Teacher Potluck Carnival: 2008 New Years Edition!

Welcome to the January 1, 2008 edition of Teacher Potluck Carnival! I have high hopes for a great 2008 in my own life and I hope we all have a great year. No resolutions for me (well, maybe I'll start cooking a bit more, that is why I collect recipes). I am posting this early because, of all things, I have a date for New Years! My first New Years date in so long that I can't remember. I am, therefore, posting this one day early. Pretty good omen for 2008, huh? So let's get down to business! I am not as clever as Mrs. Whatsit, so I have not grouped the submissions in any particular order. Most of these websites are new to me, so this was fun for me to explore new resources for food and education.

EDUCATION

Larry Ferlazzo presents Create A Fruit Face posted at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites Of The Day For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL.

Rebecca Wallace-Segall presents Lessons from the Newest Generation of Writers (& Thinkers) posted at a community of young writers in new york city. Also: Back in Public School WEEK ONE posted at a community of young writers in new york city.

Alvaro Fernandez has three submissions:

• Robert Emmons on the Positive Psychology of Gratitude posted at SharpBrains, saying, "can we enhance our happiness and health by nurturing gratitude? should this and other values be taught at school?"
• Memory, Cognitive Abilities and Executive Functions posted at SharpBrains: Your Window into the Brain Fitness Revolution, saying, "An overview of cognitive abilities based on some recent studies on memory with monkeys"
• Brain Training: No Magic Bullet, Yet Useful Tool. Interview with Elizabeth Zelinski posted at SharpBrains, saying, "Here goes an interview with a leading scientist on lifelong learning and cognitive training. Happy Holidays!"

Jeremy Aldrich presents What we won't do posted at Global Citizenship in a Virtual World.

Mary Hillis presents One Teacher's Journey: Using Chinswing to create authentic listening materials

Wakish presents A True Teacher Is An Emperor Whose? posted at Wakish Wonderz.

mike-cellphoneguru presents 5 Point Check List For Choosing a Cell Phone Plan! posted at Cell Phone Guru, saying, "Many plans are designed for small-time users and most for business users"

Mathew Needleman also sent three submissions:

• Energize Your Classroom: How Jim Cramer Made Me a Better Teacher of English Langugae Learners posted at Open Court Resources.com Blog.
• Writing About Fear Using Sensory Details posted at Open Court Resources.com Blog.
• Royalty Free Images for Teachers posted at Open Court Resources.com Blog.

Sam presents The Wonderful Beatrix Potter, Illustrator, Storyteller, Farmer and Preservationist ! Surfer Sam posted at Surfer Sam and Friends, saying, "The Wonderful Beatrix Potter, Illustrator, Storyteller and Conservationist. Beatrix created the famous Peter Rabbit. All her childhood pets became characters in her books. [more]"

Mark Barnes presents A teacher's christmas list posted at Bell Work, The MiddleSchoolWorld.com Blog, saying, "The average teacher's Christmas wish list."

FOOD

Chef Andrew presents The Recipe Bank: White Lily Buttermilk Pie posted at The Recipe Bank, saying, "a great pie - my mother is a retired teacher and she made this for us frequently"

historyiselementary presents Looking Ahead to New Year's Day posted at Georgia On My Mind, saying, "This post includes two recipes for traditional Southern foods served at New Year's along with a little reasoning why we continue to serve it..... Most educators are used to visiting my history site at History Is Elementary, but this particular post is from my blog that focuses on Georgia. :)"

Jonathan at JD2718 has sent us this great soup recipe photo array. The photos are wonderful. Jonathan's original recipe is here. I don't particularly care for soup (I associate it with being sick). But lately Amy has reintroduced soup to me and it's pretty good. Jonathan's soup looks perfect for these snowed-in days in Vermont (and it's really healthy).

As a companion post, from Fred Klonsky, president of the Park Ridge Education Association, and a kindergarten teacher, we present The Chronicle of Bone Marrow at PREA Prez. There has been a bevy of bone marrow posts from ed bloggers this week, requiring the creation of this interesting chronicle. I am including a link to Fred's Tzimmes and borscht recipes. They look great (except the part of spreading the bone marrow on crackers. I'll pass, thank you.)

And Suzanne R of Living Suzanne R's Life sends us this pizza recipe. (How many quality math lessons are in a pizza recipe? A LOT!) I have blogged recipes of hers in the past. They are very, very good. She keeps photos of her cooking in her Flickr Food set.

Here is my recipe for you -- it's one that has proven popular with people I've given it to.

WORLD'S BEST PIZZA
(According to my sons)

Crust:
3 1/2 cups flour
1 pkg. quick-rise yeast
1 tsp. salt
1 1/3 cup warm water
2 Tablespoons oil

Topping:
Pepperoni
Italian sausage
Canadian bacon
Pineapple
Sliced olives
Mozzarella cheese, shredded
Tomato sauce or pizza sauce or mix 1/2 and 1/2
Italian herbs, if tomato sauce is used

Note: Mix and match toppings!

Mix crust ingredients in bread mixer (preferably) or in large bowl. Mix with spoon or dough hook and knead by hand or machine. (Add flour as needed if by hand.) You may also need to add 1/2 cup flour if by machine, depending on flour, but do not let dough get too stiff! Knead 5-10 minutes. Cover dough with damp cloth and let rise 1 hour. Oil 2 large round pizza pans or 1 over-sized oblong cookie sheet. Divide dough in half if using round pizza pan, stretching and patting to fit and make high crust edge. Spread with sauce, grated mozzarella, sausage of choice, olives or pineapple or other toppings of your choice and a final dusting of cheese. Bake at 400°F for 25 minutes. Eat with a fork.

Note: To make crust ahead and freeze, pat into pans and bake at 350°F for 20 minutes. Wrap well and freeze. When ready to use, add toppings and bake another 20 minutes at 350°F.

Suzanne R

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Teacher Potluck Carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

If you have any additions, please leave your link in the comments. I actually had a nightmare that my spam blocker ate submissions and that I lost other submissions. I hope that was simply a nightmare and not reality.

And does anybody know whether the proper
punctuation is New Years or New Year's?

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