Family Day at the Childrens Museum

 

 

Do You Know the Pretzel Kids?

Oh do you know the pretzel kids, the pretzel kids, the pretzel kids?
Oh do you know the pretzel kids who live on Goodall Court?

We were having yummy chicken and wild rice soup for dinner and grandma decided to make bread to go with it! She let Hunti, Michael and Elle try their hand at sculpting the dough into lots of fun shapes. Grandma started out teaching them how to make pretzel knots, but they quickly made up their own ideas. Hunti actually sculpted a rose bud (tiny in the far back left corner). Michael proudly showed off his horseshoe shapes (center back). Ellie made "a ball one, a not-a-rose one, a line one and a tiny little horseshoe one."


Golden brown and warm:


They were SO yummy there was not one pretzel left after dinner!

The Baby Takes the Cake

Our beloved grammy sent us a TOWER of king cakes so we could properly celebrate Mardi Gras in our absence from Louisiana. My mom, while eating her first king cake ever, found the baby! What a lucky day!



What is king cake?

"The history of the King Cake has its roots in pre-Christian religions of Western Europe. Part of the Harvest celebrations that the pagans practiced was the sacrifice ritual. It was customary to choose a man to be the "sacred king" of the tribe for a year. That man would be treated like a king for the year, then he would be sacrificed, and his blood returned to the soil to ensure that the harvest would be successful. The method of choosing who would have the honor of being the sacred king was the purpose of the "King's Cake". Several men of the tribe, would eat of the cake A coin or bean would be placed in the cake before baking, and whoever got the slice that had the coin was the chosen one.

"When Christianity extended its influence and began overshadowing the religions that came before it, many of the local customs were not outright abolished, but instead were incorporated into Christian tradition and given a new spin. This even happened to the tradition of Mardi Gras, and from what we have researched so far seems to be the case, but that's another story. Catholic priests were not predisposed to human sacrifice, so the King's Cake was converted into a celebration of the Magi, the three Kings who came to visit the Christ Child.

In 12th century France where the cake would be baked on the eve of January 6 to celebrate the visit to the Christ Child by the three Kings. A small token was hidden in the cake as a surprise for the finder.

"French settlers brought the custom to Louisiana in the 18th century where it remained associated with the Epiphany until the 19th century when it became a more elaborate Mardi Gras custom. In New Orleans, the first cake of the season is served on January 6. A small ceramic figurine of a baby is hidden inside the cake, by tradition. However now, the tradition is giving way to the baby being supplied and the customer placing the baby were ever they wish in the cake. Whoever finds the baby is allowed to choose a mock court and host the next King Cake party the following week (weekly cake parties were held until Mardi Gras).

"In 1870, the Twelfth Night Revelers held their ball, with a large king cake as the main attraction. Instead of choosing a sacred king to be sacrificed, the Twelfth Night Revelers used the bean in the cake to choose the queen of the ball. This tradition has carried on to this day, although the Twelfth Night Revelers now use a wooden replica of a large king cake. The ladies of the court pull open little drawers in the cake's lower layer which contain the silver and gold beans. Silver means you're on the court; gold is for the queen.


"The classic king cake is oval-shaped, like the pattern of a racetrack. The dough is basic coffee-cake dough, sometimes laced with cinnamon, sometimes just plain. The dough is rolled out into a long tubular shape (not unlike a thin po-boy), then shaped into an oval. The ends are twisted together to complete the shape (HINT: if you want to find the piece with the baby, look for the twist in the oval where the two ends of the dough meet. That's where the baby is usually inserted.) The baby hidden in the cake speaks to the fact that the three Kings had a difficult time finding the Christ Child and of the fine gifts they brought.

"The cake is then baked, and decorated when it comes out. The classic decoration is simple granulated sugar, colored purple, green, and gold (the colors of Carnival). King cakes have gotten more and more fancy over the years, so now bakeries offer iced versions (where there's classic white coffee cake glaze on the cake), and even king cakes filled with apple, cherry, cream cheese, or other kinds of coffee-cake fillings."

The Sweetness of Grandmas

After helping grandma make dinner and set the table, Elle took herself upstairs to her room to get her jammies on. Then she gathered up her blankie and a book and asked grandma to read her a story. It think it took less than 3 pages for her to conk out on her sweet grandma's lap. Poor Ellie didn't even make it to dinner tonight, she was so worn out.



What a lucky 3-year-old princess.

Exploring the Woods of Artice

We love Artice! We got to spend our Sunday afternoon visiting her on her glorious ranch.

Artice has this amazing property equipped with horses, giant playful dogs and WOODS. Michael, Elle and Fielding had the time of their lives tromping through the woods, jumping over streams and climbing in trees.

Michael just realized he's holding THE most perfect toy in the world - a stick!

The best thing for a boy to do with a new toy?

BRAKE it! Of course!

Even better! TWO sticks!

HIIYahh! Super Ninja Michael!

And silliness breeds MORE silliness.

Looks like I've got a future majorette on my hands!

And now onto different, new silliness.