ocs food and garden

Children, Fresh Food and Health

2010-10-04T11:21:00.000-07:00

Today's LA Times reports on work to create a regional food system which would connect low income residents to local food. LA county health authorities currently estimate that 40% of middle school children are obese and that access to fresh, unprocessed food could help trim obesity numbers significantly.

Check out the link www.latimes.com/health/la-me-food-policy-20101004,0,1799173.story

Iridescent Design Challenge

2010-09-29T09:24:00.000-07:00

Participate in the I IMAGINE. I INVENT. I ENGINEER. challenge Saturday, October 16th. Designs due October 13th. For more information go to www.iridescentlearning.org

Garden to Table

2010-06-27T11:55:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to all our recent 8th grade graduates and our continuing OCS students. The year is over and summer break is finally here. While it's tempting to kick back and let the Beanstalk go on vacation too, there are still things happening around our neighborhood that are worthy of a quick post now and again.

Gardens in Altadena flourish in their own microclimate. Abutting the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains, we enjoy cooler, foggier springtimes, wetter winters and hotter summer evenings. This means that gardens, especially vegetable gardens, mature at a "local" pace. Most of our Odyssey neighbors have lots of green tomatoes, but no red ones quite yet. The chili peppers are taking their time and even the pattypan, zucchini and yellow squashes are only now getting ready to harvest.

But if you've planted greens like mustard, collard, kale and swiss chard, you're facing a bumper crop. These cut-and-come-again plants have done really well in our cooler "june gloom" weather. A mess of greens, classically prepared with bacon, onions and a handful of black eyed peas, is always delicious, especially when there is a wedge of cornbread and some sauteed sweet potatoes to go along. But feel free to experiment. I'm posting a truly delicious recipe from Algerian blogger extraordinaire Warda at her 64 square foot kitchen website.

She has added smoked paprika to this dish, which adds a distinctly mesmerizing flavor. It's a spice worth seeking out. While Warda has used Kale here, any type of greens would be fine. Fresh greens from the garden cook surprisingly fast so you can go from garden to table in 30 minutes or less. Just add toasted pita and maybe a bit of marinated feta on the side and dinner is served.

Sautéed Kale with Cumin and Smoked Paprika

Recipe: serves 4
- 1 bunch Kale (about 1 pound/500g)
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 cup/250ml parsley sprigs, tightly packed
- 1/2 cup/ 125ml fresh coriander, tightly packed
- 1 tsp freshly ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp plain yogurt
- Salt, black pepper
- lemon wedges
- Oil cured black olives

Strip the kale leaves off their stems and cut away the tough midribs of any large leaves. Chop finely and wash in plenty of water. Drain well.

Chop and pound the parsley, coriander, garlic and 1/4 tsp salt to a paste in a mortar or a food processor.

Heat a large sauté pan and add olive oil and the chopped onion. Cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the herb paste. Cook 2 minutes stirring and without burning, then add the kale, cumin and smoked paprika, stir to combine, and cover the pan. Cook for 15 minutes, or until the greens are tender. When they are tender, remove the lid and allow any excess water to evaporate. Turn off the heat and stir in the yogurt.

Serve with bread, cured black olives, or any of your favorite olives, and wedges of lemon to squeeze to taste.

Herbs and Health

2010-06-22T12:21:00.000-07:00

Right about now OCS families are starting to harvest fresh tomatoes, squash and peppers from their own front or back yards veggie patches. That superfresh produce is tossed into salads, laid on the grill or briefly added to saute pans to create dishes yielding the quintessential flavors of summer. While we all plant primarily to enjoy the just picked flavors of summer produce, we can't forget that some plants, especially herbs, are also good for our health in more mysterious ways. Herbs, often misidentified as simple weeds, have a long culinary and medicinal history.

Wild herbs were used as healing remedies long before records were kept—Otzi, the 5,300-year-old Iceman found in the Alps in 1991, had medicinal mushrooms among his personal effects—and they’ve been an integral part of Eastern medicine for centuries. Today modern medicine is beginning to realize that herbs may ease the symptoms of many ailments, from the common cold to arthritis, because they contain important health-promoting compounds such as antioxidants and anti-inflammatories.

Growing your own herbs is easy and fun, and the fresh leaves are more potent than dried ones. All you need are some pots, soil, and a sunny spot. Here are five gentle but effective herbs that are ideal for amateur gardeners—they’re simple to grow and will thrive in just about any environment. Better yet, they have few side effects when consumed in small amounts, and you can take them with most pharmaceutical or over-the-counter drugs. If you’re on blood thinners or have a serious condition, consult your doctor first.

Peppermint

First cultivated near London in 1750, peppermint has been shown to be an effective remedy for indigestion. “It calms the muscles of the digestive tract to alleviate intestinal gas and cramping,” says Tieraona Low Dog, M.D., director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine in Tucson. A cup of warm peppermint tea may also thin mucus, loosen phlegm, and soothe sore throats. Apply it topically to take the itch out of bug bites or to ease muscle cramps, arthritis, and headaches.

Growing tip: Snipping can begin two to three weeks after a plant is established. Be sure not to strip the stem bare or you’ll compromise the plant. Remember that peppermint is part of the mint family of herbs and as such, can be invasive when planted directed into the garden. You can either tuck it into a spot with lots of room, or plant it in pot filled with well loose soil. Health Benefits: Settles upset stomach; eases muscle cramps

Lemon balm

Arab doctors in the 9th and 10th centuries called lemon balm the gladdening herb and prescribed it to dispel anxiety and heart palpitations. More recently, a panel of physicians, pharmacologists, and scientists appointed by the German Ministry of Health endorsed the herb for relieving tension, anxiety, and restlessness. There’s also evidence of cognitive benefits. In a small study published in Neuropsychopharmacology, 20 healthy young adults reported increased memory and improved mood after ingesting lemon balm. Another study found similar results among Alzheimer’s patients.

Growing tip: Like peppermint, lemon balm is fast growing. If you plant it in your garden rather than in a pot, be sure to give it a lot of space. Health Benefits: Dispels anxiety; improves mood. Lemon balm can be steeped for a light and delicious herbal tea. It can also be added to cool summer drinks.

Rosemary

Rosemary thrives in southern California, in a climate similar to its roots in the Mediterranean. The use of rosemary as a memory enhancer dates back at least to early Western civilization. Greek students wore garlands of rosemary around their heads, and students in Rome massaged their temples and foreheads with the herb prior to exams. The herb can also reduce joint pain. To make a topical ointment, soak rosemary needles in almond oil for two weeks, filter, then rub the oil onto sore joints as needed.

Growing tip: Rosemary is best grown from a plant and performs well in a container or directly sown into the earth where it can grow even in poor soil. Health Benefits: Increases memory; reduces joint pain

Valerian

Used throughout history as a sedative and sleep aid, valerian gets its name from the Latin valere, which means “to be in good health.” Just the smell alone of the sweetly scented plant is enough to put some people out. Research conducted on 16 insomniacs at Humboldt University of Berlin, in Germany, found valerian extract helped them nod off faster and improved the quality of their sleep.

Growing tip: When valerian is used for medicinal purposes, cut the flowers as soon as they appear (otherwise, they take energy from the leaves). Opt for the Valeriana officinalis variety, which can be used medicinally.Health Benefits: Acts as sleep aid; has sedative effects

Sage

Research conducted at the Allergy Clinic in Landquart, Switzerland, last year found that sage combined with echinacea was as effective as the painkiller lidocaine in relieving sore throat pain. Plus, studies show that the herb’s bacteria-fighting heft makes it a potent breath freshener. To make sage mouthwash, steep 1 tablespoon sage leaves in 1 cup of hot water for 5 minutes. Strain and gargle.

Growing tip: Sage is best started from a plant, because it can take up to a year to establish itself. The best medicinal variety is Salvia officinalis.Health Benefits: Eases sore throats and freshens breath nicely.

Still Life

2010-06-18T08:43:00.000-07:00

Just posting a beautiful image taken by parent Karen Merchant of the classroom snack baskets prepared by parents during the STAR testing week(s). Thank you all so much for your help.

In Fair Verona Where We Lay our Scene

2010-06-09T15:43:00.000-07:00

Please join us in the Odyssey courtyard this Friday (4PM) and Saturday (5PM) for a reading of "The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet" a play by Mr. William Shakespeare presented by Mr. Bilandzjia's 7th and 8th grade English class. There will be snacks for sale, perhaps even oranges sold by comely maids.

Kid's Fly LA/Father's Day Children's Kite Festival

2010-06-04T21:21:00.000-07:00

Don't Mind If I Do

2010-06-03T09:27:00.000-07:00

OK bakers, here is a super scrumptious recipe contributed by parent Karen Merchant. The dates and oats in the mixture should fix you right up!

Date Oatmeal Bars

1 1/2 cups Regular oats -- uncooked
1 1/2 cups All-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon Baking soda
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 cup Firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter
2 (8-ounce) packages whole pitted dates
1 cup Water
1/2 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla or maple extract

Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl. Cut in shortening with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Reserve 1 cup crumb mixture for topping.Press remaining mixture into an ungreased 13- x 9- x 2-inch pan.Chop dates. Combine dates, water, and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add vanilla or maple extract. Spread date mixture over crumb mixture. Sprinkle with reserved 1 cup crumb mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool and cut into squares. Makes about 4 dozen date bars.

Pasadena's Urban Homesteaders in "It ain't easy being green"

2010-05-07T10:54:00.000-07:00

The show "It Ain't Easy Being Green" airs tonight at 7PM on the Food Network and features the Dervaes family farm in Pasadena. Watch as chefs take over the homestead to create a memorable meal for local food writers and critics. It's amazing to see what the Dervaes family grows especially the 8 foot long Tromboncino squash.

Family Sundays at LACMA

2010-05-07T10:52:00.000-07:00

Parent Paula Solano wants to remind everyone that LACMA is free for families this month. Thank you Arts Committee!

Andell Family Sundays are on May 9, 16, 23, 30join LACMA for hands on, artist led activities for families. To register for this free program go to the Family Sundays Table on the museum plaza and get your *NexGen pass. This is located at 5905 Wilshire Blvd.LA 90036 or call NexGen at LACMA at 323-857-4737

*The NexGen Pass admits the child and one adult to LACMA free anytime!

Museums of the Arroyo

2010-04-27T11:27:00.000-07:00

Save the Date: MOTA Day Happens on May 16, 2010

http://www.museumso fthearroyo. com/

It's fun, it's festive and it's only one day a year!

Join us for the 21st anniversary of Museums of the Arroyo Day, where five museums located along the Arroyo Seco in Los Angeles and Pasadena open their doors free of charge from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on May 16, 2010.

Each year, thousands of Angelinos have experienced the diverse mix of art, architecture and history of the Arroyo Seco area found in the six unique history-based museums that preserve and perpetuate early Los Angeles life.

The public can visit the MOTA museums during the day at no charge.
It's local, it's interesting and it's FREE!

This year promises to bring bigger crowds, so visitors are advised to arrive early. We've added additional parking and you can easily use the Gold Line to get to MOTA Day, so click here for more information. Free and continuous shuttle service will also be available between museums.

We look forward to seeing you.

Visit MOTA museums FREE from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on May 16, 2010!

THE GAMBLE HOUSE

HERITAGE SQUARE

THE LOS ANGELES POLICE HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM

LUMMIS HOME AND GARDEN

PASADENA MUSEUM OF HISTORY

Viva Poetry!

2010-04-27T11:21:00.000-07:00

Join us for afternoons of poetry at the Lummis Day Library Series! Hear live poetry from Los Angeles poets and learn to write or improve your own poetry. All events are free and open to the public.

Saturday, May 8,
Special Start Time 3-5PM
@ The Eagle Rock Library
5027 Caspar Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90041
Featuring Chiwan Choi and Candace Pearson with
special guest Mehnaz Turner

Saturday May 15, 2-4PM
@ The Arroyo Seco Regional Branch
6145 N. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90042
liz gonzález, UCLA Extension Writers' Program instructor, will
lead a free poetry workshop for beginning and published
writers of all ages! Come tap into your imagination and begin a
new poem!

Chiwan Choi's first major collection of poems The Flood will be published by Tía Chucha Press this April and his work has appeared in ONTHEBUS, Esquire, Circa and American Book Jam.

Candace Pearson's manuscript Hour of Unfolding won the Liam Rector First Book Prize for Poetry and her work has appeared in Ploughshares, Crab Orchard Review, Borderlands and Texas Poetry Review.

liz gonzález' poetry and fiction have been in many publications and anthologies, including Women on the Edge: Fiction by L.A. Women Writers, Open Windows, and So Luminous the Wild Flowers.

Don't miss the wrap-up Open Reading
and 7 minute lecture "Poetry in a Golden Nutshell"
by John Brantingham of Mount San Antonio College
Autry Museum 4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles, CA 90027
on Saturday, May 22, at 2-4PM! Sign up @ 1:30PM to read.

All are welcome! Readings will be limited to 5 minutes or three
www.lummisday. org for more info short poems.

This event is supported by Poets & Writers, Inc., with a grant it received from the James Irvine Foundation.

Wonderful pics from our Earth Day Celebration

2010-04-23T11:24:00.001-07:00

Earth Day is such a special day at OCS. Here are some pics from yesterday's activities, including building and planting beds in the courtyard and planting trees throughout the property. Students -- thank you for all your help! Parents -- hope there aren't too many backaches this morning!

Earth Day April 22nd

2010-04-15T10:52:00.000-07:00

Big happenings at OCS this April 22nd. The school will be celebrating Earth Day and we need your help! Students, staff and volunteers will be creating a sheet mulch garden, a terraced garden, holding an Earth Day groceries art project, creating compostable pots, trash sorting, a water relay race and (hopefully) inviting a guest speaker.

There will also be a plant sale managed by one of the 7/8 advisory groups. The students will be selling the following 'garden ready' seedlings: radishes, beans, bottle gourds, squash, sunflowers, herbs, collards, onions and more.

With the efforts of parents Ilse Ackerman and Laura Cooper, the school has secured the donation of 9 15-gallon trees which will be planted throughout the campus.

So we definitely need parent volunteers! Middle school students will be running many of the stations along with their teachers; however it’s always good to have adults around to smooth the process. Half day volunteers can be brought on board but nothing beats a full day volunteer! We would need you from 10am – 2:30pm.

Material Donations
shovels** for soil and mulch transport and tree planting
wheel barrels** for soil and mulch transport
river rock for making the boarder to a new garden
large sheets of cardboard that are brown/unbleached, free of tape and ready to compost
lumber 2x8 planks of pine or redwood
**Please put your name on any tools that you want returned to you.

