Our December cluster meeting took place at the theme park Six Flags Fiesta Texas, located by The Shops at La Cantera. The au pairs got to experience the magic of Holiday in the Park (the park had been transformed into a winter wonderland with thousands of twinkling lights, thrilling rides, good food, and spectacular shows).
Countries represented: South Africa, Austria, Colombia, France, Czech Republic, and Thailand
Hanukkah began at sundown last night. Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday celebrated for eight days and nights. It starts on the 25th of the Jewish month of Kislev, which coincides with late November-late December on the secular calendar. In Hebrew, the word “hanukkah” means “dedication.” The name reminds us that this holiday commemorates the re-dedication of the holy Temple in Jerusalem following the Jewish victory over the Syrian-Greeks in 165 B.C.E. Hanukkah commemorates the Jewish people’s successful rebellion against the Greeks in the Maccabean War in 162 BCE. A ritual re-dedication of the Temple occurred after the Jewish people’s victory. It is believed that there was only enough oil to keep the lamps burning for one day but the small bottle of oil miraculously lasted for eight days. Hanukkah, also known as Chanukah, is referred as the Feast of Lights or Festival of Lights for this reason.
For fun and educational activities for children go to http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/hanukkah/
Directions to play the Dreidel game. Play for Hershey kisses, a great way to have fun with the kids when they are home from school! http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/hanukkah/dreidel-game.html
Wishing all of our Jewish friends, host families and au pairs a very Happy Hanukkah!
For our Thanksgiving cluster meeting, we ate lots of good food (thank you so much to everybody who participated), shared different holiday traditions and experiences, and watched “Three Wishes for Cinderella” (Tři oříšky pro Popelku), which is a Czech/German fairy-tale film from 1973. The film has become a holiday classic in several European countries and is shown on TV around Christmas time every year in the Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia, Switzerland, Norway, and sometimes Russia. It was wonderful to catch up with everybody!! 🙂
Countries represented: Czech Republic, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Austria 🙂
Elena from Costa Rica and Hana from Czech Republic received their Education Certificate after fulfilling the educational component of the program (6 credits or approx. 72 classroom hours at an accredited Post-secondary institution).
20 oz. can crushed pineapple
¼ cup pineapple juice
3.5 oz. package pistachio pudding and pie filling
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 cup chopped pecans – toasted
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
2 cups frozen whipped topping (such as Cool Whip), thawed (8 oz)
Preparation:
1. Drain the pineapple, reserving 1/4 cup of the juice.
2. Place the pineapple and reserved juice in a large bowl.
3. Add the pudding mixes, miniature marshmallows, pecans and coconut. Stir well.
4. Gently fold in the whipped topping until the mixture is well-combined, but not soupy. Refrigerate until ready
Crust:
1 refrigerated pie crust
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons sugar
1 egg, beaten
Pie:
7 – 8 cups apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced (I used Granny Smith and Honeycrisp.)
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Crumb topping:
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon granulated (or coarse) sugar
Icing:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon good vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2-3 teaspoons milk
Begin by preheating your oven to 400 degrees F.
Unroll your crust on a lightly floured surface. Then, brush the crust with melted butter and evenly sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Roll the crust up tightly and slice into 1/2-inch rounds.
Press these rounds, cut side down, into a clear glass 9-inch pie plate. Press until flat, covering the entire pan. Make sure there are no spaces between the rolls; then brush lightly with the beaten egg.
In a large bowl, toss the apple slices with the cinnamon and sugar until evenly coated. Then, pour the apples into the crust. It will mound up and almost seem to be overflowing. This is good.
Then, in a medium bowl, combine the butter, flour, and brown sugar with your fingers or a pastry blender until crumbly. Sprinkle the crumble over the heaped apples. Finally, sprinkle the whole pie with the sugar.
Bake the pie until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly (about 50 – 60 minutes). (My oven tends to brown things easily, so I very lightly covered the top of my pie with tin foil for most of the baking process.) Once baked, remove form the oven and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.
When the pie is cool, you can prepare the icing. In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and milk. If your mixture seems too thick, add a bit more milk. If it’s too thin, add more powdered sugar. Transfer the icing to a pastry bag or a plastic bag with the corner cut off. Then, pipe the icing in a swirl (to resemble a cinnamon roll) on top of the crumble.
For more instructions with pictures, see http://www.inspiredbycharm.com/2014/11/year-pie-cinnamon-roll-apple-pie.html
Thanksgiving is Thursday, November 27th. So what’s it all about? Thanksgiving can be traced back to 1863 when Lincoln became the first president to proclaim Thanksgiving Day. The holiday has been a fixture of late November ever since. The Pilgrims who sailed to this country aboard the Mayflower were originally members of the English Separatist Church. They had earlier fled their home in England and sailed to Holland (The Netherlands) to escape religious persecution. Seeking a better life, the Separatists negotiated with a London stock company to finance a pilgrimage to America.
