With 4th of July just around the corner, we decided the kids and I decided to make a theme meal with patriotic flair! As you can see from the menu above, we included many of the kids' favorites in the lineup (why else would there be no greens and many starches!?!) This whole idea kind of started, when I saw a recipe for Triple Decker Baked Alaska, in Family Fun magazine. It looked like fun, and I thought it would be a good project for us.
You make cupcakes (half of the batch gets Cocoa Powder) then stick some strawberry ice cream in the middle. And, the meringue goes on top!
During the day on Thursday, Abby and Tyler worked on our table runner (although Tyler ended up finishing it on his own while Abby took a time out in her room for bossing him around!)
And Abby made placecards for each of us with our historic name of the evening.
I was Betsy Ross, Tyler was Paul Revere, Dennis was Ben Franklin, and Abby was Augusta Ada Lovelace (Incidentally, AAL is the first computer programmer in the US ... Abby learned this by Googling famous US women. She says she thinks AAL was important because where would we be if we couldn't get on Webkinz! I mean, really!?!) The nametags, and other table decor like the flag, actually sparked some good dinner conversation. I even pulled the laptop over to the table so we could reference the order of statehood, the timeline of the revolutionary war, the making of the flag, etc.
And, as dinner came to a close, we pulled our USA placemat out to quiz Abby and Tyler on the capitals. Last week, at the library, we found a great book on tape with a state capital "rap!" I am just amazed at how many they have learned in just a week! And, it's been pretty fun to brush up on my state capitals in the car. How quickly that information leaves your brain!
Oh, and the Baked Alaska was a hit with the troops! Will the kids be helping me with every meal from now on ... I don't think so, but it was fun for an evening.
No comments:
Post a Comment