Monetary donations are also welcome. It allows us to buy anything that is not donated.
Please contact Daryl Bilandzija (Darylb@ocsmail.org) or Aaron Bergmann (AaronB@ocsmail.org) for more information.

School Lunch on the Front Burner

2010-04-15T10:10:00.000-07:00

School lunch reform advocates are raising the topic loudly and frequently in the news lately. Jamie Oliver's "Food Revolution" is beaming into American homes and creating urgency about the need to serve healthier meals to schoolchildren. It's evidently hit a nerve with the public. The ratings have been huge. Then there is FLOTUS Michelle Obama and her efforts to secure greater funding for the National School Lunch Program, a program which hasn't seen any apportionement increase for the past twenty years. She asked for a $1 dollar per student increase (from $2.67/day to $3.67/day) and got.... six cents. We are also hearing about school districts stepping up and demanding a change in their current lunch programs even in these times of budget cuts and stretched public education resources.

Here is some news from Parent Marialyce Pedersen about what the Washington D.C. school district is facing:

"A bill in the D.C. Council that would urge District public schools to improve the diets of students and support healthy lifestyles has been praised as being the right legislation during a time when childhood obesity has reached an all time high. D.C. Council member Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) and D.C. Council Chair Vincent Gray (D) have co-sponsored the "Healthy School Act of 2009." The bill would require that school meals, and in the case of children who are enrolled in after-school programs, consist of foods high in nutrients to help fight diseases that could possibly carry over into adulthood.

"We have made an enormous effort to reform education in D.C.," Cheh said.
"We need to improve the nutritional, health and wellness of the students. We are feeding students breakfast, lunch and those in after-school programs, dinner."
Cheh said that it’s important that children receive nutritional meals because they spend the majority of their days in school."The children are in our care," she said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention polling indicates that 18 percent of D.C. students are obese and 35 percent are overweight. A U.S. Surgeon General's study that stated that children who are obese tend to grow up and suffer from medical conditions that include diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and cancer.

Economic status also contributes to childhood obesity. Thirty two percent of District children live in poverty and of that number, 19.2 percent live in abject poverty which includes homelessness or children who have no family support. Asthma afflicts 1 in 6 children in the District.

In an effort to promote the bill, Cheh has visited schools throughout the city, but said she experienced an epiphany at Kimball Elementary School in Southeast."We had a chef from the D.C. Kitchen to come by and cook squash soup," she said."Before he did, he asked the kids had any of them ever had squash soup and they said no. He [made the soup] and they kept coming for seconds and thirds."Cheh learned a thing or two about children’s palates that day, she said, "if you cook it, they will eat it."

Kimball Elementary students Deazon Gardner and Tamara Robinson joined dozens of individuals who rallied in favor of the bill. The youngsters participate in a program that encourages healthy eating and promotes school gardens.

Tamara, 8, said that there was far too much salt in the school cafeteria food and that the vegetables were not properly cooked while Deazon, 9, said that it was fun to learn how to grow their own food.

“Our food in the cafeteria is so bad,” Tamara, a third grader, said “that I do not eat at all and sometimes I go hungry.”

Basically, the bill would make school meals healthier and more nutritious; increase the amount of local and fresh fruits and vegetables served in schools; increase exercise and physical activity in the schools; promote school gardens, recycling, energy reduction and other green initiatives.

Arts Fundraiser at Space Gallery

2010-03-31T19:25:00.000-07:00

Some artsy crafty photos of our Arts Committee fundraiser last month. A big thanks to all the parents who helped organize the brunch and arts sessions. Also, thank you to Hope Perello at Space Gallery in South Pasadena. We had a blast.

Making Sushi

2010-03-31T19:03:00.000-07:00

Just some pics of our 5/6/7th graders making asian food at a recent Cooking Kids session. There were vegetarian sushi rolls, miso soup, gado gado (a tasty Malaysian salad) and Thai banana fritters. The cooking was hard work but oh, the results! Smiles all around.

Spanky at the Stove

2010-03-04T11:03:00.000-08:00

Friend of the Beanstalk, Steve Tedesco, shows us his 'brooklyn-in-the-kitchen' best with a great video of two Italian American classics - Pasta with clams and Chicken Scarpariello. Add a glass of wine, maybe a little bread and hey, what's not to like?

Watch Steve at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73yu-0lT0uY

Earth Hour

2010-03-04T10:59:00.000-08:00

I'm forwarding on this great message from Crist Khachikian -- Thank you Crist and definitely let's do something at OCS! Parents, get in touch with your teachers and find out how your child's classroom can celebrate Earth Hour.

"On March 27th, we will be celebrating Earth Hour. We did this last year with the kids and, for some reason, it affected us all more than Earth Day did. Here is a link to the site: https://www.myearthhour.org/. I thought this might be an interesting thing to bring to the attention of the teachers, students, and families at Odyssey...maybe we can host an activity at school (hosted and paid for by our Center)."

Fallen Fruit Map of Our Neighborhood

2010-02-28T19:45:00.001-08:00

I'm posting this on the blog right now, but will get a permanent link on the beanstalk for the future. Enjoy.

Food Politics in LA

2010-02-18T09:48:00.000-08:00

Take a look at a recent article in the LA Times about a variety of food/hunger/obesity/nutrition related issues being tackled by City Hall at www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-foodpolitics18-2010feb18,0,2643461.story

What are your thoughts on how to improve the quality of the food we eat and the choices we (and our children) make when it comes to mealtimes?

Upcoming Cooking Kids Session - Grades 5/6

2010-02-10T09:50:00.000-08:00

The Cooking Kids After School Program invites all 5th and 6th grade students to enroll for the next round of classes held Mondays, March 1,8, 15 and 22. Enrollment forms are available on line and they will be sent home in Thursday packets next week (as well as being avail. in the Front Office). They are due Friday, Feb.26 in the school's Front Office.

Forms can also be dowloaded online by going to the OCS website - www.odysseycharterschool.org -- and clicking on the "parents" heading. Scroll down to the cooking kids byline and access the forms.

More thoughts on school gardens

2010-01-29T15:16:00.000-08:00

Here is a wonderful posting from the Cornell garden based learning blog which is part of the agricultural extension program from Cornell University. If you wish to troll the site (which is wonderful) go to http://blogs.cornell.edu/gblblog/

Cultivating Conversation: How Caitlin Flanagan has got us all thinking out loud

January 27, 2010 by Angela McGregor

Students prepare soil and seeds for a science experiment

From all of us at Cornell Garden-Based Learning:

It has been two weeks since we read Caitlin Flanagan’s article Cultivating Failure: How school gardens are cheating our most vulnerable students published in the January/February issue of the Atlantic. Over fourteen days have passed and we’re still processing it—through emails with long-distance colleagues, conversations around the office and the dinner table, reading thoughtful responses on blogs and through list servs.

No doubt the article is flawed and misinformed, leaving many understandably disappointed, both in Flanagan’s lack of good research, as well as Atlantic’s poor editorial judgment. There is a significant body of research to support garden-based learning, some of which points to increased academic achievement, in addition to the myriad other benefits, from improved nutrition to enhanced environmental awareness. As a research-based program devoted to sharing highlights of that work with others, to support their programs as they struggle to convince administrators of the value of their work, and to seek further funding for programs not typically well endowed, we make an effort to keep tabs on this exciting, emerging body of work. You’ll find it on our website.

While Flanagan’s article left us somewhat bewildered, we are uplifted by the incredible response of children, youth and adult program partners nation-wide. There has been an outcry, and an outpouring of response. We believe where there is energy, there is opportunity. Here is our hope: that the constructive conversations continue well beyond the blink of this abrasive article. Let’s use this momentum to build new partnerships, gather more research, and share the wonders of garden-based learning with audiences who are not yet familiar with the value.

We have collected some responses below. Let us know if there are any you think we should add. We are particularly interested in responses from students who have been involved in school garden programs. What do they have to say to this article?

Wishing you vibrant garden experiences and looking forward to continued conversation,

from all of us at Cornell Garden-Based Learning

***

School Gardeners Strike Back
Corby Kummer, The Atlantic

Failure to Cultivate: A response to Caitlin Flanagan on school gardens
Kurt Michael Friese, Civil Eats

A Farm Student’s Perspective on Education
Abundant Table Organic Farm Project

Rage Against the Vegetable Garden: Caitlin Flanagan declares war against public school foodie propaganda, exposes evil Alice Waters plot
Andrew Leonard, Salon.com

Alice Waters—Edible Schoolyard Takedown in the ‘Atlantic Monthly’: Wrong, wrong, wrong
Ed Levine, Serious Eats

Response to Caitlin Flanagan in The Atlantic
Abby Jaramillo, Urban Sprouts

Thoughts on the Atlantic’s Attack on School Gardens
Tom Philpott, Grist

In Defense of School Gardens
Susan Harris, Garden Rant

Atlantic Gets it Wrong: School gardens cultivate minds not failure
Jesse Kurtz-Nicholl, Center for a Livable Future

Related articles:
School Gardens Across the Nation, and a Resource List for Starting Your Own
Adriana Velez, Civil Eats

School Adds Weeding to Reading and Writing
Kim Severson, New York Times

Fruit Tree Giveaway Tomorrow 1/23

2010-01-22T12:09:00.000-08:00

Passing along some exciting info from Reies Flores. Get your trees!

"My name is Reies Flores and I am organizing a Fruit Tree giveaway at Franklin High School in Los Angeles this Saturday 1/23 at 1:30pm. We will have 300 trees provided by Tree People.

This our third annual tree giveaway.Information follows:

Free Fruit Trees!!!

When: Saturday, January 23rd, 2010 @ 1:30pm Rain or Shine

Where: Franklin High School, 820 N Avenue 54, 90042. Enter through the Ave56 gate to the Faculty Parking Lot

What: 300 Fruit Trees! Apples, Apricots, Peaches, Nectarines, Plums and limited numbers of Citrus. All varieties right for SoCal climate. Trees will be given out on a first come first serve basis.

Who: All people who will plant and take care of their trees are invited to come get one. Trees will be limited to one per household. Schools, Community Gardens and other groups are not limited to one tree though arrangements should be made beforehand. Get there early as trees will be given away on afirst come first serve basis.

Why: To promote self-sustainability and combat hunger in Los Angeles

Sponsored by: Franklin High School and Tree People

Should California school children's education include gardens?

2010-01-21T10:14:00.000-08:00

For a while now the creation of school gardens has been seen as a progressive, educationally worthy goal. We all know the arguments; school gardens help children better connect with the natural world, school gardens are tied into curriculum and help support and bolster student learning, school gardens can help children understand where their food comes from and (hopefully) adopt better eating habits. But a recent, and quite vehement, article from part-time Atlantic Monthly contributor Caitlin Flanagan takes another look at the school garden movement and sees... theft.

Check our her article "Cultivating Failure" at http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/201001/school-yard-garden

The response to this article has been great (see blog "serious eats" for Ed Levine's take on Flanagan posted 1/12/10. http://www.seriouseats.com and search under "Alice Waters").

What do you think about the article and the right or wrongheadedness of school gardens?

New Session "Cooking Kids" for 3rd and 4th graders

2010-01-11T10:44:00.000-08:00

Sign ups are happening right now for the next session of Cooking Kids at Odyssey. This is for 3rd and 4th graders and your children should be bringing home paperwork this week for registration.

The class dates are on Mondays: January 25; February 1, 8, and 22

Registration and payment must be turned in by January 22nd. ENROLL NOW!

In four, 2-hr. sessions, your child will learn more about Mexican, African American and Asian cuisines – one cuisine a week, plus a gardening session - to plant the herbs we will use and strengthen your child’s understanding of the link between garden and kitchen, nature and nutrition.

The children will cook and taste their foods as well as taking home printed recipes and menus to share with their families.

Who’s Teaching?

The program is being run by two Odyssey parents: Susan Ruffins and Karen Merchant. Both are trained chefs and each one has worked extensively with children teaching cooking and art.

Fees and Registration
The cost per student is $75.00 for the program. Class size is limited to sixteen students and, in the event that less than ten students apply, the session will be canceled. If the class is oversubscribed, we will try to add parent volunteers, but we are committed to keep the teacher/student ratio to 1:8.

Please make checks payable to: STR CONSULTING. Check, Registration and Release Form should be turned into the OCS front office.

Food Pantry Update

2010-01-08T11:47:00.001-08:00

Sorry folks. This information should have been sent out before the Holidays, but though late, it is still pertinent. A heartfelt thank you to Ms. Brenda Davidge for all her research into whether or not to establish a food pantry at OCS.

After much consideration it seems that developing a food bank at Odyssey isn't feasible at this time. Still, we feel it's important to inform our Odyssey community of other food banks available to them. Below is a sampling of some local food banks. For a more comprehensive list please go to http://www.lafightshunger.org Click on pantry locator and type in your zip code. This service is free to the community. Though you might want to call first to confirm the times and dates of distribution.

Thank you very much

Altadena S.D.A. Church 2609 N. Lincoln Ave. Altadena 91001 (626) 794-3953
2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month 9-12

First Church of the Nazarene 9 W. Medocino St. Altadena 91001 (626) 798-2361
1st & 3rd Thursday of the month 2-4pm

Hathaway Children & Family 840 N. Avenue 66 Highland Park/Garvanza 90042 (323) 257- 9600
Wednesdays 9:30-11am

Faith United Presbyterian 115 N. Avenue 53 Highland Park 90042 (323) 256-4171
1st & 3rd Friday of every month 9:30-11:30

Central Filipino S.D.A. Church 777 Colorado Blvd. Eagle Rock 90041 (323) 255-7718
3rd Tuesday of every month 9-12

Holy Family Giving Bank 1524 Fremont Ave. South Pasadena 91030 (626) 403-6140
Mondays 9-10:45

Steph's Pomegranate Jelly

2009-12-09T09:27:00.000-08:00

A great stocking stuffer, Stephanie Jenniches' pomegranate jelly will be for sale in the front office next week. Still $5 a jar and payment is on the honor system. Get a jar before they are gone. It's a damn divine spread.

Parent Artists' Help Requested

2009-12-09T09:23:00.000-08:00

We now know there will be no paid Visual or Musical Arts coming to Odyssey this year...So its up to those of us who can bring our creative skills to the picture! Now is the time.

Our community is rich in talent and experience in all of the arts and we can bring all kinds of enrichment to our kids. If those of us experienced in the arts- Visual Arts, Performing Arts- Drama, Dance, Crafts, Music... were to take on one project, we could fill the school with the Arts!

