who have died.  Typically, November 1^st celebrates the spirits of children who have died, and November 2^nd is the day to celebrate the spirits of adults who have died. 

The Hispanic concept of death is quite different from our own here in the United States – death is celebrated, even played with, in the culture.  To los hispanos, death is not something to be feared - life lives on after death, and those who have died should be remembered and have their afterlives celebrated on El Día de los Muertos.  See http://www.peoplesguide.com/1pages/chapts/viva/dodead/bobbi/dodbobi.html for a more detailed explanation.

Many events take place to celebrate this holiday – people decorate ofrendas, or altars, in honor of their dead relatives, both in their homes and in cemeteries.  They put items on the ofrendas that will help to draw their spirits back – pictures, their favorite foods and personal items, pan de muerto (a sweet bread – see recipe here), cempazuchitl (yellow marigolds), candles, copal (incense), and skeletons and/or skulls to represent the person in the afterlife.

The skulls that are placed on the altar are typically made out of sugar and are known as “calaveras de azúcar”.  Decorating sugar skulls is a favorite activity of children and adults in Mexico (although they can be purchased for the altars as well).

It also tends to be a favorite activity of American students.

When I was student teaching back in, um, 2002, I bought sugar skull molds from Teacher’s Discovery, figuring that I would get a lot of use out of them.  I found a recipe online for making sugar skulls, and got to work practicing.

I have now mastered the art of making sugar skulls.

The recipe is as follows:

1 cup white sugar

1 tsp. cream of tartar (dried egg whites)

1 tsp. water

THAT’S IT.

I usually quadruple this and do it in batches.  It usually makes 8-10 sugar skulls, meaning that there is as much as ½ cup of sugar in each skull.  Every year, I tell the students this, and every year I recommend not eating the skulls because ½ cup of sugar is way more than anyone should consume in a week.

And every year, there are at least a few students who don’t listen.  Shocker.  Halloween candy + sugar skull = parent & teacher nightmare.

First, I add the ingredients to large bowl (in that order – sugar, cream of tartar, water) and mix it with my hands until it feels like wet sand.

Adding the cream of tartar to the sugar

I then press the sugar into the molds with my hands, and level off the back with a cake icer or leveler.

Leveling off the back of the mold

 Then, I take a bar-sized (small) cutting board loosely-but-still-firmly-covered (you’ll see why soon!) in foil and press it firmly to the back of the mold.  I carefully flip the mold over, so that the skulls are now lying flat on the cutting board.

Flat on the cutting board, still in the mold

 I then carefully lift the mold straight up, as not to disturb the still-fragile skull.

Success!

 I don’t have an unlimited amount of bar-sized cutting boards in my house – I only have one – so I need it back to do the next 2 skulls.  I carefully unfold the foil from the bottom and side edges of the cutting board, as necessary (hence the “loosely-but-still-firmly-covered” description), and carefully slide the cutting board out from below the foil while pulling the top of the foil in the opposite direction.  Believe me, it has taken YEARS to perfect this, but I rarely end up with broken (or cracked) skulls anymore.

TA-DA!  Sugar skulls!

 They should be left to dry for at LEAST 24-hours – I try to let them dry longer, if possible, especially if the weather is humid.  I also leave the ceiling fan on in my dining room to help with the drying process.

For our Spanish Club party for El Día de los Muertos, I brought in the sugar skulls for the students to decorate.  I have done this with my classes in the past, but this year, I didn’t have the money nor the time to make 168 skulls.  20 was manageable.

Undecorated sugar skull

 I also brought in icing to use to decorate the skulls.  Sugar skulls are typically NOT eaten, so they use non-edible decorations in addition to icing, such as colorful foil, plastic pieces, and glue.  Since I have students who don’t listen (and I don’t want to create a choking hazard), I stick to icing only.

I think that the students did a beautiful job!  Scroll down to see some of them, and keep scrolling for a little shocker...

 

 

 

Hopefully next year, time and money will permit more…

…Oh, yeah, the "little shocker" - I ate my first “walking taco” at the party – Fritos, taco meat, lettuce, tomato, cheese, salsa, and sour cream, all mixed together in a Frito bag.  Easy?  Yes.  Authentic?  NO WAY.  Perhaps that’s good enough for the kids, but not for this Reyna de Autenticidad…

*sigh* Not authentic