CATCH THE VISION b ~ u ~ u s t 1988, Harvest 90 Education Project

ARTS AND CRAFTS ACTIVITIES

Making butter in the classroom is a simple process. Teachers often provide this ex- perience for children in kindergarten and primary grades. The materials are easy to procure, the time element is short, and the finished product is consumed in the class- room.

The simplest method is to place some heavy creamina quartjar, secure the lidwith arub- ber ring, and pass the jar around to the children. Each child should take a turnshak- ing the jar for a few moments. Remind the children to watch for the appearance of fat globules because they collect together and will readily be visible to the eye. This is one advantage of using the glass jar for making butter. An alternate method is to use a baby food jar so each student may have one.

A more authentic facsimile of a churn can be made from the glass jar by adding a plunger, or a button mold on the end of a dowel rod, with a carefully measured hole in the top so the children can plunge the paddle and thus observe the massing of the fat into butter.

After the butter has been formulated in the churn, pour off the buttermilk and remove the butter to a dish or wooden bowl. With a paddle, mix in some salt, and work the but- ter to remove more moisture and buttermilk.

Authentic churns will do a fine job and help children understand the early method of producing butter. Pioneer mothen stored their butter in crocks in root cellars to keep the butter cool and sweet.

You might be interested in making butter from sweet cream and sour cream. Compare the color, texture, taste of the butter, and the buttermilk.

ICE CREAM

When ice cream is prepared in a home freezer by using a dasher and crank for turn- ing, the temperature is controlled by the amount of ice and salt. Ice cream is frozen simply by taking the heat out of the cream. Whenice melts, it absorbs heat from the sub- stance which is in direct contact with or near it. The heat-absorbing action of the ice must be aided by a substance that can reduce the temperature below the melting point. Salt serves this purpose. Salt dissolves the film of water on the ice which lowers the freezing point of the brine. the brine becomes colder, the temperature of the ice pack is lowered, and the material in contact with the ice loses most of its heat until it becomes colder. The amount of salt added to the ice, withinlimits, determines the temperature. One part of salt to eight parts of ice is the recommended proportion. The salt must be evenly dis- tributed throughout the ice. Rock salt is more effective than granulated salt since the granulated salt tends to lump or coagulate. The use of smaller pieces of ice which melt faster will lower the temperature more quickly.

As the ice cream freezes it expands, and as the dasher of the freezer beats the air into the mixture more volume is developed. For this reason, in filling the freezer, fill it only 213 full. When the creamis frozen, the dasher is usually removed and the cream is packed

solidly. The freezer is then repacked with one part of salt to four parts ice. In this con- dition, the ice cream is allowed to ripen for an hour or two before serving. The ripening helps the cream to harden and become smoother, and the flavors will blend.

Following are some simple basic recipes, preferably to be frozen in the old-fashioned freezer. If the modern kitchen-type freezer is used, the ice cream should bestirred in the pans frequently. Modify these recipes for flavor or others may be found in cookbooks.

VANILLA ICE CREAM

Materials:

1 qt. milk 3 eggs 1 112 C. sugar 2 tbsp. cornstarch 1 112 pt. whipping cream 2 tsp. vaniIla

Directions:

Scald but do not boil 1 quart milk, the yolks of 3 eggs, 1 112 cups sugar, and 2 tablespoons cornstarch.

Put the whites of 3 eggs in 1 112 pints of whip- ping cream and whip to a stiff consistency.

Mix the mild and cream with 2 teaspoons vanilla.

Freeze

Lower grades can do it by putting mixture in small frozen juice cans. Putting this can into a larger container with ice. Stir mixture with a spoon and turn juice can in the ice.

PIONEER METHOD OF MAKING BREAD (

Materials:

1 medium-size potato 1 112 tsp. salt flour 112 tbsp. sugar 1 c.-milk 1 tbsp. shortening

Process outline:

"starter" for bread potato

boil mash

+ salt

sugar flour

set until

bubbles appear

+ flour

sponge or

starter milk

shortening +

flour +

sponge mix

knead

dough rises

punch down

dough rises

punch down

mold into

loaves

dough rises

bake

Prepare the "Starter."

well, Add the sponge and mix. Mix with flour until a dough is made that can be kneaded. Turn out on a floured board and knead until smooth, about 5 to 10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, and set in a warm place to rise. Whenit has doubled insize, punch down and let rise again until almost double in size. Mold into a loaf, place in a greased pan, and let rise again until double in size. Bake moderately in a hot oven 45 to 50 minutes.