You can just let me (MaryLinda) know the kind of Arts you are interested in contributing (Drumming, Painting, Dramatic Play, Choral, Video, Dance, Collage, Creative Writing, Quilting, Claywork...) and I will find a project, or if you want to bring in a series for our Arts in Residence we will find a class to bring that to and support to make it successful. All of the classes have space in their schedule for Art and Music, they are just waiting for one of us to bring it to them.

I took a few hours this week and did paper mache planets with both Kindergarden classes, there are parents coming in every week to do music and movement for the K classes, Karen Merchant has done sumi-e painting for Lisa's class, Aunt Crystal has brought Art to Heather's class, Paula Solano is doing a 6 week dramatic series for Jessica's class...what would you like to do??

We are currently looking for holiday cultural arts to share in some of the classrooms; Storytellers, a project for a family unit, shadow puppetry, a great bookmaking project, portraiture, dramatic play to explore subject areas, California song to a different tune, sculptural creation of habitats, 3D landforms and DNA models...among many others!

Please do bring your talents into the pool, the school will be a better place for it. It's fun, challenging, and exciting. You will get whatever support you need to make it a fun project for all - yourself included.

So take a few moments now, respond with an email (imarylinda@aol.com) or a phone call. Help make Odyssey an incredible place for our kids by bringing a bit of you to them.

Thank you so much,
MaryLinda Moss

Happy Holidays to the (extended) OCS community

2009-12-08T10:00:00.000-08:00

Bear with us -- it's a crazy month with too much to do. But we want to send out all our best wishes to the whole community for a wonderful holiday. Check back in January for more news and pics.

Homemade for the Holidays

2009-11-29T09:20:00.000-08:00

Just a plug to our students (and parents) to consider homemade holiday gifts this year. Here is a great one from the Food in Jars website for an easy and delicious apple/cranberry jam. It makes a ruby red jar of jam which looks even more festive with a green bow wrapped around it.

Other easy gifts to put together are homemade brownie mixes, waffle recipes, chutneys, batches of mexican pickled veggies (see an earlier post here to find that one) and jars of assorted dried beans that are turned into nourishing pots of soup to help restore balanced eating after the holiday feasting.

Apple-Cranberry Jam

8 cups of peeled and diced apple (approximately 5-6 large apples, 1/2 inch dice. Use a softer apple like a Golden Delicious. Firm apples won’t cook down as well.)
4 cups of whole cranberries
6 cups sugar
1 cup water
2 lemons, zested and juiced

Combine the apples, cranberries, sugar and water in a large pot (use a big one, this jam will bubble) over high heat. Bring to a boil, skimming off the foam that develops on the top of the fruit. Cook for 10-15 minutes, until the cranberries pop and the apples soften.

Add the lemon zest and juice and simmer until the liquid in the pot begins to thicken (because both apples and cranberries are naturally high in pectin, you won’t need any additional pectin to help this jam set, as long as you cook it until thick and syrup-y).

Ladle into prepared jars, wipe rims, apply lids and process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes. Label nicely and distribute to those you love.

Makes 4 1/2 – 5 pints.

***I made this jam without the addition of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves or allspice. However, I do believe that the addition of one or two of those spices would be quite nice.

Free Art Classes

2009-11-20T10:03:00.000-08:00

Here's some news contributed from parent Erin Gamble:

The Pasadena library system has been offering free Art Classes on Saturdays.

The classes run from 10:30-noon at the San Rafael Branch and from 1:30 to 2:30 at the Hill Branch.The classes are taught by students from Pasadena's Art Center and all materials are provided.

My kids have been going to the San Rafael one. It's good for kids from very little up to 5th or 6th grade (and older, if they're motivated. :) There are usually 2 or 3 teachers there, and they seem to do a very good job. So far they've stuck to the more basic paper-based crafts, but my kids enjoy it a lot -- so I thought other parents who are concerned about not losing art in school might want to know.

Helping Hand Food Pantry at OCS

2009-11-19T09:36:00.000-08:00

As 2009 draws to a close, it's clear that many Californians had a brutal year. Unemployment is at a record high and the costs of living here -- mortgage, rent, car payments, clothing and food -- remain steep. Many families are tightening their belts to make ends meet and a little help now and then is deeply appreciated.

In that spirit, Brenda Davidge, Jude's Mom, would like to to create a small food pantry for OCS families during these tough economic times. She knows the need exists. For years Brenda has volunteered in food pantries around Los Angeles and this year has seen an increase in the numbers of families without sufficient means to feed themselves three meals a day.

Our school is likely no exception. Typically OCS has about 30% of its students elegible for free and reduced cost lunches, a proxy for low income families. This year, that means about 90+ students. This is just a proxy. The school does not collect or keep data on household income. Still, it is safe to assume that occasional food insecurity may be a fact of life for some of our families.

In order to better gauge what our community needs, Brenda recently sent out a survey (included in this week's Thursday packet) which asks a few simple questions. Please take a moment to fill that out and bring it back to the front office. You can also access the survey via the Survey Monkey Website at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=gq17TK2cGvjfeF9HkEOqvA_3d_3d Please feel free to also include your comments and suggestions.

For more information about hunger in America, please take a look at an article published this week by Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE5AF42220091116

Thanks.

Food Forum

2009-11-19T09:35:00.000-08:00

WHEN: Thursday Nov 19 ( 7 PM - 9 PM)
doors open at 6:30 pm

WHERE:Venice Center for Peace 2210 Lincoln Blvd, corner of Victoria Ave, one block N of Venice Blvd., Venice CA 90291- Free street and lot parking

COST $5.00 suggested donation to help defray cost of event. No one turned away for lack of funds

Venice Food Forum: Eat, Drink & be Wary! Who's growing our food? What's in it? Why it isn't safe!

Speakers: Jules Dervaes, Katherine Green, Nicole Johnson

Jules Dervaes is the founder of Path to Freedom, a family-operated, viable urban homestead project established in 2001 to promote a simpler and more fulfilling lifestyle and to sow a "homegrown revolution" against the corporate powers that control the food supply. Since the mid-1980s, Mr. Dervaes and his three adult children have worked at transforming their city lot in Pasadena into a thriving organic garden that supplies them with food all year round. Through the family's outreach efforts at PathtoFreedom.com and via their popular, award-winning documentary short, Homegrown Revolution, millions of people worldwide have been educated and inspired to pursue a more sustainable way of life.

Katherine Green is a television writer and producer. Most recently she's been involved with researching the state of the food industry in this country. She has edited together a short DVD which will help break down in a provocative and entertaining way what we're up against in the supermarket--nutritionism, gmo crops, labeling laws, silenced scientists-- and how Monsanto fits into the picture.

Nicole Johnson is a researcher, writer and activist living in Ventura County, CA. Her recent work has focused on the sustainable production of wholesome food, agribusiness and the globalized food supply chain, the impact of the industrial food supply on health, and safe drinking water issues. She has published critical articles on the new food safety legislation. As a mother she has the most compelling reasons of all for working to ensure our food and water supply is clean, safe, and toxin-free.

Q & A will follow after the presentations.

Storytelling with Shadows - Puppetry Workshop

2009-11-17T12:09:00.000-08:00

GET INSPIRED!!PUPPETRY WORKSHOP AT THE INTERNATIONAL PUPPETRY MUSEUM in PASADENA

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21stpresented by the Los Angeles Guild of Puppetry"SHADOW TALES---puppetry storytelling using shadows"taught by Leslie K. Gray

Kami Shibai, the Japanese art of storytelling using picture cards, can be adapted to shadow puppetry form and then it takes on a life of its own! Come create your own story pieces to take home in this hands-onworkshop that will help open up the world of shadows and unlock those stories within you. Geared for adults and children old enough to cut with exacto knives!

Time: 2pm-5pmCost: $10 for LAGOP members, $15 for guestsPlease bring an exacto knife/cutting tool and cutting surfacePlace: International Puppetry Museum, 1062 N. Fair Oaks Ave.,Pasadena, CA 91103To make reservations, contact Christine Papalexis at 323/665-8062 oremail at lagopemail@aol. com

Art on your block

2009-11-17T12:06:00.000-08:00

Block Party is a one-night tour of contemporary art exhibitions in non-traditional spaces, including apartments, studios, and storefronts. Organized by Daniel Ingroff and Paul Pescador, the event will occur November 21, 2009 from 6-10 pm and will feature exhibitions in Highland Park, Lincoln Heights, and Mt. Washington. Block Party is bicycle friendly, and accessible via Metro Gold Line.

FOR INFO/MAP: http://blockpartyar t.blogspot. com

Exhibitions:a. Curated by Kate HillsethYoung ArtAsher Mixtape Hell 2Asher Penn1727 N. Spring StreetLos Angeles, CA 90012(Goldline Stop: Chinatown)

b. Curated by Daniel Ingroff & Paul PescadorworkspaceDOMESTIC PARTNERFeaturing work by: Lisa Anne Auerbach, Akina Cox, Joshua Nathanson, Mercedes Teixido and Jenny Yurshansky2601 Pasadena AveLos Angeles, CA 90031(Gold Line stop: Heritage Square/Lincoln Heights)

c. Curated by Evan Walsh & Ian JamesI Was A Teenage Pieman, or… Attack of the Flying PiesFeaturing work by: Megan Cotts, Travis Diehl, Liz Glynn, Peter Holzhauer, George Jensen, Steve Kado, Meghann McCory, Jared David Paul, Gala Porras-Kim, Matt Siegle, Aaron Wrinkle, Miggie Wong and more TBA2939 Johnston St. (Blue House)Los Angeles, CA 90031(Gold Line stop: Heritage Square/Lincoln Heights)

d. Curated by Light and Wire GalleryAndy Parker4026 N. Figueroa St.Los Angeles, CA 90065(Gold Line stop: Heritage Square/Lincoln Heights)

e. Curated by Lizz Wasserman & Isaac ResnikoffAN OBJECT TOSSED FROM ONE COUNTRY TO ANOTHERFeaturing work by: Anthony Campuzano, John Finneran, Anton Lieberman, Shana Lutker and Lawrence Weiner5106 1/4 & 5106 1/2 Echo St.Los Angeles, CA 90042(Gold Line stop: Highland Park)

Dirty Kids

2009-11-08T10:53:00.000-08:00

Some quick photos of the 1st/2nd grade "cooking kids" hard at work. So far we've planted chard, beans, artichokes, collards, kale, thyme, basil, parsley, oregano, sage, spring lettuces, bok choy, lemongrass, dandelion, lemon verbena and mexican tarragon. There are also bean, radicchio and herb seeds which were planted. Fingers crossed it all comes up!

The Eating Season

2009-11-08T10:24:00.000-08:00

Some interesting thoughts from the Center for Non-Violent Education and Parenting. This was forwarded to the Beanstalk from the desk of parent, Karen Merchant (thank you Karen!).

"There’s a ton of wonderful research about how the brain responds to various kinds of food, and to various eating habits. Some of the information in this article is derived from a wonderful book called The End of Overeating - Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite by David Kessler, M.D.

Babies have a pretty good intrinsic sense of when they need to eat, and what they want. Breast milk has all the nutrition babies need, and for most babies, it’s available on tap. After they begin to eat solid food, however, it doesn’t take long before questions about nutrition arise. Is my child getting enough food? Too much food? The right kind of food?

One important thing to know about infants and preschoolers is that they adjust their caloric intake over the course of a day or many days. This is called “compensation” and it’s a normal and healthy way for your child to regulate their intake. It can cause parents a lot of anxiety when our kids don’t eat something we’ve put in front of them. But try to pay attention to what your child is eating over the course of a few days at a time to assess their overall nutrition. Dr. Kessler suggests that we should all eat like two year olds: small portions of healthy food many times throughout the day, eating when we are hungry, abstaining when we aren’t.

Sometimes food is used as a reward for behavior. Like any kind of reward, this is a way of manipulating children. Using food, however, can have other detrimental consequences. When children associate food with behavior, and when love seems closely linked with eating, such dire outcomes as obesity and eating disorders are quite possible.

Not only do we sometimes use food as a reward, we also give rewards and praise for eating. Have you ever heard the phrase “you’re such a good eater?” This kind of message can reinforce some damaging eating habits.

Many activists are working hard to improve the way that children learn about nutrition and get access to healthy food. There are a lot of very good programs looking to address nutrition in schools like Rethinking School Lunch and The Center for Food and Justice at Occidental College.

It’s our responsibility to provide nutrition. AND it’s true that our children have a natural sense of their bodies and their hunger. So fill your homes with nutritious food. Offer your children small portions of a variety of healthy foods, and model healthy eating yourself. Look at those huge piles of candy, and have a moment of self-empathy. We’re in the season of eating, and it’s just beginning.

Dia de Los Muertos -- Manana en OCS!

2009-10-29T11:10:00.000-07:00

Start the weekend with a wonderful "Dia de Los Muertos" celebration at OCS tomorrow.

Games and crafts start at 4PM and a traditional altar will be made at 5PM. Dinner/Potluck at 6PM. If you have any questions, call Elena de la Cruz at 323-661-5047. See you there!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Acompáñenos a celebrar el
Día de los Muertos
En Odyssey Charter School!

El viernes, 30 de octubre desde las 4 de la tarde

4:00pm—Haremos papel picado, calaveras de azúcar, flores de papel, y pintura de la cara
5:00—Construiremos un altar tradicional
6:00—Comida estilo ‘pot-luck’

Patrocinados por un grupo de padres de familia Latinos en Odyssey. Para mas informes, comuníquese con Elena de la Cruz at (323) 661-5047

Community News - Arroyo Food Coop

2009-10-28T09:08:00.000-07:00

Arroyo Food Co-op Memberships Now Available

A committee has been researching what it will take to establish a cooperative grocery store in the greater Altadena/Pasadena area. It now needs community help to bring the store from plan to reality! If you're interested in having a local, community member-owned grocery store in our area, please see the Arroyo Food Co-op website -http://www.arroyofoodcoop.com. There you can view the business plan, read the FAQs, and most importantly, you can find out how to become one of the founding member-owners of Arroyo Food Co-op!

Wish us luck

2009-10-27T20:36:00.000-07:00

Well, we are ready. I think. Twenty-two eager first and second graders will be meeting on Monday for their first "cooking kids" class. We'll start in the garden, planting seedlings and seeds, watering, talking and hopefully singing to our plants to make them happy and help them 'keep on keeping on'. Feel free to come by and wish us luck. You'll find us in the courtyard where the dirt will hopefully find its way into pots instead of on shoes, down shirts, in pants, and smeared on smiling faces. Oh well. It's a growing adventure. Literally!

Promise to post pictures soon.

