Arts and Gems

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!