Now purchase a package of hot roll mix. Fol- low the directions on the box, and then com- pare the taste and texture of each recipe to make bread. (Compare the TIME!!)

Cook 1 medium-size potato in a small pan APPLE B U ~ E R with enough water to cover it. After it is soft, mash it tharoughly in the water in which it A favorite jam-like preserve was apple but- was cooked. Add 1 112 teaspoons salt, 112 ter. A was made from wild plum, sugar, and 'I2 cup flour' Mix

wild gape, and crab apple in he same thoroughly, adding more water if necessary, until the consistency is that of thin butter- ner.

milk. Set in a ~ a r m - ~ l a c e until the mixture Washcarefully selectedapples, and cut them

begins to bubble. Be careful of the tempera- in quarters, leaving the skins on. ture - if the starter gets too hot or cold the - yeasts will be killed and no reaction will take Put the apples in a pan, and add enough place. water to cover half the apples. Cook the ap-

Set the "sponge." ples until they are soft and the skins fall off.

Drain the cooked apples through a colander On the evening preceding the baking set to separate the fruit from the &ins and seeds. aside a small portion of the starter, and mix the remainder with enough flour to make a Measure the strained apples.

- batter that will hold together but light Add 1 cup of brown sugar to 1 112 cups enough to drop from a spoon. Set this bater in a fairly warm place overnight so it will be- apples. (Pioneers usually used sorghum or

come bubbly and spongy. In the morning, honey to sweeten the apple butter.) Then

take out a small amount of the sponge, and cook the sugar and apples thick, and add

add it to the starter that was saved. This will some cinnamon and ginger for flavoring.

be the starter for the next breadmaking. DRIED APPLES.

Mix and bake the bread. Pioneers dried many of their apples for later

Scald 1 cup of milk, and 1 tablespoon shor- use. tening, and let cool. Add 1 cup flour, stirring

Peel some apples, taking out the cores.

Slice the apples to make even round rings.

Put the slices on a string.

Hang the string of apple slices in a warm place to dry.

APPLE LEATHER.

Apples leather was the pioneer children's candy.

Peel some apples and cook them in very lit- tle water until all the water is gone and the material is gummy and mushlike.

Spread the well-cooked apples on a clean cloth, and let them dry for a day or two.

PEANUT BU'lTER

The peanut, "goober," or ground nut is a legume plant native to South America. However, today it is an important crop of the southern United States. The edible seeds, usually two to a pd, are roasted before being eaten as a confectionery or as peanut butter.

Place the raw peanuts, in their entirety, into the oven and roast them. Stir occasionally, being careful not to burn them. If an oven is not available, a hot plate with covered panon top may be used.

Remove the shells and the thin, paper-like husk from the nuts. After the nuts are roasted, cooled, and cleaned, place them in the roaster pan, sprinkle with salt, and return to the oven for a few minutes. Note the oil coming to the surface of the nuts during this step.

Grind the hot nuts with a fine-bladed food grinder as they are removed from the oven. (

The nuts may be ground while cold, but in this case the oil with be cold; as a result the peanut butter will then be dry and of poor consistency.

Run the nuts through the grinder until the desired texture is produced. This my take as many as eight times through anordinary food grinder.

Place themin a deep bowlwith approximate- ly 113 as much water as ground nuts once they are ground very fine. Beat with a rotary beater until thenuts have absorbed themois- ture and the peanut butter is of the right con- sistency.

SUPPLEMENTARY ACTIVITIES

1. List all foods in a supermarket that are preserved under each preservation ( category.

2. Let cream rise to the top of whole or pas- teurized milk, and study the differences in taste, color, feel, and scent between cream and milk.

3. Examine globules of butterfat under a microscope.

4. Hold a "taste fest" to compare various cheeses.

5. List the different cheeses available inasu- permarket.

6. Collect samples of various grains.

7. Map grain and cereal production in the world.

8. Plan some well-balanced menus.

SPOOL KNITI'ING

One of the simplest tools for helping very young children understand that threads can b e woven together to form stronger materials is the ordinary spool prepared for spool knitting. Its use is simple and children will enjoy making the long "cattail" which can be sewn together later to make hot pads or mats.