Arts Meeting Schedule Updated

2009-10-26T10:28:00.000-07:00

The following are the scheduled meetings for The Arts Committee this year. We may add more as needed

Friday, November 13th 8:30am
Wednesday, January 27th, 8:30am
Wednesday, March 24th, 8:30am
Wednesday, May 26th, 8:30am

Thanks so much for all that you all do!

Paula Solano, Arts Committee

Urban Homesteading Short Film Announcement

2009-10-20T10:27:00.000-07:00

OCEANSIDE FILM FESTIVAL
Previews "Homegrown Revolution"

Homegrown Revolution & the Dervaes Family
please note two screening times!
WHEN: Saturday October 17
@ 5:30 PM & 7:00 PM (20 min Q & A session afterwards)
WHERE:Sunshine Brooks Theatre217 North Coast Highway Oceanside, CA 92054
COST: Ticket information

FILM INFORMATION
Homegrown Revolution is a short introduction to a homegrown project that has been called a new revolution in urban sustainability. In the midst of a densely urban setting in downtown Pasadena, radical change is taking root. For over twenty years, the Dervaes family have transformed their home into an urban homestead and model for sustainable agriculture and city living. Calling this project "Path to Freedom," the Dervaes family shows that change is possible -- one step at a time. They harvest 3 tons of organic food annually from their 1/10 acre garden while incorporating many back-to-basics practices, solar energy and biodiesel in order to reduce their footprint on the earth's resources.

7th/8th Grade Art Opening

2009-10-16T10:09:00.000-07:00

OCS' 7th and 8th graders will be part of an art exhibit in support of the International Day of Climate Change. All parents and the OCS community members are invited to the opening show on Saturday, October 24 at 3:50 pm at Zinnia @ 1024 Mission Street, South Pasadena. (follow links from www.350.org>People>Artists... then scroll down and click on Zinnia for more information).

Come and see wonderful art, enjoy lively conversation and support our budding artists!

Feeding Cities of the Future

2009-10-15T09:31:00.001-07:00

Interested in Assisting a visiting artist October 15th?

2009-10-14T17:11:00.000-07:00

Is there anyone interested in assisting a visiting artist on a painting project tomorrow for the 8th grade class?

You would go to bungalo H at 1 (having gotten the spigot key from the office first) and help Linda Luminatti fill up water containers, lay out brushes and get ready for the kids at 1:15. You would then help with the project and help clean up by 2:30.

Thanks for your consideration,

MaryLinda

Arts at Odyssey

Project 350

2009-10-13T09:20:00.000-07:00

Last week, Artist and Visual Arts Educator Linda Illumanardi, a resident of Altadena, volunteered her time to support the environmental group "350" at OCS. Illuminardi has provided the 7th/8th OCS students the opportunity to contribute individual painted panels to an art installation grid.

The environmental group is called 350 because its goal is to achieve 350 parts per million as a safe limit of the level of CO2 in the atmosphere. 350 has attracted authors, artists, dancers and many others to think creatively about solving the world's changing climate by instituting an International Day of Climate Change - Saturday, Oct 24.

After Illuminardi spent the morning at OCS with Mr. Lee in the computer lab explaining 350's global mission (see www.350.org), she gave 7th and 8th grade students paints, brushes and the wooden panels to paint. This week, Illumanardi and students will finish the project at OCS, then the 53 panels will be transported to Zinnia, an art store and gallery space at 1024 Mission Street, South Pasadena.

Parents and the OCS community are ALL invited to the opening on Saturday, October 24 at 3:50 pm (follow links from www.350.org>People>Artists... then scroll down and click on Zinnia for more information) at Zinnia. A total of 350 finished panels (painted by other artists as well as OCS students) will be hung in a grid on display at Zinnia. Joining other artists and activists in the community and around the world, students' work will be photographed and placed in an international display of these photos in Times Square in NYC.

Ms. Illumanardi wishes to extend her thanks to the administration, students, faculty, and especially to parents, for the extra work, time, and effort provided in assisting her with this project.

Cooking Kids - Grades 1/2

2009-10-08T18:22:00.000-07:00

Cooking Kids is running a month long cooking/gardening class for Grades 1/2. Each class will be on Mondays from 1:30PM-3:30PM and will be structured as a series of 4 afterschool lessons. Children will cook three different types of cuisines -- Latin, Asian and African/American and will add to the container herb garden in the patio area behind the community hall. The cuisines are reflective of our school community and the herb garden will link directly to those cuisines and (hopefully) strengthen student’s understanding of the link between garden and kitchen, nature and nutrition.

Space is limited and there is a fee. For children K-3 the program will be $60 per child. Sign up sheets will be available in the front office as well as downloadable online in the parent tab of the OCS website. There must be at least 10 children signed up to run a session and it will definitely be lots of fun.

Delicious and Healthy

2009-10-07T09:40:00.000-07:00

This sandwich recipe appears in today's LA Times and I'm reposting it here because it not only looks delicious but can be easily deconstructed into separate salads and dips. It is ostensibly vegan focused, but I'm all for an ecumenical approach when the result is good eating.

Edamame Sandwich

Edamame hummus

10 cups loosely packed, cleaned and trimmed spinach leaves
2 cups shelled edamame beans
2 cups shelled garbanzo beans
3 tablespoons chopped garlic
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons tahini paste
1 tablespoon ground ginger
3 teaspoons kosher salt
1 cup olive oil

Blanch the spinach in a large pot of boiling water to bring out the vibrant color and wilt just slightly, about 1 minute. Drain and shock the spinach in a bowl of ice water. Drain the spinach again, pressing out all excess water. You should have one-half cup

Place the edamame and garbanzo beans in the bowl of a food processor, along with the spinach, garlic, lemon juice, tahini paste, ground ginger and salt. Pulse until the contents are the consistency of a coarse paste. With the processor running, drizzle in the olive oil until the mixture is smooth. Place the hummus in a nonreactive bowl, cover tightly and refrigerate until needed. This recipe makes 4 cups hummus, more than needed for the sandwiches, and can be used as a spread on crackers or bread. It will keep for 4 days refrigerated.

White miso dressing

3 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon white miso
3 tablespoons agave nectar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/4 cup plus 1 1/2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil

In a small bowl, whisk together the miso, agave nectar, brown sugar and vinegar. Slowly whisk in the vegetable and sesame oils until emulsified. This makes 1 scant cup dressing that will keep for 3 days refrigerated.

Sandwich Assembly

Take 4 ciabatta or rustique rolls, halved
1 1/3 cups hummus
1 cup peeled and grated carrots
1 large cucumber, sliced
8 slices ripe plum tomato, sliced (from 1 large or two medium)
6 cups mixed baby field greens (about 4 ounces)
1/4 cup white miso dressing

Spread hummus on four sandwiches. Top with equal parts of shredded carrots, cucumber slices and sliced tomatoes. Mix the field greens with the miso dressing and divide evenly among sandwiches.

Arts and Gems

2009-09-30T10:18:00.000-07:00

A few more community happenings to add to your calendar...

Desert Crystal Hunt Oct 10-11Searles Gem and Mineral Society in Trona California sponsors a Gemorama. Families caravan to the distant desert site, spend the night ($5 camping fee or hotels available in nearby Ridgecrest) and register for field trips to go dig in the mud for salt crystals as big as pillows! Temperatures are anticipated to be between 70-90 degrees. Website has complete information.
http://www1.iwvisp.com/tronagemclub/

Self Help Graphics near Soto and Cesar Chavez in Los Angeles is offering free community arts activities in support of the Dia de los Muertos celebration, every Saturday of October from 1-3 pm.
http://www.selfhelpgraphics.com/

Arts Committee Meeting

2009-09-29T10:53:00.000-07:00

The Arts committee will hold a second meeting Friday, October 16th at 8:30AM. If you would like to be involved in Arts at OCS, please stop by. If you can't make that time, please contact Paula Solano at pwsolano@sbcglobal.net to get more information.

Upcoming Food and Garden Meeting

2009-09-29T10:51:00.000-07:00

There has been a great response from new parents about participating in the OCS food and garden committee. Our first meeting is set for October 8th (8:30AM) and we will talk about what members would like to make happen this year. We'll meet right after school starts. Look for us in the community hall.

Arts and Music About Town

2009-09-26T09:40:00.000-07:00

Check out these links to some free or low cost arts and music happenings around LA. Have a great time with the kids.

FREE OUTDOOR JAZZ TRIBUTE TO MCCOY TYNER BY THE LUCKMAN JAZZ ORCHESTRA! 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles, 90032 323-343-6600 - FREE - FREE OUTDOOR CONCERT! Opening the incredible and transformative 2009/2010 Luckman Fine Art Complex season, the Luckman Jazz Orchestra pays tribute to jazz master Mccoy Tyner in a a free outdoor concert.

ALTERNATIVE ART MARKET 88 North Fair Oaks, Pasadena 91103 626-844-8886 - FREE - Supporting Big Ideas Locally, The Alternative Art Market is a celebration of unique treasures designed and created locally. Art • Fashion • Music Sat & Sun Sept 26 thru 27 11 am until 7 pm

WORLD CITY – THE MYSTICAL ARTS OF TIBET - FREE FAMILY EVENT AT THE MUSIC CENTER 111 South Grand Ave. Los Angeles 90012 213-972-4396 - FREE - World City - The Mystical Arts of Tibet (Music & Dance, Tibet) Saturday, October 3, 200911:00 AM & 12:30 PM

11TH ANNUAL EAGLE ROCK MUSIC FESTIVAL 2225 Colorado Blvd. Los Angeles, 90041 (between Argus and Eagle Rock Blvd. ) - FREE - 11th Annual Eagle Rock Music FestivalSaturday October 3, 2009 4:00-11:00pm Colorado Blvd. between Argus and Eagle Rock Blvd. COME HEAR ODYSSEY CHARTER SCHOOL'S OWN "THE TRACS"

STORYTIME 4700 Western Heritage Way Los Angeles CA 323-667-2000 - Free with museum admission - Two stories about Native peoples of the Southwest highlight their rich culture in a hands-on presentation by museum docents.

JAPAN AMERICA KITE FESTIVAL Seal Beach Pier, Seal Beach CA (213) 627-6217, ext. 202 - Free - The 13th Annual Japan America Kite Festival® will take place from 11:00 a.m.. to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009, at Seal Beach Pier in the city of Seal Beach, Calif. More than 1,000 kites.

TAKE A CHANCE POETRY SLAM 1890 Huntington Drive, San Marino, CA 91108 626-300-0777 - free - Middle School and High School students from the greater San Gabriel Valley will have an exciting opportunity to deliver dynamic poetry performances at the Crowell Public Library.

HTHF DIWALI CULTURAL PROGRAM 2009 226 S. Ivy Ave., Monrovia, 91016 626-445-7636 - $10, Kids 5 and under FREE - What: HTHF Diwali Cultural Program 2009
When: Saturday, October 10 from 7.00 PM to 10.00 PM
Where: Clifton Middle School Auditorium, 226 S. Ivy Ave, Monrovia, CA 91016 (cross Foothill Blvd.)

SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI FIESTA 1550 Maltman Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90026 - free admission/fee for rides, etc. - Saint Francis of Assisi Parish and school's annual fiesta. Everyone welcome. Open to the public. Free admission. Purchase tickets for rides, games, and good eats.

MAFA'S 46TH ANNUAL ARTS FESTIVAL “CELEBRATE THE ARTS" 321 South Myrtle Avenue, Monrovia, 91016 (626) 802-7873 - FREE - MAFA's Annual Arts Festival “Celebrate the Arts" (Monrovia Library Park, 321 S. Myrtle Ave) Monrovia Association of Fine Arts presents its 46th annual Festival “Celebrate the Arts.

LA PHIL PRESENTS TOYOTA SYMPHONIES FOR YOUTH – TWO FOUR-CONCERT SATURDAY SERIES, 11AM AT WALT DISNEY CONCERT Walt Disney Concert Hall 111 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA, 90012 - $20 - Season premiere concerts: October 17 & 24: A Musical Carnival: featuring Carnival of the Animals The family-friendly and ever-popular Toyota Symphonies for Youth, featuring the Los Angeles Philharmonic

TEEN MURDER MYSTERY DINNER 1890 Huntington Dr, San Marino 91108 (626) 300-0777 - FREE - registration required - Crowell Public Library Invites Teens To A Murder Mystery Dinner. Barth Community Room Friday October 23, 4:00 pm

WEST OF BROADWAY’S INTERACTIVE PLAY “12 ANGRY JURORS” 6128 Yucca Street in Hollywood, CA 90028 - $15 - 12 ANGRY JURORS Part of the You the Jury ™ series West of Broadway presents 12 ANGRY JURORS, adapted from the classic novel, 12 ANGRY MEN, by Reginald Rose.

WESTERN WEEKEND WORKSHOPS: NATIVE AMERICAN BASKETRY 4700 Western Heritage Way 323-667-2000 - Autry members: $60 / Nonmembers: $75.* - The Autry's Western Weekend Workshops are a fun and creative way for children ages 8-12 to learn about Native American and Western art and crafts and to create their own crafts pieces

LA PHIL PRESENTS TOYOTA SYMPHONIES FOR YOUTH – TWO FOUR-CONCERT SATURDAY SERIES, 11AM AT WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL Walt Disney Concert Hall 111 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA, 90012 - $20 - Season premiere concerts: October 17 & 24: A Musical Carnival: featuring Carnival of the Animals The family-friendly and ever-popular Toyota Symphonies for Youth.

HUBBLE’S CANVAS 332 South Michigan Ave, Pasadena, CA 91125 (626) 395-4652 - $5.00 (unreserved seating) - Hubble’s Canvas, Beckman Auditorium, free parking located at 332 South Michigan Avenue, Pasadena (south of Del Mar Boulevard). 2 p.m.

PUMPKIN FESTIVAL 1418 Descanso Drive, La Canada 91011 818-949-4200 - Free with Gardens' admission - With a lush landscape where pumpkins peek around nearly every corner, Descanso’s Pumpkin Roundup features costumes parades (10 and 11 a.m.) followed by sing-alonngs and puppet shows.

DAY OF THE DEAD FESTIVAL 4605 North Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, 90065 23-221-2164, ext. 221 - Free with museum admission - Casa de Adobe Saturday & Sunday, October 31 & November 1, Noon–5:00 p.m. Celebrate local artists and their Day of the Dead and Halloween art. For more information, call 323-221-2164, ext. 221

STORY TIME 4700 Western Heritage Way 323-667-2000 - Free with museum admission - Sunday, November 1, 1:30–2:30 p.m. Two stories about Native peoples of the Southwest highlight their rich culture in a hands-on presentation by museum docents. Dragonfly’s Tale by Kristina Rodanas.

