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!

The beanstalk is growing!

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

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

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

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."