Family Meal Plan: Donut-y Apricot-Filled Mug Cake+Apricot Breakfast Pudding+Cinnamon Apricot Milk

Delightfully Donut-y Apricot-Filled Mug Cake

Happy & Healthy Cooking,

Fun-Da-Mentals Kitchen Skills

• dip :

  to briefly put a solid food, such as chips, fries, battered fried fish, hot sandwich (French dip), or veggie slices, into a liquid, like beef broth or a thicker sauce, like ketchup, dressing, or a dip to impart moisture and extra flavor to the solid food.

• juice :

  to extract or squeeze out the juice of a fruit or vegetable, like a lemon, orange, or carrot, often cutting open or peeling the fruit or veggie first to access its flesh.

• measure :

  to calculate the specific amount of an ingredient required using a measuring tool (like measuring cups or spoons).

• melt :

  to heat a solid food so it becomes liquid, like butter or chocolate.

• microwave :

  to heat or cook food or liquid quickly in a microwave oven, which uses high-frequency electromagnetic waves to generate heat in the food's water molecules.

• mix :

  to thoroughly combine two or more ingredients until uniform in texture.

• separate eggs :

  to remove the egg yolk from the egg white by cracking an egg in the middle and using the shell halves, the palm of the hand, or a device to keep the egg yolk in place while the egg white falls into a separate bowl.

• slice :

  to cut into thin pieces using a sawing motion with your knife.

• sprinkle :

  to scatter small drops or particles of an ingredient evenly or randomly over food. 

• tear :

  to pull or rip apart a food, like basil leaves, into pieces instead of cutting with a knife; cutting breaks cell walls more, so herbs can discolor faster.

History of Doughnuts!

• Although other cultures may have deep-fried dough over the centuries, Dutch immigrants to 17th-century New York (New Netherland) are primarily linked to the modern doughnut's origin. They made a fried sweet dough called "oliekoeken" or "oil cakes." They would put fruit or nuts in the middle of the dough balls to prevent the center from being undercooked.
• The name "doughnut" might refer to the nuts put in the middle of the dough ball to help cook the center, or it could come from "dough knots," a popular shape for Dutch oily cakes, sweet dough balls fried in pork fat. Today, "doughnut" and "donut" are used interchangeably.
• Three stories claim to tell how ring doughnuts came about, with a hole in their center, and the doughnut hole inventor in each story is the same. 
• Story 1: In 1847, Elizabeth Gregory was known for making a unique oily cake with a hint of nutmeg and a filling of nuts. This story says that on June 22, 1847, her son, Hanson Crockett Gregory, was captaining a ship that hit a sudden storm. He impaled his mother's cake that he was eating on a spoke of the ship's wheel to free his hands. The spoke put a hole through the middle of the donut. The captain preferred the cake that way, and the doughnut hole was born.
• Story 2: Captain Gregory didn't like nuts, so he poked them out and demanded that the ship's cook remove the nutty centers from all future doughnuts. 
• Story 3: Around the turn of the century, Captain Gregory told the third version in a Boston Post interview. The captain didn't like the greasiness of doughnuts twisted into various shapes or the raw center of regular doughnuts. So he got the idea to punch a hole in a doughnut with the ship's tin pepper box. 
• Large chains like Krispy Kreme and Dunkin' Donuts have dominated the donut world for the past few decades, but as the "boutique foods" trend continues to grow, donuts are not being left behind.
• Specialty shops making donuts with unique flavors and toppings are cropping up in major cities across America. Maple and bacon donuts, donut ice cream sandwiches, and even hamburgers on donuts instead of buns; it's clear that donuts aren't just for dunking anymore.

Let's Learn About the United States!