LET’S MAKE HISTORY! 4700 Western Heritage Way Los Angeles CA 323-667-2000 - Free with museum admission - Each Sunday afternoon, the Autry offers a new crafts project for kids of all ages. Free with admission.

Urban Meadows

2009-09-25T10:41:00.000-07:00

Check out this slideshow of beautiful water-wise L.A. city gardens that mix in plants with herbs like oregano, california bay, and vervein. Lovely. http://www.latimes.com/la-hm-knibb-garden-pg,0,3193762.photogallery?index=1

Late Summer All-Purpose Pesto

2009-09-24T17:25:00.000-07:00

Pesto is the ultimate simple sauce. Toward the end of summer, basil plants in L.A. get a boost from a spell of hot weather forcing a profusion of leaves to push out and grab their share of sunshine. Every few days I pluck off any flowers I see growing on the plants. I don't want flowers -- I want the tasty leaves. Careful plucking encourages more leaf growth and makes you smell like a sexy Italian mamma to boot.

I fill up a food processor worth of washed basil leaves, throw in a clove (or two) of garlic, a handful of toasted unsalted pine nuts, salt and pepper.

Then a good 1/4 cup of olive oil and I start pulsing the machine. After a minute or so your pesto looks like this.
Time to scrape down the sides of the bowl, add another 1/4 cup of olive oil and pulse the pesto until the color of the basil mixture lightens ever so slightly.
That's it. You want a nicely chopped (but not pureed or soupy) mixture which is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon but is still a sauce, not thick like a dip. Scrape the pesto out of the food processor, put it in a bowl and top with an additional drizzle of olive oil over the top. This keeps the pesto from oxidizing and it stays nice and green.
Now what do you do with this bit of green 'gold'. Well, of course it can top pasta along with a handful of grated parmesan. Try it drizzled on top of a warm grilled steak, as a spread in a roast pork and fontina panini, mixed with a bit of yogurt and mayo for a wonderful take on potato salad or as a dip for cold poached chicken, or enjoy it spooned on top of late summer tomatoes for the perfect wistful reminder of a passing season.

Supercrafty to the Rescue

2009-09-23T11:53:00.000-07:00

Are there any supercrafty parents out there to help students make some easy and funky aprons for our Kids Cooking program? It would be great if we could do it for the little people (K-3) since a regular apron is just humongous.

People with scissors, fabric and ideas are invited to chime in!

Upcoming Arts Committee Meeting

2009-09-19T08:51:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!

We are thrilled to have so much interest in the arts at OCS! We'd love to tell you about what we're up to and give you the opportunity to tell us how you'd like to participate-it can be one time or for one event or you can join a sub-committee for some of our on-going projects or you can tell us about a new idea you might have for ways to support and/or enrich the arts for our kids/community.

Our next meeting is: This coming Wednesday, Sep't 23rd after drop-off at OCS in the community hall-around 8:30am. If you can't make that meeting but want information, please email me with any specific questions/interests...and we'll send out minutes from the meeting as well. You don't have to come to a lot of meetings to participate-let's just figure out what you'd like to do and we'll set it up.

We so look forward to seeing those of you who can make it.

Paula Solano (Arts Committee Coordinator)

Cooking Kids

2009-09-14T11:39:00.000-07:00

For interested 'top chefs' out there, a new afterschool cooking and gardening program will be offered at OCS beginning in October. Sessions will take place in one month blocks and are comprised of a series of 4 afterschool lessons (3 cooking/1 gardening) to different groups of students. The first session for the month of October will be open to 7th/8th graders. They will cook three different types of cuisines -- Latin, Asian and African/American and will start building a container herb garden in the patio area behind the community hall. The cuisines are reflective of our school community and the herb garden will link directly to those cuisines and (hopefully) strengthen student’s understanding of the link between garden and kitchen, nature and nutrition.

In November, the program will be offered to 1st/2nd graders and then 3rd/4th graders will try it out in February. Come March our 5th/6th graders will be hard at work and our kindergarten students will be planting, chopping and cooking in May.

Space is limited and there is a fee. For children K-3 the program will be $60 per child and for children in 4th - 8th grade, the cost will be $75. Sign up sheets will be available in the front office as well as downloadable online in the parent tab of the OCS website.

It should be a tasty, interesting and fun program.

Fast and Simple Garden Supper

2009-09-11T15:48:00.002-07:00

Here is an easy weeknight step-by-step. First I picked a ripe yellow squash from the garden.

The I sliced it and sauteed it in a bit of olive oil.
Then I plucked an handful of costuluto tomatoes from the vine.
And I chopped them up along with a a bit of garlic and chili
Heat up a saute pan with a nice glug of olive oil...
A splash of white wine,
The chopped tomatoes and a fragrant handful of basil off the deck...
and dinner is served!
Buon Appetito.

Packing a More Healthful School Lunch Box

2009-09-11T08:42:00.000-07:00

Most of the children at OCS bring their lunches to school. Which means, most parents at OCS face the daily dilemma of what to pack in their child's lunch sack. Children, like adults, get bored with eating the same thing over and over again and sleepy moms and dads have a hard time getting their creative juices going early in the morning. Tara Parker-Pope, a columnist with The New York Times and a mom of young children turned to nutritionist Martha Rose Shulman for some lunch box advice. Here is her report:

"At my house, the biggest challenge of back-to-school time isn’t getting up early or tackling homework. It is the snack bag. I want to pack healthful snacks, but my daughter gets tired of eating fruit and yogurt every day. I recently asked Martha Rose Shulman her suggestions for packing a tasty and more healthful lunchbox. Here are her suggestions:

Savory Cheese muffins: These have the appeal of both a muffin and a grilled cheese sandwich.

Mixed grain and blueberry muffins: Children want something sweet in their lunchboxes, and these muffins give them fruit and grains in one tasty treat.

Chicken and vegetable wrap: Much of the pleasure of eating this wrap comes from the crunchy textures of the lettuce and the shredded vegetables.

Hummus wrap: Hummus might not sound like a child-friendly food, but you may be surprised how quickly they will gobble it up.

Nut butter and jelly packet: A simple way to make a fun version of the classic sandwich.

For more ideas, be sure to check out Martha’s NYT column “Recipes for Health; Kids Edition" where she offers twelve recipes for child-friendly foods."

Update on Making Cheese

2009-09-08T10:28:00.001-07:00

Dear OCS families,

I wanted to share a comment on the cheesemaking post below. Johanna Brandvik shared her source for raw milk. It's from Steve Plog's "Our Little Market" in Pasadena. Mr. Plog sells raw milk, butter and cheese, as well as bison, eggs honey and veggies each Wednesday from 11AM to 1PM at the intersection of Hill/Elizabeth in Pasadena. You must order raw products ahead of time at the following site: www.ourlittlemarket.org

Check out the whole comment from Johanna by going to the original post below and clicking on the comment button.

Important Contacts for Arts, Food and Garden

2009-09-07T15:53:00.000-07:00

Dear Odyssey Families,

Welcome. We are so excited to start our new year. The Beanstalk is expanding its focus to include all our wonderful arts activities, connecting our community through art, music, food and our 'green school' efforts. In the past parents have been generous in donating their expertise to help enrich school life and we expect this year will be no different. As always, your first contact at the school is:

OCS Director Lauren O'Neill at LaurenO@ocsmail.org

Community Outreach Coordinator Carlos Garcia at CarlosG@ocsmail.org

Parents whom you can also reach out to with your ideas, questions and concerns are:

Parent Food Committee Coordinator Susan Ruffins at susan.ruffins@gmail.com

Parent Arts Committee Coordinator Paula Solano at pwsolano@sbcglobal.net

Parent Garden Coordinator Ilse Ackerman at ilse@meenophoto.com

Parent Grant Helper Jayme Filippini at jaymefilippini@sbcglobal.net

Parent Arts Helper Karen Merchant at elpho@sbcglobal.net

Parent Arts Helper Elizabeth Rainey at erainey@sbcglobal.net

Parent Arts Helper Mary Linda Moss at imarylinda@aol.com

OPPG President Cari Dawson at carid@mac.com

Odyssey Parent Representative Jexy Wadle at jexywadle@gmail.com

Odyssey Parent Representative Rhonda Graham at kimikog@msn.com

Beanstalk webmistress Elizabeth Burrill at liz@momohead.com

Please let us know how you would like to be involved. Our past activities range from creating an "arts in the classroom" template for arts instruction to nutrition programs with portable cooking carts to planting a citrus garden and vegetable beds, establishing composting bins, creating our website and supporting the children's arts efforts in the Charity Marketplace annual fundraiser. There is much more we can do but as always, we need helping hands! Come join us.

Something to do while you are sitting at home watching the ashes fall

2009-09-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

OK, everyone will agree it's no fun out there right now. Plus, kids are getting bored being inside and anxious about when school will (if) start.

So, what to do? Well I always find that making cheese clears the head and concentrates the mind. Check out this wonderful new book, The Home Creamery. It's pretty awesome and is simple and clear. There are no photos but that isn't a big deal. I got the tip on this book from a great craft website called Angry Chicken www.angrychicken.typepad.com. There are recipes for creme fraiche (which is dead easy), yogurt (also easy), sour cream, butter, buttermilk, yogurt cheese, and paneer, all foolproof and in one handy tome. Also, the trouble-shooting guide is helpful, detailed, and offers alternate methods. Try making your own mozzarella and ricotta. It's not hard, but you do have to start with great milk. I like Strauss Family milk available at Whole Foods, which comes in totally cool, reusable glass containers. They even sell raw milk in small quantities. Can anyone out there recommend great pasteurized or raw milk purveyors?

Great quote from Brillat-Savarin about cheese. "Cheese is milk's leap toward immortality" Make some today!

The beanstalk is growing!

2009-08-24T10:35:00.000-07:00

Since we launched the beanstalk in early 2009 our focus has been to chronicle the food and garden activities at OCS and give students and parents information about interesting progressive food/garden efforts around the globe. We've posted some pretty tasty recipes too as well as lots of great pics of our students and community. Now we are expanding our blog to include all the arts at Odyssey and hope to turn our blog into an interactive meeting place and central hub of arts ideas, information and fun activities.

With our broader focus, we welcome members of our school community (teachers, students, and parents) to participate and share their artistic talents with the group. Send a note, post a photo, share a thought or alert us to upcoming events. Our goal is to create a blog that really connects with our community in the garden, the art room, the classroom, or in the kitchen.

The change should happen the first week of September, so stay tuned.

Farmers Markets We Love

2009-08-17T20:09:00.000-07:00

Some pics of two great farmers markets; the local pasadena farmers market with its wonderful community vibe and the world class San Francisco farmers market in the restored Ferry Plaza building. Visiting your local market can be a great family tradition at the start of each weekend. Plus you'll bring home plenty of goodies to keep everyone happily munching through the week.

LA Times "A New Crop of School Gardens

2009-07-30T11:49:00.000-07:00

Check out this recent article from the LA Times regarding the a groundswell of interest among parents and communities to create school gardens as creative ways to enrich school life. Too bad the state of California continues to cut funding for nutrition, ecology, garden and innovative lunch programs in schools.

The article can be found at www.latimes.com/features/food/

Totally weird news but in a wonderful sort of way

2009-07-23T12:00:00.000-07:00

This tidbit appeared in the Guardian UK this week and it's odd, timely and not a bit silly. Enjoy.

"US Woman Bakes her Way out of Mortgage Crisis"

A New Jersey woman has cooked up a sweet solution to a bitter financial jam: a bake sale.
Angela Logan has sold enough frosted "mortgage apple cakes" to meet a $2,600 (£1,600) loan payment on her house and avoid foreclosure.

Following a slew of television appearances and news stories on her plight, the divorced mother of three is overwhelmed with orders from as far away as Hong Kong and a US military base in Iraq, she has told media.

An actress and comedian, Logan ran into financial trouble after a building contractor cheated her and her agent went out of business without paying her thousands she was owed. Facing bank foreclosure on her house, she initially offered the $40 cakes to friends, family and neighbours. By yesterday she had received more than 500 orders and has said she will keep baking until the orders cease.

The icing on the cake: A local hotel offered to allow Logan the use of its kitchen after health officials warned her cannot use her home for commercial food preparation. She has a website, maccakes.com, and a slogan: "Fighting foreclosure one cake at a time."

Logan, whose acting credits include "wife" in the 1992 Eddie Murphy vehicle Boomerang and a part on the Law and Order: Special Victims Unit detective programme, may have a new career.
"I'm going to cross that bridge when I come to it," she told The Record newspaper of northern New Jersey. "Right now I'm just trying to pay this mortgage."

Lend a Helping Hand

2009-07-10T13:29:00.000-07:00

The success of OCS’s end-of-year Charity Marketplace highlights a truth: one person, no matter how small, can make a difference in the world. This year’s marketplace raised over $4,750 to help local charities including the Pasadena Humane Society, Danny’s Farm, Habitat for Humanity, and Union Station. Our childrens’ efforts brought us an exceptionally enthusiastic and fun-filled day and, by any measure, brought pride to the community we all live in.

But our helping hands, and those of our children, can extend far beyond the school’s borders. Consider this: In the developing world, investing in agriculture is twice as effective in reducing poverty as other forms of investment. Right now 963 million people worldwide face hunger every day, and many of those hungry live in countries where agriculture is the predominant employer. It is also far more likely for poor children to be underfed than adults since their caloric needs for healthy growth are often underestimated.

At the recent G8 meeting in Italy, the U.S. has affirmed its commitment to increase agricultural investment, especially in Africa, as an anti-poverty measure. This is great news for poor farmers and their families, who too often have relied on food sent from the United States and other western countries to help address their hunger. Instead, they’ll now receive tools, seed, fertilizer, money for infrastructure and irrigation, technology and training to improve their own farms and feed themselves.

In our small way, one by one, we can help. To find out more about what you and your family can do, check out ONE at www.one.org/us/actnow

Guacamole Fiesta

2009-06-04T13:47:00.000-07:00

Below are some photos from last week's guacamole fiesta. Thank you Mr. Cullen and HOM parent Liz Burrill and Ms. Jessica and HOM parent Maggie Haase. Enjoy.

What's growing in the Garden?

