Family Meal Plan: Gingerbread Pear Carrot Cake Puffs on a Stick + Icy Lemon Icing + Spiced Pear Smoothies

Gingerbread Pear Carrot Cake Puffs on a Stick

Happy & Healthy Cooking,

Fun-Da-Mentals Kitchen Skills

• blend :

  to stir together two or more ingredients until just combined; blending is a gentler process than mixing.

• chop :

  to cut something into small, rough pieces using a blade.

• combine :

  to merge two or more ingredients into one mixture, like a batter of flour, eggs, and milk.

• drizzle :

  to trickle a thin stream of a liquid ingredient, like icing or sauce, over 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.

• knife skills :

  Bear Claw (growl), Pinch, Plank, and Bridge (look out for trolls). 

• measure :

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

• mix :

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

• stir :

  to mix together two or more ingredients with a spoon or spatula, usually in a circle pattern, or figure eight, or in whatever direction you like!

• wet vs dry :

  to mix wet and dry ingredients separately before combining them: dry ingredients are flours, leavening agents, salt, and spices; wet ingredients are those that dissolve or can be dissolved (sugar, eggs, butter, oils, honey, vanilla, milk, and juices).

• whisk :

  to beat or stir ingredients vigorously with a fork or whisk to mix, blend, or incorporate air.

History of Gingerbread!

• Gingerbread was brought to France in 992 CE by an Armenian monk from a Roman province in western Greece. It eventually spread throughout Europe. It was a popular treat at medieval European fairs. 
• In England and Sweden, gingerbread was thought to have medicinal properties, helping with digestion and stomach ache. This makes sense since ginger is often used today to help resolve nausea and other stomach issues. 
• Gingerbread can be sweetened with sugar, honey, or molasses, although molasses is often used to give gingerbread more flavor and color. 
• Gingerbread can be a moist cake or a cookie-like pastry used to make gingerbread people and houses. 
• In 2013, a club in Texas was awarded the Guinness World Record for having the world’s largest gingerbread house. It was 60 feet long, 42 feet wide, and 10 feet tall!

Let's Learn About Medieval Europe!

• The Medieval era in Europe is also referred to as the Middle Ages. It lasted about 1,000 years, from the 5th to the 15th century!
• The Middle Ages was a time of feuds and manors, lords, ladies, knights, serfs, and peasants. This era came after the fall of the Roman government. During the Middle Ages, thousands of small, regional feudal governments ruled medieval Europe, where the local lord was in charge.
• The church dominated every aspect of a person's life. Whether you lived on a manor, in a castle, or in one of the growing towns, life in the Middle Ages was very religious and often violent.
• Times were difficult for people during this era, as there was much fighting and turnover of ruling parties and lords. Life varied for people depending on which period of the Middle Ages they lived in: Early, Middle, or Late, and what status a person held. Nobles had different things to think about than peasants, such as governing their lands, keeping the loyalty of their workers, and staying in favor with the king. Serfs were considered the lowest class, and they were also the busiest. They farmed, spun yarn, and sewed clothing for people of higher classes. 
• Some of the inventions and discoveries in medieval Europe were: stirrups, which allowed people to stay on their horses more easily; schools, which started in monasteries (science and grammar were promoted); windmills; spectacles; the compass; the spinning wheel; the spice trade along the Silk Road between the West and the East; and the printing press.
• The primary language taught in schools of the time was Latin. Languages based on Latin include Italian, French, Spanish, English, Romanian, and Portuguese. 
• Although education became more widespread during the High Middle Ages (1,000-1,300), it remained much more common for a male to go to university than a female.
• The Black Plague was a disease that took many lives during the Late Middle Ages (1300-1500). People focused on obtaining the best food possible to avoid catching the plague. After this time, a whole new world of art, technology, and culture emerged and improved people's lives at the end of this challenging era. 

Words and Sayings that Originated in the Middle Ages

• A BAKER'S DOZEN: A group of 13 items (a dozen is 12). Bakers of this time developed a reputation for selling underweight loaves of bread to save money. But, then, a standard weight law was set for bread. So bakers started giving away an extra loaf of bread with every dozen loaves to avoid paying the penalty of selling underweight goods!
• TO PLAY DEVIL'S ADVOCATE: To take a position you may not necessarily agree with for the sake of the debate or to explore the topic further.
• BELLYTIMBER: The word for "food!" Example: "Let's go grab some Bellytimber for dinner, shall we?"
• WOODNESS: Another word for blasphemy, madness, or insanity. Example: "This is Woodness!"
• PITCHKETTLED: Confused. Example: "The complicated instructions left her rather pitchkettled."
• BEAUTEOUS: Beautiful.
• SINK OR SWIM: A medieval practice where the authorities would toss a person believed to be guilty of a crime into a lake to determine their guilt or innocence. If the person floated or swam, they were considered in league with the devil, guilty, and were executed. On the other hand, if they sank and drowned, they were deemed innocent, but the result was the same!