• Most of the United States of America (USA) is in North America. It shares its northern border with Canada and its southern border with Mexico. It consists of 50 states, 1 federal district, 5 territories, 9 Minor Outlying Islands, and 326 Indian reservations. 
• The country's total area is 3,796,742 square miles, globally the third largest after Russia and Canada. The US population is over 333 million, making it the third most populous country in the world, after China and India.
• The United States of America declared itself an independent nation from Great Britain on July 4, 1776, by issuing the Declaration of Independence.
• The Revolutionary War between the US and Great Britain was fought from 1775-1783. We only had 13 colonies at that time! On September 9, 1776, the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia and declared that the new nation would be called the United States. 
• The 13 colonies became states after each ratified the constitution of the new United States, with Delaware being the first on December 7, 1787.  
• The 13 stripes on the US flag represent those first 13 colonies, and the 50 stars represent our 50 states. The red color of the flag symbolizes hardiness and valor, white symbolizes innocence and purity, and blue symbolizes vigilance and justice.
• Before settling in Washington DC, a federal district, the nation's capital resided in New York City and then Philadelphia for a short time. New York City is the largest city in the US and is considered its financial center. 
• The US does not have a recognized official language! However, English is effectively the national language. 
• The American dollar is the national currency. The nickname for a dollar, "buck," comes from colonial times when people traded goods for buckskins!
• Because the United States is so large, there is a wide variety of climates and types of geography. The Mississippi/Missouri River, running primarily north to south, is the fourth-longest river system in the world. On the east side of the Mississippi are the Appalachian Mountains, the Adirondack Mountains, and the East Coast, next to the Atlantic Ocean. 
• On the west side of the Mississippi are the flat Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains (or Rockies), and the West Coast, next to the Pacific Ocean, with several more mountain ranges in coastal states, such as the Sierras and the Cascades. Between the coasts and the north and south borders are several forests, lakes (including the Great Lakes), rivers, swamps, deserts, and volcanos. 
• Several animals are unique to the US, such as the American bison (or American buffalo), the bald eagle, the California condor, the American black bear, the groundhog, the American alligator, and the pronghorn (or American antelope). 
• The US has 63 national parks. The Great Smoky Mountains, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Zion, and the Grand Canyon, with the Colorado River flowing through it, are among the most well-known and visited.
• Cuisine in the US was influenced early on by the indigenous people of North America who lived there before Europeans arrived. They introduced beans, corn, potatoes, squash, berries, fish, turkey, venison, dried meats, and more to the new settlers. Other influences include the widely varied foods and dishes of enslaved people from Africa and immigrants from Asia, Europe, Central and South America, and the Pacific Islands. 

What's It Like to Be a Kid in the United States?

• Education is compulsory in the US, and kids may go to a public or private school or be home-schooled. Most schools do not require students to wear uniforms, but some private schools do. The school year runs from mid-August or the beginning of September to the end of May or the middle of June.
• Kids generally start school at about five years old in kindergarten or earlier in preschool and continue through 12th grade in high school. After that, many go on to university, community college, or technical school. 
• Spanish, French, and German are the most popular foreign languages kids learn in US schools. 
• Kids may participate in many different school and after-school sports, including baseball, soccer, American football, basketball, volleyball, tennis, swimming, and track and field. In grade school, kids may join in playground games like hopscotch, four-square, kickball, tetherball, jump rope, or tag.
• There are several fun activities that American kids enjoy doing with their friends and families, such as picnicking, hiking, going to the beach or swimming, or going to children's and natural history museums, zoos and wild animal parks, amusement parks, water parks, state parks, or national parks. Popular amusement parks include Disneyland, Disney World, Legoland, Six Flags, and Universal Studios.
• On Independence Day or the 4th of July, kids enjoy a day off from school, picnicking, and watching fireworks with their families. 
• Thanksgiving is celebrated on the last Thursday in November when students get 2 to 5 days off school. Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa are popular December holidays, and there are 2 or 3 weeks of winter vacation. Easter is celebrated in March, April, or May, and kids enjoy a week of spring recess around that time.  
• Barbecued hot dogs or hamburgers, watermelon, apple pie, and ice cream are popular kid foods for 4th of July celebrations. Turkey, dressing, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie are traditional Thanksgiving foods. Birthday parties with cake and ice cream are very important celebrations for kids in the United States!