2009-05-26T15:51:00.000-07:00

Spring into Summer

2009-05-20T10:15:00.000-07:00

As I watched kids piling into school the other day wearing shorts, sneakers and t-shirts, I had to grudgingly admit that it is beginning to look like summer. A Saturday stop at the Pasadena Farmer’s Market made that even clearer. No, it wasn’t the shoppers in flip flops who convinced me. It was the displays of artichokes, strawberries and cherries showing off their summer color. The smell and intense color of rainier cherries sends out an almost hypnotic call which local shoppers can’t resist. The season for them is short, a mere five weeks, so now is the time to get cherry wild. There were also collections of early dug potatoes, some no larger than a walnut, with colors from white to red to brown to purple ready to be boiled in salt water and drizzled with butter. One farmer had displays of colorful radishes, even elongated pink and white French breakfast radishes, right next to multihued beets all sharing space with big, sugary sweet onions with gigantic green tops banded together. Farmer’s markets can inspire your inner chef and looking at those onions, my inner chef was whispering ‘onion rings’. There were crates of small blushy apricots and a farm helper was cutting up a few and handing out samples. His stand was a few feet away from another farmer selling vegetable and herb starts; small fingers of rosemary to plant, tomato seedlings of all kinds and big buckets of mint for $3 which, once planted, are sure to keep you in tabouleh all summer long.

Toward the market entrance was a flat bed truck piled high with avocados for sale. Almost all were the black pebbly Haas variety with a bag of four selling for $1.50. That’s pretty cheap, especially by farmer market standards. Avocados start to mature in spring and by now the trees are loaded with ripe fruit which must be picked and eaten. How lucky we are.

While we add avocados to salads for dinner, mash and spoon them on top of whole wheat toast for breakfast or into veggie sandwiches, nothing compares with our deep desire to turn them into guacamole. At my house, the spicy, smooth, limey flavor of guacamole keeps everyone reaching for another tortilla chip until the bowl is scraped clean. I expect that we’re not unusual. People have been making guacamole since Aztec times, only the original Aztec recipe was a stripped down combination of avocados, tomato and salt. In fact, the word ‘guacamole’ is compound word of Aztec origin. In native Nahuatl, the word “ahuacatl” means avocado and “molli” means sauce.

There are as many recipes for guacamole as there are passionate guacamole eaters, which is to say, a lot. As a general rule of thumb, avocados should be the main ingredient. From there, anything goes. Add jalapenos, hot sauce, onions, garlic, tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice, whatever else you like, and you have a great dip to share or to hoard entirely to yourself.

It’s not a hard dish to make. To prove it our Kindergarten through 8th graders will be whipping up batches of guacamole all next week. Contact your child’s teacher and find out when the festivities will begin and plan a ‘surprise’ visit. You’ll be delighted at what you see and what you taste.

Telling Time with Flowers and Bees

2009-05-12T11:17:00.000-07:00

Below is a reprint excerpted from a new book called "The Rhythms of Life" which explores the science of chronobiology (i.e. the biology of time). In it the authors, Leon Kreitzman and Russell Foster, detail the timekeeping abilities of flowers and bees. There are some great gardening/teaching ideas here for children.

"Gardeners know that plants open and close their flowers at set times during the day. For example, the flowers of catmint open between 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m.; orange hawkweed follows between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m.; field marigolds open at 9:00 a.m.

In “Philosophia Botanica” (1751), the great taxonomist Carl Linnaeus proposed that it should be possible to plant a floral clock. He noted that two species of daisy, the hawk’s-beard and the hawkbit, opened and closed at their respective times within about a half-hour each day. He suggested planting these daisies along with St. John’s Wort, marigolds, water-lilies and other species in a circle. The rhythmic opening and closing of the plants would be the effective hands of this clock.Plants have carefully timed routines determined by internally generated rhythms. In 1729, Jean-Jacques d’Ortous de Mairan, a French astronomer, put a Mimosa plant in a cupboard to see what happened when it was kept in the dark. He peeked in at various times, and although the plant was permanently in the dark its leaves still opened and closed rhythmically – it was as though it had its own representation of day and night. The plant’s leaves still drooped during its subjective night and stiffened up during its subjective day. Furthermore, all the leaves moved at the same time. It took another 230 years or so to come up with the term circadian – about a day – to describe these rhythms.

In a similar vein, tobacco plants, stocks and evening primroses release their scent as the sun starts to go down at dusk. These plants attract pollinating moths and night-flying insects. The plants tend to be white or pale. Color vision is difficult under low light, and white best reflects the mainly bluish tinge of evening light.

But plants cannot release their scent in a timely manner simply in response to an environmental cue, like the lowering of the light levels. They need time to produce the oils. To coincide with the appearance of the nocturnal insects, the plant has to anticipate the sunset and produce the scent on a circadian schedule.

Flowers of a given species all produce nectar at about the same time each day, as this increases the chances of cross-pollination. The trick works because pollinators, which in most cases means the honeybee, concentrate foraging on a particular species into a narrow time-window. In effect the honeybee has a daily diary that can include as many as nine appointments — say, 10:00 a.m., lilac; 11:30 a.m., peonies; and so on. The bees’ time-keeping is accurate to about 20 minutes.

The bee can do this because, like the plants and just about every living creature, it has a circadian clock that is reset daily to run in time with the solar cycle. The bee can effectively consult this clock and “check” off the given time and associate this with a particular event.
Honeybees really are nature’s little treasures. They are a centimeter or so long, their brains are tiny, and a small set of simple rules can explain the sophisticated social behavior that produces the coordinated activity of a hive. They live by sets of instructions that are familiar to computer programmers as subroutines – do this until the stop code, then into the next subroutine, and so on.

These humble little bees have an innate ability to work out the location of a food source from its position in relation to the sun. They do this even on cloudy days by reading the pattern of the polarization of the light, and pass this information to other bees. In the dark of the hive, they transpose the location of a food source in the horizontal plane through the famous “waggle” dance into communication in the vertical plane of the hive.

Honeybees can tell their sisters how far away the food is up to a distance of about 15 kilometers. For good measure, they can also allow for the fact that the sun moves relative to the hive by about 15 degrees an hour and correct for this when they pass on the information. In other words, they have their own built-in global positioning system and a language that enables them to refer to objects and events that are distant in space or time.

German scientists in the early part of the last century called this ability of bees to learn the time of day when flowers start secreting nectar and visit the flowers at appropriate times Zeitgedächtnis, or time-sense. But the species of flowers in bloom, say, this week, is likely to be replaced by a different species at a different location next week or the week after. The bee needs a flexible, dynamic appointments system that it continually updates, and it has evolved an impressive ability to learn colors, odors, shapes and routes, within a time frame, quickly and accurately.

While the initial dance by a returning scout bee informs her sisters of the location and distance of food plants and the quality of their nectar, bees that visit the food source learn to synchronize their behavior with daily floral rhythms, foraging only when nectar and pollen are at their highest levels. At other times, they remain in the hive, conserving energy that otherwise would be exhausted on non-productive foraging flights.

Although most animals, including humans, cannot sustain long-lasting periods of activity without circadian rhythms, honeybees have developed a marked flexibility in their circadian rhythm that depends on the job they are doing. Whereas a particular circadian determined behavior is usually fixed to a certain phase of the cycle, in honeybees the circadian rhythm is dependent on the job the bee is doing.

Adult worker bees perform a number of tasks in the hive when they are young, like caring for eggs and larvae, and then shift to foraging for nectar and pollen as they age. However, if the hive has a shortage of foragers, some of the young nurse bees will switch jobs and become foragers. The job transition, whether triggered by age or social cues, involves changes in genes in the honeybee brain; some genes turn on, while others turn off.

Countdown to Cinco de Mayo!

2009-04-30T12:43:00.000-07:00

Next Tuesday Angelenos will celebrate the Mexican holiday of Cinco de Mayo. Translated from the Spanish as the “fifth of May”, this holiday originally commemorated the Mexican army’s surprise 1862 victory over the French army. Nowadays, we enjoy Cinco de Mayo in Los Angeles as a time to celebrate Mexican culture and heritage. There are happenings all over, but nowhere feels as festive as Olvera Street, the birthplace of the city of Los Angeles. Stroll and shop along the plaza and don’t forget to get a freshly made churro from the little cart facing the main plaza. Even if you can’t get down to Olvera street, Cinco de Mayo still provides a great excuse to explore our Mexican-inflected city, listen to a little mariachi and eat wonderful food.

Let’s face it. L.A. would not be L.A. without Mexican cuisine, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner. Imagine our city with no pan dulce, no crusty bollilos, no tamales, no moles, no chiles, no salsas, no frijoles refritos, no guacamole, no burritos, quesadillas, enchiladas or tacos. Imagine no warm corn tortillas. A eeeh!!! It’s frightening to think about.

Calm down and instead, let’s imagine a fiesta! Our students already make a mean guacamole and parents should let them show off their finest recipe for the whole family. You don’t have to spend all day in the kitchen either. Match some homemade guacamole with fresh tortilla chips, add a roasted Anaheim pepper and shredded cheese quesadilla and a spoonful of black or pinto beans and you have a meal that everyone, Mexican-american or not, will devour with gusto. For the more adventurous cooks out there, below are two interesting recipes – one very Cal-Mex and another very “Baja”-- which appeared recently in our local papers. Salud!

Eggplant, Zucchini, Pepper Enchiladas

Note: Dried ancho chiles are available at Latino markets and in the Latino food sections of grocery stores.

Ancho sauce
4 dried ancho chiles
3 large cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
3/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Remove the stems and seeds from the chiles and place the peppers in a glass bowl. Pour boiling water over to cover by 3 inches and let them soak until very soft, about 30 minutes. Drain the peppers and place them in a blender with the garlic and oregano. Strain the soaking water and add 1 1/2 cups to the blender. Puree until smooth. Strain the mixture through a sieve into a clean, shallow pie plate; season with salt and set aside.

Enchiladas and assembly
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium red pepper, cored, seeded and cut into 1/2 -inch dice
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt, divided
1 medium white eggplant, peeled and cut into 1/2 -inch dice
2 long, slender zucchini, trimmed and cut into 1/2 -inch dice
2 teaspoons dried oregano, preferably Mexican
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Corn oil – enough to reach 1” depth in a 9” nonstick skillet
3 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas

Chopped lettuce and radishes
Crema or sour cream (optional)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Oil a 13-by-9-inch baking dish. Coat the bottom with about 2 tablespoons sauce. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, onion and pepper. Stir in about one-half teaspoon coarse sea salt. Cook, stirring often, until soft, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the eggplant and zucchini and the remaining one-half-teaspoon salt. Cook until soft, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Stir in the oregano and cumin and remove from the heat.Heat about 1” oil in a 9-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low. With tongs, sweep 1 tortilla through the hot oil just long enough to coat and soften (about 10 seconds). Lift it out with tongs and drain off excess oil. Dredge it through the chile sauce to coat, then lay it into the prepared pan so that half the tortilla extends up the side.

Spoon about 2 tablespoons vegetable mixture down the center, then top with about 2 tablespoons cheese. Roll up to enclose the filling and turn the seam side down. Repeat this process with the remaining tortillas and filling. Spoon any remaining sauce evenly over the assembled enchiladas. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.

Bake until the tortillas are soft and the cheese is melted, 20 to 25 minutes; do not over-bake. Serve hot, garnished with chopped lettuce and radishes and a drizzle of crema, if desired.

Tuna Tostadas with Chipolte Mayonnaise

Chipotle mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 large egg
1/4 rounded teaspoon salt
1/2 cup light olive oil
1 chipotle chile

Put lemon juice, egg and salt in a blender. Slowly start blending the ingredients, adding oil little by little, until the mayonnaise is thick and you have added all the oil. Add the chipotle chile and blend in. Makes three-fourths cup. You will have some left after making the tostadas.

Tostadas

1 1/2 cups oil (for deep frying)
8 (3-inch-diameter) corn tortillas
2 leeks (about 1 cup sliced)
2 teaspoons olive oil
Salt
10 ounces sashimi-quality tuna, sliced one-fourth inch thick then cut in half, if necessary
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 Hass avocado, peeled, pitted and cut into eighths
1/4 cup chipotle mayonnaise

Heat the oil in a deep skillet to 350 degrees. Fry each tortilla until crisp, about 2 minutes. Drain between paper towels. Set aside.

Slice the leeks (white part only) into one-fourth-inch-wide julienne. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over very low heat. Add the leeks, sprinkle with a little salt and cook until soft but not browned, about 5 to 7 minutes.

Marinate the tuna slices in the soy sauce and lemon juice for 2 minutes. Drain.

Spread 1 1/2 teaspoons chipotle mayonnaise on each tostada. Divide the tuna among the tostadas. Top the tuna with the leeks and add a slice of avocado to each tostada.

Earth Day at Odyssey!

2009-04-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

On April 22nd Odyssey will celebrate Earth Day. Teachers Aaron Bergman and Jessica Bilandzija are spearheading all the day's activities and encourage parents and family members to come and lend a hand. Volunteers are wanted and welcome! Take a look at what will be going on:

Urban Garden
Even a concrete urban jungle can produce fruits and vegetables. Come and see how, and even help to make an urban garden here at Odyssey! Come ready to get down and dirty.Meet directly in front of Room 2.

Compost Demonstration
Composting saves landfill space and the products have great uses in gardening, and it’s more than just making a big pile of food scraps! Come and see how composting is done at Odyssey and how you can do the same at home.Meet in front of Room 2, near the compost bins.

Tree Planting
Outside sources are donating trees to Odyssey, but it’s up to us to make sure they take root in good soil! Show the ultimate in tree friendliness and come help plant a tree to make Odyssey a richer place for us all. Come prepared to get down and dirty.Meet on the west end of the north field, near the swings.

Story of Stuff
4-8th grades www.storyofstuff.com We buy things all the time, but where do they come from and were do they go? The Story of Stuff is a 20 minute video that talks about the ecological, social, and political implications of living in a consumer world. Discussion to follow. It’s probably a bit too much for the wee ones.Meet in Room 2.

Compostable Pots
(Every student must bring a cleaned milk carton, the kind that comes with cafeteria lunches. They must all also have the tops cut off.) Come learn how to make a pot for plants that can be put directly into the ground. Learn about eco-friendliness as well as reusing materials in a creative way.Meet on the middle school patio in front of the music room.

Trash Sorting Relay
The winners will have to be quick on their feet and also understand the difference between what is reusable, what is recyclable, and what is junk.Meet on the west end of the north field, near the swings.

7th and 8th Grade Earth Day Science Fair
Every student in the 7th and 8th grades investigated, performed, analyzed, and reported an experiment of their choosing. Most of their experiments have nothing to do with Earth Day BUT they are excited to share with audiences how to go about investigating questions experimentally. Meet in Room 3, Mrs. Khalsa’s room.

Decorate Brown Paper Grocery Bags www.earthdaybags.org
Raise awareness and spread the word about Earth Day! The Earth Day Groceries Project has grown over the past 15 years to 1200 participating schools, and Odyssey will be one of them. Students decorate a grocery store’s brown paper bags and return them for distribution during Earth Day. It’s a simple, profound, and personal way to spread awareness about Earth Day. Meet in the Art Room.