On a large wooden spool that had been used for thread, insert at the top four 314 " brads (nails) to form a square around the hole of the spool. This is the loom.

Pull one end of the yarn through the hole of spool letting it extend a couple of inches at the bottom. Draw the yarn around the nails at the tip of the spool in a counterclockwise fashion. See diagram. Loop the yarn the first time around; then place a second layer of yarn above the loops. With a row of loops and a thread above them, pick up the loop at the bottom and pull it over the thread and the top of the brad. Continue to place the thread above the loops and turn the loops over the thread and the tip of the brad. Pull the result- ing cord down through the hole of the spool. Acrochet hook, a large hairpin, or bobby pin will help inpicking theloop from the bottom.

BOOKMARKS

Materials:

stencil push pins textured 70 weight paper (regular

paper is 20 weight) styrofoam or thick felt hole punch colored ribbon (18 inches)

Directions:

Gut paper to desired bookmark size (suggest 2 114 x 5 112; size will vary according to sten- cil design)

Punch a hole 112 inch from the top

Center stencil design over bookmark and "piercenwith a push pin through each dot. Do it over styrofoam or thick felt.

Fold ribbon in half. Push looped-end through the hole, from the back. Pull the ends through the loop over the top of the bookmark.

Pull tight.

A few country designs are given in this pack- et. Students should he encouraged to come up with their own heritage themes: Miller farm, three angels, three crosses, lamb, shepherd's staff etc.

METAL PIERCING

Materials:

stencil nail hammer

tin (metal lid of frozen juice container) Tape small design to tin and pierce with ham- scrap board or heavy felt mer and nail. Do this over scrap board or

heavy felt. Directions:

They are nice to hang from the top of a win- Have student create astencil design onsome dow from or directly on the window with a heritage theme. Stencil is similar to book- suction cup. Also nice for tree decorations. mark stencils. Bigger designs can be made if you locate big-

ger pieces of metal. These are usually avail- able at a craft store.

POTATO PRINT

Supplies: 1. Solid potato

2. Scratching tool (pencil, nail file, comb, nail, scissors, or orange stick). Small children may work satisfactorily with these tools without the dangers involved in the use of sharp-edged tools.

3. A sharp-cdged cutting tool, such as a paring knife OI pock- ctknifc.

4. Colored construction paper, drawing paper, tissue paper, brown wrapping paper, manila paper, or newsprint

5. Paint brush

6. Walcr jar

7. Watw colors, tempera paint, or finger paint

8. Tray for mixing colors

9. Absorbent cloth

Procedure: 1. Cut the potato in half so that each surface is flat. If a luge

potato isuscd, itmay be cut into severalpieces, but eachpiece must be large, so that it will not break in printing.

2. Young children may incise or scratch the design into the sur- face of the potato with a nail file, pencil, or other tools.

3. Others may use the knife to cut around the edge of the dcsign to approximately 1/8 inch in depth. Then remove the back- ground by cutting to the design from the outer edge of the potaio.

4. Place apad of newspapersunder thepaperto be printed. Have a scrap paper or papcr towcl available on which to try the design and to ascertain whether or not toomnch paint is being uscd.

5. Cover the surface of the design with paint and print on a scrap of paper to eliminate any excess paint. One or two prints may bc tried on the scrap paper so that too much paint isnot being uscd. The texture ofthe potato should be transferred formore iutercsting prints. Printing may now be continue. A single ap- plication of paint will serve for three or four printings, and lhese may be combined to make an overall pattern.

6. Several dilfcrent colors may bc applied. If these are also ap- plied to different areas of the potato, interesting prints will rcsult. The walcr contained in thc potato will make the colors blcnd and run, producing marc colorful designs.

Note: Carrols, turnips, cabbage, elc, also may be used for success- lul pnnt~n$. Th~s process may employed to make attractive wrapping paper, Chrlsl~iias cards, prozram covers, decnra- flon~, place cards, efe.

Nature does most of the sculpturing of these easy-to-make old people and there a r e never any exact duplicates.

MATERIALS NEEDED : 1 la rge , firm, unblemished apple 1 rol l 18-gauge wire Nylon t r ico t , flesh color 112" bias s t r i p s of perca le , f lesh color 1 rol l cotton batting, 4 oz. Small piece d r e s s ma te r i a l for sk i r t Small piece of ma te r i a l for shawl Scraps of black o r brown felt for shoes 1 ball 2-ply darning cotton P ins , needle and thread Plas t ic wood o r wood dough

DIRECTIONS : (Read General Directions on pages 3-5 before starting.)