The Pilgrims set ground at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620. Their first winter was devastating. They lost 46 of the original 102 who sailed on the Mayflower. But the harvest of 1621 was a bountiful one. And the remaining colonists decided to celebrate with a feast – including 91 native Americans who had helped the Pilgrims survive their first year. It is believed that the Pilgrims would not have made it through the year without the help of the native Americans. The feast was more of a traditional English harvest festival and lasted three days.
It was Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor, whose efforts eventually led to what we recognize as Thanksgiving today. Hale wrote many editorials championing her cause in her Boston Ladies’ Magazine, and later, in Godey’s Lady’s Book. Finally, after a 40-year campaign of writing editorials and letters to governors and presidents, Hale’s obsession became a reality when, in 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a national day of Thanksgiving.
In 1941, Thanksgiving was finally sanctioned by Congress as a legal holiday, as the fourth Thursday in November.
To Learn more about the history and traditions of this holiday go to:
http://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving/videos#history-of-the-thanksgiving-holiday
Find fun activities to do with the children here:
http://www.pinterest.com/aupairinamerica/fall-halloween-thanksgiving/
The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network is a nationwide network of people dedicated to working together to advance research, support patients and create hope for those affected by pancreatic cancer. Saturday, November 15th, Au Pair in America helped support this very important cause by volunteering in the Kids’ Purple Zone. Au pairs Elena from Costa Rica and Agnes from Austria showed up bright and early and did a great job on the kids’ faces. See below for pictures! 🙂
Elena and Agnes did a wonderful job!! 🙂
If you want to help support the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, click http://www.pancan.org/?utm_source=2014-event-template&utm_medium=purplestride-event&utm_campaign=events-aboutthecause
Last Saturday we went to the Texas State Football Game (Bobcats vs. Georgia Southern Eagles), and, although the Bobcats did end up losing (final score 28-25), we still managed to have a great time 🙂
Left to right: Annerien from South Africa, Johanna from Colombia, and Elena from Costa Rica.
This was Elena’s first football game.
Countries represented: France, Germany, UK, Colombia, South Africa, Costa Rica, and Brazil 🙂
After the game, we all drove back to San Antonio together (and then decided to order pizza for dinner as we weren’t done catching up yet). All in all, a very successful day 🙂
Caring volunteer host families across the U.S. are rewarded with an amazing experience for the entire family.
Hosting a student from a foreign country will enrich your life! Every year hundreds of American families choose to host a teenager from a foreign country. Why do they do it?
Our AYA student are young embassadors from their countries. Your family can host a student from:
| Armenia Albania Armenia Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Bosnia & Herzegovina Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Cameroon Chile China Egypt Gaza Germany |
Ghana Hungary India Indonesia Italy Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lebanon Liberia Libya Macedonia Malaysia |
Luxembourg Mali Moldova Morocco Mozambique Nigeria Oman Pakistan Philippines Poland Qatar Republic of Georgia Russia Saudi Arabia Senegal Sierra Leone |
South Africa South Korea Spain Suriname Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Ukraine Vietnam West Bank Yemen |
Visit http://www.academicyear.org/ for more information!
(Programs for gifted and talented youth ages 5-17).
The mission of the Summer Institute for the Gifted is to provide the highest quality educational and social opportunities for academically gifted and talented students through programs designed to meet their abilities and needs.
Through 30 Years of experience & resources in gifted education, SIG provides a unique environment for gifted and talented students to connect with peers in a community of like-minded learners from all over the world who share common interests, abilities & goals.
Students will benefit from unique programming, which combines academics with social, cultural and recreational opportunities for a truly engaging summer. Courses are led by qualified instructors who have expertise in their disciplines and represent an array of professional backgrounds.
These 3-week summer sessions will allow your child to mature and develop in every element of life, develop long-lasting and meaningful relationships, increase self-confidence and think in divergent ways,all within a safe and secure environment at a prestigious campus. No matter which program option you choose, you can rest assured that the overall atmosphere of SIG will uncover, nurture & grow your child’s gifts.
Read more at: http://www.giftedstudy.org/
M & S posing next to their pumpkin 🙂
Jack O’Lantern peppers!! What a great idea 🙂
Johanna from Colombia showing off her finished product!
How creative!! 🙂
Thanks to all of you who contributed responses (pictures) to our pumpkin contest! We had a really hard time choosing the winning entry. In the end, we went with:
AGNES from Austria (as well as her two helpers) and her pumpkin + Jack O’Lantern peppers! Well done!! 🙂
