Family Meal Plan: Rainbow Macaroni Salad+Charred Green Onion Honey Dressing+Fabulous Frosted Orange Slushie

Rainbow Macaroni Salad with Charred Green Onion Honey Dressing

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.

• boil :

  to cook a food in liquid heated to the point of gas bubbles and steam forming (boiling point is 212 F at sea level).

• char :

  to intentionally burn food, like peppers, vegetables, fish, or steak, to give it a blackened, crispy, smoky, and caramelized appearance, flavor, and texture.

• chop :

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

• color or dye :

  to add natural or synthetic colors to change the appearance of food, like unshelled hard-boiled eggs, cakes, shredded coconut, or frostings.

• grate :

  to reduce food, like a carrot, to very small shreds or pieces of the same size by rubbing it on a tool with an outside surface that has holes with cutting edges (a grater).

• knife skills :

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

• mince :

  to chop into teeny tiny pieces.

• peel :

  to remove the skin or rind from something using your hands or a metal tool.

• snip :

  to use scissors to cut something with quick, sharp strokes.

• squeeze :

  to firmly press or twist a food with fingers, hands, or a device to remove its liquid, like shredded potatoes, frozen and thawed spinach, or tofu.

• whisk :

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

History of Pasta Salad!

• Pasta salad is known in Italy as "insalata di pasta" or "pasta fredda" ("cold pasta"). There are a few origin theories for the salad. 
• One theory from British cookbook writer and cultural anthropologist Claudia Roden suggests that Italian Jews first created pasta salad. Since they were not supposed to cook on the Sabbath, they may have added some type of dressing to previously cooked pasta along with other ingredients to create a cold pasta dish.
• Macaroni salad is a simple version of pasta salad, which is often served as a side dish. At its most basic, it contains cold, cooked macaroni and mayonnaise. Additions may include celery and dill or sweet pickles. 
• More complex versions can include any type of cold or room-temperature cooked pasta and chopped vegetables, like bell peppers, carrots, celery, cheese, cucumber, olives, onions, tomatoes, and zucchini. Nuts, legumes, grilled chicken, or salami may also be added for protein. The salad is tossed with a vinaigrette or other dressing. This type of pasta salad may be served as a side or main dish.

Let's Learn About Colonial America!

• European settlers came to America from England, France, Spain, and the Dutch Republic in the late 1500s and created colonies for their respective countries. The Jamestown settlement in the Virginia colony was established in 1607 and was the first English community in the Americas. The Dutch founded the New Netherland colony in the area that is now the states of Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York. 
• There are two reasons these countries colonized America. One was the access to natural resources in the new land and the ability to make money for investors back in their home countries. The second was for freedom to practice their religion without persecution. The Puritans were the first such pilgrims to leave England, and they settled at the Plymouth Plantation. The Province of Maryland was founded to protect English Roman Catholics. 
• Unfortunately, foreign colonization brought hardship to the indigenous people already living there. One reason is that these people lived in an interconnected relationship with the land. In contrast, many colonists and their governments set out to conquer the land (and the Native Americans) to increase their property and wealth.
• The thirteen British colonies eventually joined in revolting and fighting against the British in 1775 and declaring independence from the British government in July 1776. 

What Was It Like to Be a Kid in Colonial America?

• The lives of colonists and their children were difficult. They had to live off the land and often suffered and died from diseases. Kids had to follow strict rules, and their parents expected them to do a lot of work at home.
• There was a common belief that "children are to be seen and not heard." Therefore, kids were to eat quickly, without talking, and then leave the table as soon as they finished. Sometimes kids did not even sit at the table but stood behind their parents, waiting to have their food handed back to them!
• Kids had household chores such as shelling corn, spinning cotton and wool, cutting sugar, gathering wood, making soap and candles, helping in the garden, and feeding the animals. 
• Even babies had a job to do! Crawling was considered an animal behavior, so little ones wore stiff stays under their clothes to help them stay upright, keep good posture, and learn to stand and walk as soon as possible.
• At the age of eight, boys started grammar school for writing and arithmetic, but for girls, education came second to their training in domestic duties. By age 14, young people were already considered adults. 
• Children played with toys made of wood; however, they spent so much of their time doing chores they had to squeeze in playtime.