1. Exact measurements cannot be given, for each apple shr inks to a different s ize. P e e l the apple carefully s o the surface will be smooth. Remove s t em.

2. Bend a piece of wire about 24" long into a hairpin shape. Push ends of the wi re into s t em end of apple and down through the blossom end, forcing i t snugly into the de- pression which held the s tem.

3 . Carve the face, using a sma l l paring knife. This i s done much a s a jack-o1- lantern i s made - - - not in detail. Carve out ovals for the eyes , a narrow s l i t fo r the mouth, and make a few cuts on forehead, a t corners of eyes , and down f rom nose. These will fo rm wrinkles and contours a s the apple dr ies . See Fig. A.

4. Soak the apple in lemon juice for about 112 hour , then hang upside down by the wire , to dry. This will take about a month. Do not t r y to h u r r y the drying by using artificial heat. As i t d r i e s , the color will darken slightly, but the lemon juice will prevent it f rom becoming too brown. Rub a tiny touch of rouge on each cheek. Pinch the apple occasionally to t e s t i ts dryness . When i t feels pithy and will not respond to slight p r e s s u r e it i s ready to use.

5 . Fi l l in depression in toI; of head with a little plastic wood o r wood dough. This d r i e s to about the s a m e color a s the apple. Fill in depression a t blossom end and a lso build up the neck a t r i f le with the plastic wood. Make eyes by gluing two black beads o r two pepper corns in eye sockets. No other indications need to be made of features .

6. Measure height of head , which is now about 112 the s ize of the f r e sh apple. Multiply this measurement by 6 to get co r rec t proportions for finished doll. This means that i f head i s 1-1 /2 " high, the doll 's height will be 9 inches, completed.

( Wire hairpin should then be cut to 10". Bend the ends to fo rm 1" loops for feet. Cut wires fo r the a r m s in proportional o r about 8"' long, and bend ends into loops for hands. Fas ten a r m wi res secure ly to body wires just under neck, with strong thread o r fine wire. See Fig. B.

9

7. Wind ent i re body with nar row s t r ips of cotton bat- t ing, building up as des i red to make body contours. Wind body smoothly with 112'' wide bias s t r ip s of flesh-colored percale . Fas ten ends of s t r ip s with a few st i tches to hold in place. Make mi t tens of the t r icot ma te r i a l , using pat tern for cutting. Place over loops on a r m s and stuff with cotton. Wind thread seve ra l t imes high on wr i s t s to hold them in place. Make shoes of black o r brown felt and put them on the fee t , then stuff f i rmly with cotton

.

and sew to leg padding. See Fig. C. 1 . A.

8. Lay doll on a piece of t r icot ma te r i a l , lengthwise of weave, and t r ace around i t lightly. Cut 2 p ieces , allowing about 112" seam allowance on all edges. P in

1 one of these. on back of doll, s t re tching smoothly and placing pins close together a l l around' doll. I t should cover foundation padding a li t t le m o r e than half way around thickness of body. Overcast this "skin" to the padding. P lace the other piece of t r icot to top of dsll. Smooth and pin in place closely, turning i n raw edges a s you do so. Hem down with fine, hidden

h , st i tches. Let leg pieces come down slightly over top edges of shoes to cover joining, and on a r m s , cover edges of hand-mittens the s a m e way.

9 . Make wig of white or gray darning cotton by fastening 35 or 40 long s t rands to a 1'' long s t r i p of the body material . Indicate a p a r t by'making a line of outline sti tch in f lesh color down center of s t r i p to hold s t rands in place. Hair should be long enough to f o r m into a bun a t top of head. Fig. D. Glue wig to top of head. Arrange ha i r a s des i red , then hold in place with a few sti tches of darning cotton.

10. Make a s k i r t of soft d a r k m a t e r i a l , , a n d a shawl of thin wool, fringing edges.

11. Because of the wire skeleton, these dolls can be made to a s sume lifelike poses ; sit t ing o r standing. Bend shoulders a t r i f le t d complete illusion of age. Apple head dolls can depict old men a s well a s women by making changes only in length of ha i r and type of clothing.

-t- *-.

* - v - I F ig . D.

10

. . .