Computer Lab Games
The EPA and the State of California have many age appropriate websites for young earth day celebrators. Learn about Earth Day related topics through games and webquests.Meet in the Computer Lab.

Earth Hour This Saturday

2009-03-27T09:10:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, March 28, 2009, at 8:30 pm begins Earth Hour-a global event in which millions of people will turn out their lights to make a statement of concern about our planet and climate change.

Sponsored by World Wildlife Fund, Earth Hour got started just two years ago and is now the largest event of its kind in the world. Last year, more than 50 million participated and the lights went out at the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Sydney Opera House and the Coliseum in Rome, just to name a few. Even Google's homepage went black for the day! In Israel, President Shimon Peres personally turned off lights in Tel Aviv. This year, Earth Hour will be even bigger-already 2900 cities in 83 countries have agreed to take part including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York City, San Francisco and Washington DC, with more signing up every day. Around the world cities like Moscow, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Shanghai and Mexico City will turn out their lights. But Earth Hour isn't just for big cities-anyone can participate. To get a better sense of the event, check out this video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjWD8pbK5t8.

Participating in Earth Hour is easy, fun and free. To sign up, visit http://www.earthhourUS.org where you'll learn more including ways you can spread the word about Earth Hour, plus creative things to do when the lights go out in case you need inspiration! We want the US to turn out more lights than any other country in the world during this historic event so please pass this note along to anyone you think might want to take part. Let's all turn out and take action on March 28 at 8:30 pm.

Harvest of the Month Handiwork

2009-03-25T19:17:00.000-07:00

Lloyd (7th grade) looking very pleased with his work. Find the recipe for Mexican Pickles in the previous post.

Springtime Eats

2009-03-25T05:54:00.000-07:00

Suddenly it’s spring. Yes, we still have cool nights and overcast mornings, but the warm late afternoon sun reminds us that hot weather is right around the corner. Trees are beginning to leaf out and spring flowers like calla lily and astromeria are in bloom in gardens all over Pasadena. There is a lot of activity in the vegetable patch too. All the early greens vegetables are ready to harvest. At the farmer’s markets you’ll find piles of green garlic, chives and spring onions as well as the season’s first snap peas, sugar peas and pea shoots. My favorite is the tender fava beans sold by the bunch. Just open the thick pods and much on the beans inside. A classic Italian snack pairs fresh fava beans with chunks of young pecorino cheese. The two taste delicious together.

The beauty of spring vegetables is in their diminutive size. Baby broccoli, tiny white cauliflower, small spring lettuces and tiny baby beets are harvested and take just minutes to prepare. Knobby celery root is ready to be transformed into soup or salads. Multihued breakfast radishes are in season as well as gigantic white daikon radishes whose mellow taste can approximate a potato when cooked.

This month farmers also pull lots of fresh carrots out of the ground. And contrary to what you see in the supermarket, the colors of farmers market carrots range from white to almost red-orange. Most spring carrots are long and slender with white tipped roots and luxurious green heads. But you also have Thumbelina carrots which are completely round.

It’s pretty easy to get kids hooked on carrots. They are sweet, portable and crunchy. Thanks to the marketing genius of “baby carrots”, many Odyssey students pack carrots for a lunchtime snack every day. That’s a good choice. Carrots are rich in beta-carotene, Vitamin C and are a great source of fiber and potassium. They also deliver vitamin B folate to your body as well as trace minerals like manganese, calcium and magnesium.

We are giving carrots their due this month in our Harvest of the Month program. Our recipe looks south of the border for inspiration. We’ll be turning sweet carrots into something else entirely -- pickles. Mixed with cauliflower, jalapenos, cucumbers and fresh oregano, pickling carrots dresses them up in an entirely new outfit. Spicy, sweet and hot. What more could you want?

Mexican Pickled Carrots

1 lb. carrots, peeled and cut in 1/4" slices on the diagonal
1 head cauliflower, trimmed and separated into small florets
1 pound pickling cucumbers, unpeeled, washed and cut into 1/4" on the diagonal
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 head garlic, cloves peeled and cut in half
3/4 cup chopped oregano leaves
1 quart white vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup kosher salt
2 Tablespoons cracked peppercorns
3 red jalapeno peppers
3 green jalapeno peppers

Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to boil and blanch the carrots for three minutes. Remove from the boiling water with a slotted spoon to a colander and refresh under cold running water. Drain and reserve. Then blanch the cauliflower, for six minutes, drain and refresh. Put carrots, cauliflower and cucumbers in a large glass container, or three quart sized containers. Add the chopped oregano and mix.

Combine the vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the jalapeno's garlic and onion and return to a boil. Cook a minute longer and pour over the vegetables. Set aside to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate covered -- Will last for one month

Eat Your Words

2009-03-12T11:32:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note that March 6th’s Family Book Club night was a huge success. To get the creative juices flowing, families stopped in the community hall first for a dinner of soup and salad provided by Food and Garden parents. Then it was off to class for a lively review of two books – Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Bud, not Buddy. The K-3 crowd held their discussion in tents complete with flashlights.

Thanks to organizers Mia Picerno and Marianne Seiss, along with OCS staff Rachelle Martinez, Carlos Garcia and Director, Lauren O’Neill. Special thanks to our wonderful kitchen parents Karen Merchant, Valerie Barth, Elizabeth Rainey, Gloria Ross and Stephanie Jenniches.

If the event inspired you to start your own family book club, just remember that “good food ends with good talk”.

Book Club Bean Soup

1 lb. dried white beans, soaked overnight in cold water
1 tbs. olive oil
1/3 pound bacon, diced
1 onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, trimmed and finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2 tbs. fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 bunch parsley, chopped
12 cups chicken broth or water
1 15oz. can, diced tomatoes
2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. dried chipotle powder
1-2 bunches fresh kale, cleaned, stemmed and sliced into ribbons
Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat a large 8 quart pot with the olive oil. Add diced bacon and sauté until crisp. Remove bacon and set aside, leaving fat in pot. Add the chopped onion, carrot, celery and garlic to the same pot and sauté until the vegetables are softened and slightly brown. Add rosemary and sauté.
Drain the beans and add them to the pot along with the chopped parsley, chicken stock (or water), diced tomatoes, paprika, and chipotle powder. Add the kale and bring the soup to a simmer. Partially cover the pot and slowly simmer for about 2-3 hours, until the beans are soft and fully cooked. Cooking time varies widely based on the age of the beans. Add more water if the soup looks too thick. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

Feeds six quite well, especially when a salad and baguette are served alongside.

Children and Nature Awareness Month

2009-03-06T10:46:00.000-08:00

From Teacher Denise Martinez:

Dear OCS Families. I have read Last Child in the Woods and used some of the research in my thesis. I know some of our parents are active and access the beautiful trails we have available to us, but probably many do not. Wouldn’t it be great to have an Odyssey family hike once a month? We could pack in a picnic (or BBQ at the campsite) and get those who may need a little encouragement to come outside and enjoy nature with their children and others.

I’m reprinting below an article that may get families out: hiking, walking, enjoying!!!

Get Children and Families Outside!
The Children & Nature Network designates
April as Children & Nature Awareness Month

SANTA FE, NM – February, 2009 – April is the second annual Children & Nature Awareness Month, a call to action announced by the Children & Nature Network (C&NN) and Chairman Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder.

This year, C&NN has two goals: First, to encourage parents to form their own Nature Clubs for Families. And, second, to persuade grandparents and others to do their part to reconnect children and nature. Nature Clubs for Families are local groups with a common interest in connecting children with nature. Each Nature Club is unique, with activities that vary depending on location and participants. The gatherings may include meeting regularly at a park—playing, building friendships, and singing with preschoolers and their parents—or home-schooling families, who go on lengthy walks for focused nature study. Elsewhere, families might enjoy a trail hike that combines kid-driven play with spontaneous nature observation. All share basic goals: Going outside in nature on a frequent basis; gathering children, friends and community members to share outdoor adventures; and experiencing the benefits of time spent together outside.

C&NN has developed a how-to guide: Nature Clubs for Families Tool Kit downloadable at http://www.childrenandnature.org/natureclubs/. TheToolKit includes a Quick Start Guide with simple instructions on how to start a local Nature Club for families, and is filled with field-tested ideas, resources, templates and checklists. Included are first-hand stories and suggestions from Family Nature Club leaders who are already enjoying success.

Today, children are far less likely to spend time playing outside, and a growing body of research says children are paying a high price for that lack. Obesity, inattentiveness, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), diminished creativity and depression are just a few of the problems linked to what Richard Louv has called nature-deficit disorder. “Getting kids outdoors more, riding bikes, running, swimming—and, especially, experiencing nature directly—could serve as an antidote to much of what ails the young,” according to Louv.

Throughout the month of April, C&NN will promote the growing network of individuals, organizations and agencies across the country who are rallying parents, educators, youth leaders, and policy makers to work together to make sure all children have the opportunity to experience frequent, regular play and exploration in natural outdoor environments. The Children & Nature Network now has over 7,000 members, regional leaders and partners across the country and aims to turn this nature deficit around.

Visit the C&NN Web site at www.childrenandnature.org to explore the growing list of events and activities, including county, regional and statewide children and nature proclamations, family hikes and “play days.” Post your own events. You also can visit the Web site to find potential speakers for events you may be sponsoring.

Topics in the News

2009-03-03T16:43:00.000-08:00

Please check out some recent articles posted by the New York Times on topics as various school lunch reform, the importance of children getting time to actually eat lunch and trends in urban composting. Just click below for some “food for thought”

Slowing Down School Lunch

Urban Composting: A New Can of Worms

No Lunch Left Behind

Student Chef Spotlight: Simone Dunye (5th Grader)

2009-03-02T08:58:00.001-08:00

Simone is a typical active eleven year old girl -- creative, chatty and loves to spend time in the kitchen. Today we talk to her about baking, one of her favorite rainy day activities.

Simone, why do you like to cook?
I like to cook because it's fun. I first started cooking when I was around seven years old. I used to help my mom make pancakes. I guess I prefer baking to cooking. It is more interesting. I don't bake that often but I would like to do more. My favorite things to bake are pies: pot pie, pumpkin pie, apple pie, things like that.

I think everyone should learn to cook and bake. It is fun and easy and after a while, if you know the ingredients really well, you can cook without having to use recipes. You will know it by heart and if you know it by heart, then you can do it all the time.

What are you going to make today?

I am going to make pumpkin pie. This is the second time I've made it but I'm not nervous because it is easy and I'm not scared. The directions to make pumpkin pie are simple.

Are there any tricks to making this that we should know about?

Not really. You just have to measure the ingredients really carefully.

How old should a kid be before they try to cook this?
A kid should be about nine years old before trying to cook this. You do have to know about measurements and a little kid might mess up and add too much salt or sugar.

One last really important question. When is the pie ready to eat?
You can't eat pumpkin pie right away. You should let it cool and then eat it.

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Simone's Pumpkin Pie
(Makes one 9" pie)

1 unbaked 9" deep dish pie crust
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 large eggs
1 15 oz. can of pumpkin puree
1 can evaporated milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in a small bowl. In a separate large bowl, beat the eggs. Add the sugar/spice mixture and the pumpkin puree. Beat until well mixed. Gradually stir in the evaporated milk. Pour the mixture into the pie shell. Bake for 15 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees. Bake until set, about 40-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Set out a rack to cool completely (about 2 hours). Serve immediately or refrigerate until chilled.

What to Eat in February

2009-02-20T15:36:00.000-08:00

Right now the farmers’ markets are loaded with good things to eat. There are piles of citrus, especially local kumquats, pommelos, and meyer lemons bursting with juice. You'll find ripe, buttery avocados just begging to be made into guacamole. There are boxes of plump medjool and deglet noor dates from Coachella Valley orchardists. They taste like candy and are a key ingredient in the famous California ‘date shake’. Local vegetable farmers haul in harvests of dark leafy greens and root vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, fennel, carrots, beets of all colors and stripes plus kale, collard, mustard and turnip greens which shoppers turn into salads, pasta sauces and vegetarian stews.

Especially appealing are the displays of cabbages; tight round heads stacked into pyramids, boxes of pale elongated napa cabbages, flowering savoy cabbages grown from heirloom Italian seeds and Chinese leafy cabbages like bok choy, pak choy and choy sum. Winter in California is a perfect time to grow cabbage. The plants love cool winter weather.

Our Harvest of the Month session this month highlights the noble cabbage. Highly adaptable, cabbages can be added to soups and stews, eaten raw in salads and even fermented (in the case of sauerkraut). They contain loads of Vitamin K and Vitamin C, lots of dietary fiber with nearly zero calories. For Angelenos, cabbage is almost the perfect ingredient.

They are great in winter salads. You don’t have to fuss with delicate lettuces or baby vegetables now. Using cabbage as a base, you can put together a bold, crunchy and definitive dish that includes shredded fennel, nuts, citrus-based dressing and bitter greens. Even if you decide to make a traditional coleslaw, don’t be afraid to play around a bit. Add red cabbage, toss some roasted sunflower seeds on top, sprinkle a few chopped scallions and enjoy.

Our students will try their hand at basic coleslaw, following the recipe you see below. But at home, feel free to add whatever strikes your child’s fancy. It will be delicious.

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Odyssey Charter School Coleslaw
(Makes 10 servings)

1-2 carrots, peeled and grated
2 heads cabbage, shredded
1 apple, grated
1 green onion, finely chopped

Mix grated carrots and apples, toss in shredded cabbage and chopped onions. Add 2 cups mixed dressing (recipe follows) and allow to marinate for 5 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

Coleslaw Dressing
1 cup mayonnaise
½ cup vinegar ½ - 1 tsp. each salt and pepper (to taste)
1 tsp. sugar
1/4-1/3 cup milk

Mix all ingredients together to yield two cups of dressing. The dressing should have a pourable consistency, like heavy cream.

Sweets and Hearts

2009-02-18T09:54:00.000-08:00

A soggy Valentine's Day couldn't dampen the enthusiasm of OCS children who sold beautiful cookies for families and special loved ones. Thanks to parents Marilyn Robinson, our resident master baker, and Karen Merchant for all their help. Also thanks to the middle school students who helped decorate and organize the sale. The money raised will be used to support more food and garden activities.

Gong Hai Fat Choi!!

