Not the Chef

Today is my husband's birthday. I am super lucky that he is an amazing and talented man.  I am even more lucky that he is a Classically Trained Executive Chef, because..let it be known.. I can't (well.. maybe more of don't) cook. Now, I can microwave really well.. and drive thru I have down! I also enjoy watching him work in the kitchen and I get to stir items occasionally.

Chef William and Chef Gonzo at their last catering gig. Check out his Facebook page for more information

With it being the beginning of the year, and my first Girl Scout meeting happened last week.. there are a couple of treats that I am totally capable of making!

Last year I became the leader for Troop 1810 and oh my goodness.. I just LOVE those girls! But our first meeting last year, I realized that there was no one to bring snacks.  When talking to my mom, she reminded me that Nuglet (my troop leader Nancy) used to make the best snacks ever! Remember how I said I don't cook.. well this was right up my alley! Graham crackers with chocolate icing! I have now made this first meeting tradition of having graham crackers with chocolate icing.  The girls seem to enjoy it (and no real cooking involved)

Each girl got one graham cracker and a half of spoon of chocolate to make their own graham cracker cookie

But, there is an item that I LOVE TO COOK/BAKE.  Cakies! Cakies are that treat that we used to make at my house for family events, Christmas, Girl Scouts or anytime that we needed to bring a snack.  Super easy to make and so very yummy.

Throw back to my sister and I helping clean the bowl after we had made a batch of cakies

Favorite thing about cakies- they are easy to make (don't worry.. I am going to share the recipe!) Not only are they easy, but they are so yummy as well. I love that I can make these treats as a thank you to staff and leave them in the lounge or take them with me to meetings.

Put these out at the beginning of the year for staff

I said I would share the recipe!

Ingredients

1 egg

½ cup of brown sugar

1 stick of butter (softened)

½ cup of oil

2 cups of oats

1 box of cake mix

¼ cup of water as needed
Directions

-Preheat oven to 375

-grease an 8x12 glass casserole dish

-mix egg, brown sugar, butter, oil

-add 1 cup of oats and ½ of cake box mix

-mix together

-add 1 cup of oats and ½ of cake box mix

-mix well add water if needed

-spread mixture in casserole dish

-bake for 20-25 minutes

-let cool

Side note: When I was younger.. I even made macaroni and cheese that the dog (that ate EVERYTHING) wouldn't even eat.. my cooking skills have grown a little since then :)

Next up on the agenda- EdCampDallas.. and I have been blogging about Library Land over at Bee in the Bookends AND.. did you see my awesome new blog design? My friend Carrie (aka Heck Awesome) did an AMAZING job redesigning this blog and my Bee in the Bookends! I mean seriously- go check her out @HeckAwesome and her website.  I am in LOVE with it!

The Beginning

Let me tell you.. my #noexcusesNovember has been SO good for my head!
I mean it started out a Build-A-Bear with the BEST troop ever!

First outing as a Girl Scout troop. Yes.. my bear has 9 hearts...representing each girl in my troop. The name.. Warm Lace.. which is the first letter of each of the girls name. Blessed doesn't even begin to describe my love for this troop and their families! 

Each month I have been setting myself professional goals.. and I still have LOTS of ways to grow, but one of my goals this month was to open my Makerspace.  I have been watching the Twitter feed about all of these amazing Makerspaces.. and I have been reading all of these amazing blogs about their Makerspace.. and I look at mine it is SO different.

I wanted my Makerspace to be book based (by the way.. I am almost done applying for my next masters.. LIBRARIAN!) The big first idea I had was to get every classroom and grade level through the makerspace each six weeks. I was also going to divide kids so it was smaller groups. Then reality set in.. and I realized that those are super lofty goals.  So, I started with 1st Grade... but still book based.  With Thanksgiving and other holidays coming up, I wanted to start with a book that was going to be more about being good community members and see where it went from there.

So, we started with the book Boxes for Katje by Candace Fleming.  This is a FANTASTIC book!
Things we talked about:
-Looking and comparing on maps where the two main characters were from
-What might be in the boxes?
-What does Katje do?
-How did Rosie help Katje?
and so much more.

We then had the discussion on how Rosie helped Katje's community by providing things that they might not have (they were amazed that they didn't have meat or sugar.. or chocolate!)  We then talked about how we could help our community.
Our discussion went to
-Does everyone have money to buy food, and talked about canned food drives
-Not everyone gets presents
-How we can help the environment
-Donating clothes to those that don't have money to buy more

The first graders were so involved in how they might be able to make the community better.  With the season I believe they were more passionate about not everyone having toys for birthdays or other holidays.  So.. our first graders will be having a Toy Drive.

I introduced them to the fact that this is an awesome idea.. but they are going to be makers (and I wasn't going to help them.. they were going to figure it out themselves.. which they all got SUPER excited about!) so how are we going to tell our community about the Toy Drive, what do we need to do next?
Things they brainstormed about:
-phone calls home
-notes in our Thursday folders
-making decorated boxes for people to put their toys in
-making announcements
-making posters
Who knows.. I could totally have some students come in and say you know what.. I want to make my own toy or something even bigger and better.

I made this quick little video (I only see these kiddos for 30 minutes this week and next week) for teachers to show their students.  The next time they come in.. they are going to be MAKING!

When they come back.. I can't wait to see what they come up with.  So, I know that it is not like the regular makerspaces.. but who knows what is going to come out of this to help our community.  Even better a group of first graders read a book, made a connection and now want to make a difference. I will be posting the good, the bad, and the ugly (and preparing for my next grade level too!)