Mrs. Schmidt's Christmas Baking Day

 This is a pizzelle iron.  "Pizzelle" in Italian means small, flat and round. This machine is similar to a waffle iron, but the cookie comes out smaller and flatter than a waffle. 

These cookies are closely associated with family.  In fact, pizzelle irons can be specially made with the pattern of a family’s crest.  

 Here are the finished cookies - all EIGHT DOZEN of them!! 

Below is a close up of one of the cookies.

 

 Next, ...uh-oh...hold on while I get the doorbell... 

 

 It's here...this is the famous ONE fruitcake that has circled the world.  (Why are there two of them then?!)  This year it's MY TURN to have the fruitcake. 

 Here we have the Scottish shortbread ready to chill for a while.  Isn't that what I tell some of my students sometimes?

The finished cookies!  Yummy - these are so simple but delicious.

Tomorrow, I have planned: peanut brittle, mini peanut butter cups and date bars. 

An Artist Who Paints on Maps

My fourth and fifth graders recently completed their self-portraits on maps.  Some of them really had a difficult time with the concept of using an alternate material and wanted to use plain, old white paper.  Well here is proof that artists are innovators and think "outside the box."  I came across this artists work while researching something else and thought my students would like to see her work.  Her blog address is www.rachelannaustin.com/custom-map-paintings.  

Victorian Gingerbread House

For my first and second graders who are studying and making their own Victorian mansions - this is a life-size one made of gingerbread in Disney World.