2009-01-26T12:04:00.000-08:00

January 26th ushers in the Chinese Year of the Ox. Unlike our solar calendar, the Chinese calendar is a lunar one. A complete lunar cycle takes sixty years with five cycles of twelve years each. The ox is one of the twelve zodiac signs in Chinese cosmology, each believed to endow particular qualities to children born in that year. People born under the sign of the ox, like some of our sixth graders born in 1997, are known to be patient and calm (most of the time...) and make wonderful friends. During New Year, the Chinese community in Los Angeles celebrates with gusto. There are fireworks, parades, dragon dances and lots of wonderful things to see and eat. The famous Golden Dragon Parade takes place downtown along North Broadway with a spectacular procession of painted dragons moving to the sound of pounding drumbeats and attracting a huge crowd.

Many activities surrounding Chinese New Year are symbolic. The general idea is "out with the old and in with the new!". Some families open all the windows and doors of their houses on New Year's Eve to "let go of the old year". Homes are cleaned to welcome a fresh start and often arguments between family members are resolved. It's a great time to forgive old grievances and put away bad feelings.

Parents give money folded in red paper envelopes to children as a reward for good behavior and to wish them luck. Even the food eaten during New Year is symbolic: jiao zhi (chinese dumplings) for prosperity, noodles for long life and health, whole cooked fish for abundance, and whole roasted chicken and sticky rice cakes to symbolize family togetherness. Fruit like oranges, tangerines and persimmons represent happiness, good health and a fruitful long life.

What is your favorite way to eat jiao zhi? Fried, steamed or boiled? Hard decision, isn't it? The good news is that a batch of dough makes enough dumplings so you can enjoy them all three ways. They aren't hard to make, but you do get better at neatly pleating the dumplings edges with practice. Also, making dumplings is a true communal activity. Invite some friends over, sit around the table, fill dumplings and tell jokes. You'll all be amazed at how quickly the pile of dumplings grows. Oh, don't forget to bring your appetite. Dumplings are best cooked and eaten immediately. Dip them into a scallion/soy dipping sauce and wash them down with hot tea or a cold Tsingtao beer.

The recipe below, from Chinese cooking master Ken Hom, is simplicity itself. Start with the dough, and while that is resting, mix up the filling. It should make about 3 dozen dumplings.

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Most Auspicious Jiao Zhi

Dumpling Dough
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 to 1 1/4 cups very hot water (I use hot tap water)

Place the flour in a large mixing bowl. Add the water in a steady stream, mixing all the while with a fork or chopsticks until most of the water has been incorporated. If the mixture seems dry, add more hot water. The dough should be moist but not sticky. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead it on a floured board until smooth -- about five minutes. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with a damp cloth and let it rest.

Filling
1/2 pound of finely chopped green cabbage
4 ounces fatty ground pork
4 ounces medium uncooked shrimp, peeled and finely chopped
1 ounce black mushrooms (like dried shitakes), soaked in hot water, stems removed and finely chopped
1 Tbs. light soy sauce
1 Tbs. dark soy sauce
1 Tbs. rice wine or dry sherry
1 Tbs. sesame oil (I like a roasted sesame oil)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

In a medium sized bowl, combine all the filling ingredients and mix thoroughly. Set the mixture aside.

Back to the dough. Knead the dough on a floured board for a minute, dusting the board with a little flour if the dough is sticky. Form the dough into a roll about 18" long and about 1" thick. Take a sharp knife and cut the roll into four equal lengths. Cut each length into 8 pieces making 36 equal segments. Press each segment with the palm of your hand and roll it into a 3 1/2" round circle. Continue rolling all the rounds, covering them with a damp cloth when completed.

Place two teaspoons of filling into the center of each round. Then fold the dough over the filling, pinching the two sides together until you have a half moon dumpling. Continue until you've filled all the dumplings. While technically dumplings can be frozen at this point until ready to use, we always dive right in and cook them all up.

To fry the dumplings, use 3 Tbs. of peanut oil for the skillet and 1 cup of very hot water. Heat a skillet (I use a 10" nonstick or well seasoned cast iron skillet) until hot and swirl in the peanut oil. Arrange the dumplings in the skillet, pleated edge up. They should be in a single layer, crowded together. Cook the dumplings over medium heat until the bottoms are lightly browned.

Then add the water and cover the pan tightly and cook the dumplings over high heat for about 2 minutes. Turn the heat down to a simmer, and continue cooking for another 8-10 minutes, until the water has evaporated. You'll start to hear the dumplings sizzling again and keep cooking until they are nice and crispy on the bottom. Remove to a serving platter and serve with simple dipping sauces like soy/rice wine/scallions, hot chili sauce or chili bean sauce.

Black Gold Dispute

2009-01-16T11:44:00.000-08:00

Check out this link http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-compost26-2008dec26,0,623129.story to find out more about a Silver Lake urban grower who runs the risk of being cited by a Los Angeles city agency for composting waste she hauls from a nearby restaurant garbage dumpster. Do you think people should be able to take restaurant compostable garbage home and add it to their compost pile? Seems like pretty earth-friendly idea to me. What's your opinion? Leave a comment and tell us what you think.

President Obama's First Supper

2009-01-15T11:59:00.000-08:00

Over the last 200 years food has played a big role in the transition of one presidential administration to another. Sometimes fancy, sometimes plain, presidential first suppers can reflect the economic times or the personal preferences of the new president. Suppers might even recall former great presidents and American history. At his inauguration in 1797, John Adams decided to forgo a celebratory meal altogether and, after being sworn into office, went back to his boardinghouse and ate alone. That is perfectly in keeping with his reputation as a no-nonsense kind of gentlemen who really thought of himself as a farmer, more than a lawyer or president. James Madison, however, loved parties and his inaugural ball in 1809 included over 400 people for dinner. We don't know exactly what they ate, but we do know that ice cream was served, a very fancy dessert to make for such a large crowd.

President Franklin Roosevelt decided to keep things simple during his inaugural lunch in 1937. The country was in the grips of the Great Depression. Unemployment was at record levels and hunger was a real fact of life for millions of Americans. A lavish party would have been seen as uncaring. So, Mrs. Roosevelt came up with an economical lunch of sliced ham and sliced beef tongue, rolls, and her favorite sweet potato casserole with tiny marshmallows on top. One guest, surprised by the frugality of the meal, was heard to remark that "it filled you up, but that was about all it did".

We are getting ready to inaugurate a new president on January 20th. What will his menu say about him or our country? Well, President elect Barack Obama is a big fan of the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. He has decided to be sworn into office by placing his hand on Lincoln's own bible and to reference Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in his own inaugural speech. The china on which guests will be served is a replica of that used in the Lincoln White House and the menu is based on some of President Lincoln's favorites. There will three courses. First a seafood stew, followed by "a brace of American birds" -- pheasant and duck served with sour cherry chutney and molasses sweet potatoes, inspired by Lincoln's childhood on the Kentucky- Indiana frontier. Dessert will be apple-cinnamon sponge cake and sweet cream glacé. It's an American menu with true homegrown ingredients and one that reaffirms the great bounty of the American landscape. By focusing on the life of Abraham Lincoln, President-elect Obama subtly communicates, even with food, that we are a resourceful and intelligent people whose land gives us the strength to perservere through difficult times.

Let it Pour!

2009-01-04T11:03:00.000-08:00

Wouldn't this be a great way to capture rain water and use it to water our spring vegetable garden. It's simple idea from Africa, three junk yard metal barrels welded together with taps at the bottom. We redirect our downspouts from our roof into the barrels and voila! free water. I'm going to try and build a couple of these here in my garden this spring. Needless to say, painting them brightly and making sure they weren't previously filled with nuclear waste will be the first step before welding, hoisting and securing. And then, pour baby pour!

Anticipation

2008-12-16T18:24:00.000-08:00

Winter has finally arrived in Southern California and this lime seems to know it. Our orchard went through a long, hot summer. The citrus trees planted last November haven’t grown a whole lot and I doubt we’ll harvest much fruit this year. That doesn’t mean there is anything wrong. The trees are just directing their energy to growing roots and settling deep into their new home.

So we wait. By next year, there will be more of everything – branches, leaves, buds and fruit. In a few years, we’ll start talking seriously about what to do with all the lemons, limes and grapefruit bending trees’ branches. Like children, they’ll morph from childhood to adulthood in no time and we’ll marvel at how they have grown.

Like children, the patience and care we lavish on the orchard now will yield mature trees capable of providing an annual bounty of fruit. Conversely, neglect will result in a tree able only to sustain itself, not anyone else. There are many parallels to planting a garden and raising children and in fact, gardeners often talk in language recognizable to parents. What conditions plants “like” or “don’t like” or how a plant has found a good “home” somewhere in the yard. Garden’s are “put to bed” in the fall and on hot summer days wilting plants are given “a good soaking”. With careful attention, great gardeners guide plants toward healthy fruitful lives.

To grow anything, whether it’s apples or children, takes patience and steady effort. It’s not always easy, yet nature knows no other way. How perfect it was to plant an orchard at Odyssey — a school where children journey from season to season, from first planting to steady growth with close care and daily attention. Imagine that harvest.

Everybody Likes Pancakes

2008-12-10T14:50:00.001-08:00

Families thronged to our community hall on Saturday, lured in by the scent of hot coffee, warm pancakes and sizzling sausage and bacon. It was our annual OCS Pancake Breakfast which kicks off literacy week and our yearly Book Fair. Thanks so much to Gloria Ross for her unstinting efforts in organizing breakfast for hundreds. The money raised will be used to support student activities -- a perfect example of how eating well and doing well go hand in hand (or is that fork in mouth?).

How We Eat

2008-12-04T11:40:00.000-08:00

Kim Severson of the New York Times reports today about an open letter sent to the Obama transition team regarding the appointment of a new Secretary of Agriculture. From the list of possible candidates, my vote would be for organic farmer Fred Kirschenmann. Here is Severson's brief report below:

"The fact that a Secretary of Agriculture has yet to be named has some chefs, farmers and animal welfare advocates wondering whether food and farming have been shoved to the Obama D team.

To help move the process along, nearly 90 notable figures in the world of sustainable agriculture and food sent a letter to the Obama transition team earlier this week offering their six top picks for what they called "the sustainable choice for the next U.S. Secretary of Agriculture."

The hope is that the new secretary will be less aligned with industrial agribusiness and commodity farming than secretaries past. And if he or she embraces the connection between food, health and the environment, well, that's all the better.

The letter lays out a tall order:

"From rising childhood and adult obesity to issues of food safety, global warming and air and water pollution, we believe our next Secretary of Agriculture must have a vision that calls for: recreating regional food systems, supporting the growth of humane, natural and organic farms, and protecting the environment, biodiversity and the health of our children while implementing policies that place conservation, soil health, animal welfare and worker's rights as well as sustainable renewable energy near the top of their agenda."

It was signed by 88 people, among them: Michael Pollan, Judy Wicks, Alice Waters, Rick Bayless, Wendell Berry, Eric Schlosser, Anna Lappe, Frances Moore Lappe, Paul Willis, Dan Barber, Michel Nischan, Ann Cooper, Marion Nestle, Peter Hoffman, Winona LaDuke, and Michael Dimock.

For those playing along at home, here's their list of the six top picks for Secretary of Agriculture. Keep in mind that yesterday, Rep. John Salazar, Democrat of Colorado, a potato farmer, said he was being considered. (And no, the effort to nominate Michael Pollan never got off the ground):

1. Gus Schumacher, former Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services and former Massachusetts Commissioner of Agriculture.

2. Chuck Hassebrook, executive director, Center for Rural Affairs, Lyons, Neb.

3. Sarah Vogel, former Commissioner of Agriculture for North Dakota, lawyer, Bismarck, N.D.

4. Fred Kirschenmann, organic farmer, distinguished fellow at the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture in Ames, Iowa, and president of the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, Pocantico Hills, NY.

5. Mark Ritchie, Minnesota Secretary of State, former policy analyst in Minnesota's Department of Agriculture under Governor Rudy Perpich, co-founder of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.

6. Neil Hamilton, Dwight D. Opperman Chair of Law and director of the Agricultural Law Center, Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa.

From Stone to Soup

2008-12-02T15:49:00.001-08:00

On November 25th, OCS celebrated its annual Stone Soup Day. Students carefully chopped, diced and stirred, and ultimately each classroom created a pot of delicious vegetable soup to share with each other, their teachers and visiting parents. To go along with that soup, parent and bread maven Karen Merchant worked with the middle school students to prepare handmade rolls and pumpkin corn bread to share among all the classes.

The story of Stone Soup has its roots in a fable written by the Brothers Grimm in which hungry strangers trick a town into giving them food. It's a clever, engaging story which has a deeper lesson, one that focuses on cooperation and the ability to create bounty even amid scarcity. The generous spirit of Stone Soup was evident all across campus.

And like the strangers in the original story, we too had visitors who came to Odyssey to share the day and grab a bowl of soup. The mayor of Pasadena stopped by, along with local elected officials, community members of the OCS governing board, LACOE as well as neighbors and friends.

The Fall Harvest

2008-12-02T15:39:00.000-08:00

You've probably noticed that our local markets are loaded with ripe, juicy apples and pears for sale. Both are perfect to eat right out of hand, slice into in pies and cakes, or even add to savory dishes like roasted meats, soups/stews or curries. If you are looking for a great apple or pear recipe, ask the expert – your son or daughter. This week students will be cooking up a seasonal dessert of sautéed pears and apples topped with homemade granola and whipped cream. It's a perfect (and perfectly healthy) way to end a meal, especially now that cool weather has arrived.

The homemade granola sprinkled on top is the brainchild of parent Kirsten Kawamura. It's great in this dessert but is also delicious for breakfast, afternoon snacking or on top of a bowl of ice cream.

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Kirsten's Homemade Granola
(Makes 5 cups)

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant)
3/4 cup sliced or slivered almonds
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1/2 tablespoon wheat germ (optional)
1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons canola oil or 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup pure maple syrup (preferably Grade A Dark Amber)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Farenheit. Place a rack in the center of the oven. Butter a large baking sheet (or line it with parchment paper). In a large bowl, combine the rolled oats, nuts, seeds, wheat germ, ground cinnamon, and salt.

In a small bowl, stir together the oil (or melted butter), and maple syrup. Pour this mixture over the dry ingredients and toss together, making sure all the dry ingredients are coated. Spread the granola onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for about 30 - 45 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally so the mixture browns evenly. Cooking Tip: The darker the granola becomes (without burning) the crunchier it will be.

Place the pan on a wire rack to cool. You will notice that the granola may still be sticky when it is removed from the oven but it will become crisp and dry as it cools. Make sure to break up any large clumps of granola while the mixture is still warm.

Once the granola has completely cooled, store in an airtight container or plastic bag in the refrigerator. It will keep for several weeks.