. ,. , < : .~ . . . ! . ~ . M ' a /

p-. s&Fdft:;~.. ., ",...~? ,z,.:,7,>.** ..,r- 7r ,-. ,..,*m/,;*,d 5. & & 4 ~ ~ : * % h , , + , < ~ ~ @ ~ * ? ~ ~ % $ ~ ; , -+-~ <.,.. ,.;"- ,.., These distinctly American

dolls have been made for gen- erations -in the mauntains of the South, methods varying with the region and the maker.

MTERIALS NEEDED : 1 fresh corn cob Silk from 1 ear of corn 18 gauge wire Wax crayons Glue, pins, pinking shears. Several clean corn husks. (These may be taken from

, fresh corn and dried, o r pur- chased in packages of dried

.&, husks for making tamales. )

DIRECTIONS : 1. Cut off s tem end of

stalk close to the cob. Cut cob to 4-1/2"long, Make a hole -through cob with an

0: ice pick, 2" from stem end. -

~ ~ Cut a double length of wire about 8-1/2" long when doubled and insert through hole, so i t will extend 2-112"

.. ~ . '~. on each side of cob. Spread ends slightly to form hands. For legs, cut 2 double lengths of wire, each one 4-1/2" long when doubled. Twist them together a t one end for l W and push into bottom of cob for I*,,. Spread ends slightly to form feet. Make a spur of wire about 3/41t on each heel to enable doll to stand when completed. Cob will shrink slightly a s i t dries and will hold wires firmly, but reinforce joints by letting a little glue run down into cob where wires enter. Fig. A.

2. Select a smooth piece of husk double the length of cob and more 'than twice a s wide. Tr im off thick end. Soak in water for about 1 hour. Place cob in center of husk and fold over the sides to cover cob, then fold crosswise a t top of cob. Glue edges and ends and hold in place with rubber band until dry.

3. Tear strips of husk about 1/ZBt wide auld soak in water until pliable. Beginning with the hands, wrap strips smoothly over a rm wires up to body. In wrapping, fasten each new s t r ip in place with a dab of glue and hold down with a pin until glue dries.

4. .Cover foot spurs same way, then cover feet and legs. Fig. B. 5. Take several smooth, flat husks and trim-off one edge. Cut the other edge

in points with pinking shears so pieces will be 1" longer than finished skir t , o r 1 ( about 4". Draw small design near pinked edge with colored crayon. Fig. C.

Stand these skir t pieces, upper edges down, in 1" of water. Soak until pliable. If entire s t r ip is soaked, husks will curl.

II

6. F o r s leeves , notch edges of 2" long s t r ip s of husk and soak other ends while s k i r t pieces a r e soaking. At s a m e t ime, soak pantalet pieces of 2-1/2" wide and 2-1/2" long; an en t i re s t r i p of husk 2'' wide and 5" long for the sash; ent i re piece of husk 1-1/2" wide and 6'Vong for hat; a piece of husk 2" wide and 2-1/2" long for neck bow. This soaking will take about 1 hour.

7. Lay soaked ends of sleeves into tiny folds and glue around a r m s , pushing a s close to body a s possible. Fig. D. Hold in place with pins. Make pantalets by folding the 2 pieces cut for them in half and gluing them to body a t waistline. Fig. E. Fas ten edges of s ides together with glue and hold with paper clips till dry.

8. Make tiny folds in soaked edge of s k i r t and glue a t waistline of doll. Wind thread around top of s k i r t for 1 ' 9 0 hold in place. Remove when glue d r i e s and cover with sa sh , gluing it a t back.

9 . Make hat by shaping hat section over a tight wad of paper the s i ze of a n egg and allowing i t to remain t i l l dry. Fig. F. Tie on head with a soaked 112" s t r ip of husk, doubled. Cover ends with the neck bow and glue in place.

10. Cover top, back, and s ides of head with glue and p r e s s drie,d corn s i lk into it. This ha i r need not be thick but should cover husk.

11. Make handbag by cutting, decorating with crayon, then soaking a doubled piece of husk 1"x 2". Clue a narr0.w handle to inside, then glue edges of s ides together.

Arms and legs may be bent into des i red positions before husks a r e dry , but not af terwards.

F - Variations of this doll m a y be made

by just dress ing them a s desired. The body remains the same.

7

Fig. B Fig. C Fig. D Fig. E Fig. F