Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Summer in Review

We did a unit on color and art, lots of color sorting, beading, manipulatives and more!  The easel and paint pots were a hot commodity this summer and the kids also loved scissor work!  We also did some printing and copy work with calligraphy.




Moon Cycles, Astronomy and Constellations
 We studied several weeks on learning the moon cycles, constellations and some Greek mythology
Beautiful photo of the Moon in Alaska, miss her night skies!



Field Stream Natural Sciences, Life Cycles of the Salmon

Kids playing "Migrating Salmon" game.
 Learning and Playing Salmon Life Cycle in the Yachats River


 Michael was also able to go Tuna fishing  and visit the Rogue Farm in Independence, OR and learned about the hop fields and processing, the girls had fun picking plums, pears and apples too... MJ was practicing her fastpitch with the fallen apples against the tree.

ng and caught quite a bit to can and freeze!  Yahoo now for the 1 million Chinook run coming into the Alsea this fall... Harvest time is here!  



He`ceta Lighthouse, Oregon Coast
My whole life I've been around  a lot of Heceta named places in Alaska, but not He`ceta... one Heceta De Bruno .... our lighthouse is named after this chap... but history seems torn between my stories of Spanish explorer and Portuguese Mapmaker... you decide

 Cascadian Camp out this weekend! Can't wait to meet more like minded individuals, if you haven't heard of the Cascadian movement, they just had the first raining man camp out in WA and we are having our Oregon one here at the Seal Rock Art Barn this weekend.  Can't wait to silk screen, installation art and camp with some amazing people, did I mention fire dancing, didgeridoo and live DJ?

Chicken of the woods, or in the woods I should say
The real beauties of the forest

Fern Princesses

Funky Mushroom sighting

A lovely day for a hike

Checking out the local catch in Newport


And now it's back to school!  Wow where did summer go?  Thankfully it's still nice and sunny here in Oregon and the harvests are in full effect, one more week with FB before pre-school starts so we'll get in some, did I mention it's so quiet in my house right now?? Kind of Spooky....  Did I mention that I have three openings available?  We would love you have you join our tribe at One Shoreline, please read my program policies, enrollment form and give me a call to schedule a time to visit us.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Playgrounds, Preschool and Garden Projects

Yachats Preschool is now enrolling and filling fast! If you haven't completed a registration form for your child, please call 541-547-4599 or email teacher Angie, ms.angie.yachats@gmail.com  ASAP.

https://www.facebook.com/YYFAP  For more info, events etc..


One shoreline will be providing transportation to and from YYFAP this school year, school aged tuition is $350/month including breakfast and afterschool snacks and outings.  Speaking of pre school and all pre-K programs I wanted to include this great article about what we can learn from Swedish Preschools ....   


Also the School Calender for Crestview Heights has been released and all our wonderful new teachers are on contract as of this Monday.  Did you know that all district children are on early release every Wednesday at 2pm? 

In the meantime were checking out playgrounds around Newport this summer, a round of tie dye shirts and the big kids did basketball camp in Newport and improved their skills amazingly.







We have also been visiting the Seal Rock ArtBarn Farm, we love the garden  and picking lots of blackberries and awaiting the tree fruits coming.









The garden is also amazing there and looking forward to planting some garlic soon and love having a space to garden, today we are going to the Lincoln County Master Gardeners tomato tasting at the Central Coast Community College!  Yummy, we better swing the by the farm store and make some fresh mozzarella and a baguette to bring with us!

Boccicini ala One Shoreline
Bocconcini, meaning “little bites” in Italian, are egg sized Mozzarella cheeses that originated in Naples and were once made only from the milk of water buffaloes. They are semi-soft, white and rindless, unripened mild cheeses available as a delicatessen in plastic tubs filled with whey or water. Now-a-days, Bocconcini’s are usually made from a mixture of water buffalo and cow’s milk. Since this delicious cheese is perishable, it is best consumed fresh.
These bite-sized cheeses have a refreshingly delicate and creamy aroma. Because of its elastic texture and consistency, Italians like to savor them in a salad, wrap it in a prosciutto or serve them with a spinach dish known as Bocconcini Sorentina. A variety of Italian dishes can be spruced up by the very sweet and very light butter taste of Bocconcini. Slice them on pizzas or vegetable dishes and broil in an oven until the cheese just starts to melt. 
Ingredients
  • 1 gallon Milk, not ultra-pasteurized
  • 1 1/2 tsp. Citric Acid powder, dissolved in 1/4 cup room-temperature water
  • 1/4 tsp. Liquid Rennet or 1/2 tablet Rennet, dissolved in 1/4 cup room-temperature water
  • 1 tsp. Cheese (Flake) Salt or Kosher Salt
Instructions
1. Pour the milk in to a large pot.  On medium-low, heat slowly to 55 degrees Fahrenheit.  Stir slowly and continuously to keep from scalding.
2. Once the milk reaches 55 degrees, pour in the citric acid mixture and stir well. Keep heating.
3.  When the milk hits 88 degrees, add the rennet mixture and stir well.  Right around this time the milk will start to thicken, and you’ll see little white flecks stick to your spoon as it starts curdling.

4. Once the milk is in the 90-degree range, it should be noticeably curdled.  Stir very gently at this point, if at all — you want to encourage the curds to knit together.
5. Between 95 and 105 degrees, the curds will be quite thick. Turn off the heat once they start separating from the sides of the pot, and there’s a very clear distinction between the curds (white clumps) and whey (yellow liquid).

6. Let the curds rest for 5 minutes.
7. With a perforated or slotted spoon, ladle the curds into a bowl.  The curds will continue expelling whey once they’re in the bowl, which is fine.  Once you have pulled most of the curds out of the pot (some little bits will probably still be floating about), pour any excess whey back in the pot.

8. Using a microwave, heat the curds for 60 seconds.  Drain off any excess whey, then fold the curds over once, then once again.  This is to distribute the heat evenly.
9. Microwave again for about 30-40 seconds, depending on the strength of your microwave.  Pour off the whey.
10. Sprinkle the salt onto the cheese, and then fold the curds over twice again.  Put them back into the microwave for another 30-40 seconds.  Pour of any excess whey.

11. At this point, the cheese should be very hot, and look like melted mozzarella!
12.  Stretch the cheese, and then fold it back on itself. If it tears when you try to stretch it, the cheese is not hot enough; just repeat the microwaving process. Stretch it again once or twice. If you want a more string-cheese like cheese, do it a few more times.
13. You can then twist or braid the cheese, or tear off pieces and roll them into small balls.  If you’re going to refrigerate the cheese for later, drop it in a bowl of ice water to get the temperature down quickly. Otherwise, just dig in while it’s still warm!
Stay tuned for more garden and foodie announcements, one of my goals this fall is to revive the Central Coast Slow Foods Group and some great workshops from regional Community Rights for Benton, Marion, Lane and Lincoln Counties, including wild & medicinal herb identification and harvesting!!

Ten River's Food Web is also an amazing resource!

Community Rights Lincoln County Meeting
Newport Visual Arts Center
777 Northwest Beach Drive, Newport, OR 97365, USA SHOW ON MAP
   
 Aug 19 6:30pm to 8:30pm
We meet every First and Third Tuesday Night at 6:30 at The Newport Visual Arts Center upstairs community room. This room is on the Third floor and is in the South West Corner of the buildingemail: mkrausster@gmail.com call us at 541-961-5606If you wish to Donate to our group please contact us. We are always in need of Support both financial and volunteer.

Friday, July 11, 2014

July Heatwave, Stinky Beach Sidewalk Chalk & Manners

July has roared in with a surge in heat, sunshine and velella jellyfish, we were a little taken back yesterday to head down to the beach to find a nice fishy smell from thousands of dried up jellyfish.






















 No it's not a Man-O-War, no stinging tentacles on these cute little sailors..













Saturday, June 28, 2014

GMO's, OMG... and why Mom's are Marching Across America next Weekend!

Why I'm a food activist....

Because I'm a daughter, mother, sister, cousin...
Because I eat, breathe and live on planet earth!


Save the Bee's Buy Blue 





Do you know about GMO's what they are and why they are in almost all the food in the grocery store now days?  Please watch these two short videos to help explain why it's so important.  Above are photos from our March and day of learning in Eugene at the annual March Against Monsanto event on May 25, 2014.  I also was featured in the local news story that was carried nationally.



I'm a mom, my daughter has asthma, my husband has asthma, my brother has asthma, my baby has food allergies, my brother has food allergies and I have an auto immune disease... I'm sick of being sick and my family being sick and I want the choice to direct my own health!

The connection between Glyphosate and our gut bacteria is the Shikimate Pathway (Entropy vol.15, issue 4) Google it!



I'll be marching in Corvallis this year (if it's really crappy I'll be in Yachats parade)  It's so important to know what is in our food.  More important how to keep our children and families safe from harmful pesticides and additives.

In my child care setting along with my family I serve roughly 90% organic scratch cooked foods.  Why would I pay that expense one would ask...well for starters this beach cottage only has room for so many ingredients in it's kitchen and downstairs in the pantry, it would be too hard to separate it out, and well I just can't risk exposing my children to them.  So we all get to learn how to bake, try new foods, make all our dressings from scratch and have the occasional store bought treat, but it's rather rare.  I also participate in the Child and Adult Care Food Program thru Nutrition First in Salem.  While it only reimburses a very small fraction of our food costs in a whole, any little bit helps.  I've also found Raw Milk from the Yachats River Road Farmstand and own a Cow Share with Triple D Ranch so my family can drink raw milk (with the exception of FB who is sensitive to milk)
My Free Farm Fresh Flowers from Yachats
Yachat's River Road Farm stand

Once Upon a Time all food was Organic!   To Find a Farm in your  neck of Oregon check out http://myoregonfarm.org/ nothing is better than farm fresh veggies, meat and dairy.  Oregon has some of the highest percentages of small family farms in the nation and our GMO fight is to protect that way of life.  You can read more about it here: Let's hope we've collected enough signatures for the Right to Know GMO labeling campaign that is wrapping up this month.  I was trained as a signature collector in Eugene last month and have been trying to get out as much as I can to collect registered voters signatures.  Find your Moms Across America information here:
www.momsacrossamerica.com and more on social media here https://www.facebook.com/MomsAcrossAmerica
I'll be marching in Corvallis this year!