Cadettes New Cuisine Badge

This past week my Cadettes earned their new cuisine badge.  I knew after reading the description of the badge I wanted to make this badge a field trip.  It is a great opportunity to get the girls out and experience new foods.  Initially I thought a cooking class would be perfect, but as you all know we are on a limited budget and most cooking classes in our area were running $30-$40 and up per a girl!  SAY WHAT?  Then a few months ago I was shopping at William Sonoma and I observed a cooking demonstration.  I asked the manager how often they have cooking demonstrations and she said as often as they can.  I asked her if she would be interested in providing a personal demonstration for my troop and their parents, something with an international flair.  The manager was very excited and put me in touch with her chef coordinator.  Julie, a previous kindergarten teacher, was thrilled at the idea of not only teaching Cadettes about cooking, but the concept of making it educational.  After describing the requirements for the badge, I gave her total leeway in creating a class for the girls. WOW!  Was I impressed!  Julie did a fabulous job and this field trip turned out to be a favorite and something they all will remember.
Julie created a vegetable tofu dish with an Asian Flair.  And the girls made a pear/apple and ginger soda water.  She tied in the cooking lesson with the Chinese New Years.  She explained to the girls that the Chinese New Year dates coincide with the lunar calendar and the date is different every year much like our Easter and Thanksgiving holidays.  She also talked about how the Asian culture believes in a special relationship between humans and the 12 zodiacal animals: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake sheep, monkey, rooster, horse, dog and pig.  For this reason the Chinese represent each new year with one of these animals and believes that children born in this year will possess these animal's traits.  Much like the American zodiac signs related to the month in the year you were born: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius,  and Pisces.  For more easy to read information on the Chinese New Years please click this link:
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/social_customs/zodiac/
Julie was very interactive with the girls and they all got an opportunity to participate in the making of the dish.  The girls got to use a Garlic Peeler to remove the shell off fresh garlic.  Next, they used the Chef Garlic Zoom to chop garlic.  Each girl was able to use the Pademo Spiralizer to spiral cut zucchini. Some girls chose to peel carrots too.  They removed the seeds from several red peppers and clipped off the ends of snap peas.  Then this incredibly healthy dish started to come together.  Julie prepared the dish in an Asian Wok adding the pretty vegetables, tofu and a ginger sauce sold at William Sonoma. Looking at the dish I was thinking the fact it has tofu and it is so healthy, the girls will probably not want to try it.  All I could hear was the girls crooning over the wonderful smell of fresh ginger and garlic.  Surprisingly they all could not wait to try the dish.  I heard "Yum!" and "This is the best dish ever, will you make it Mom?"  Every single girl gave a thumbs up for this new dish.  All of the parents were really surprised.  What a wonderful opportunity to experience new foods and learn a little about another culture.  I give this badge a thumbs up too!
The "icing on the cake" was William Sonoma provided this class free of charge.  However, it was a great business move as nearly every one of my parents purchased a garlic peeler and/or the prepared ginger sauce.  And all of the girls were interested in their free Saturday Classes.  This was more than a cuisine experience it opened the girls up to a career in cooking and sales.  At the Cadette level I like to encourage girls to begin thinking about career opportunities.  What would they like to do beyond High School.  Field trips provide a wonderful opportunity to explore the world of jobs.

Fabulous Foam!

My Junior Girl Scouts are out to make a big impact with their Bronze Project.  The girls are initiating a recycle program at all of the home varsity football games for the upcoming 2013 football season.  Based on my research this will be the first recycle endeavor at a high school stadium in Texas.  We are so pleased that the Southlake Carroll ISD School Board was so quick to embrace this concept and support our mission.  The first year we plan to concentrate only on the water bottles, Gatorade bottles and plastic cups.  But we hope this will make a big impact.  The stadium holds over 12,000 fans and if even if only half of the fans purchase one plastic bottle or cup on these hot Texas Summer nights, we can prevent 6,000 bottle from hitting our local landfill.  My Juniors will be responsible for education and encouraging fans to dump the left-over liquid from the bottles and tossing in the proper bin. 

In preparation for this daunting task we have educated the girls on recycling by participating in field trips, activities and guest speakers.  Republic Recycling is the company that will be responsible for the pick up at our stadium.  We had a representative from this company describe the recycling process.  She brought an informative video that showed all the steps involved in recycling various materials.

Next we visited our local landfill and learned all about the life of garbage.  We were able to see first hand how fast our landfills fill up and what is involved in the everyday processing of thousands of pounds of trash in our city.   I think the girls were pleasantly surprised by the amount of knowledge they gained and they developed a true appreciation for the impact our trash makes on the environment. 

Last week we went to Foam Fabricators on Keller Parkway where they produce and RECYCLE Styrofoam.  There is a myth circulating that styrofoam cannot be recycled.  Not so!   It is true that styrofoam can take years and years to fully degrade in our landfills and we were so excited to hear that it can now be recycled in our own backyard, giving the product a longer life.  Unfortunately recycling is still not possible with food packaging like cups and take out containers because of the food contamination, but you would be surprised by the volume of styrofoam used to package household items and electronics.  Large companies like Best Buy, Maytag, and Trane bring truck loads of used styrofoam to the facility every day and Foam Fabricators break the styrofoam pellets down, and heat them up again using steam to form the styrofoam into new molds and packaging.  This company is truly dedicated to recycling.  They even encourage the companies that contract for their styrofoam to send back the cardboard boxes they use for shipment of the styrofoam and Foam Fabricators will then use and re-use the cardboard boxes.  As well local residents can drop off styrofoam at the facility and walk away with the piece of mind knowing that the styrofoam will be re-used.
The facility tour was incredibly interesting and even my daughter said, "This was the best field trip ever... well for an educational one I mean."  One girl commented she felt she was watching the Science Channel's hit show, "How It's Made".  The girls learned about all the different kinds of styrofoam.  They went into the engineering room and learned how molds were designed as packaging molds to protect products during shipment.  They were able to see how molds are tested for strength.  The girls saw polystyrene in it's chemical form that appears to look like salt.  The polystyrene comes packaged in huge bags the size of a small car.  The girls walked into the room where the chemical polystyrene is loaded into a machine and popped like popcorn to make the characteristic beads that are molded together to create styrofoam.  Next, they went onto the production floor and saw the beaded styrofoam pushed through a machine, heated and misted with water to push the molds out and then collected and packaged. Anywhere from 10-50% of recycled styrofoam can be used in a new packaging molds based on the density and strength needed in the packaging.  Thus, Foam Fabricators must create new foam on a daily basis to meet the demand from the companies that contract to supply packaging molds.  Foam Fabricators is the number one supplier for military styrofoam to cushion and package guns and ammunition. They also contract with TV manufacturers, wine sellers, window and door frame companies to name just a few.  It was also interesting to note that many schools, plays and churches purchase large volumes of styrofoam that have been molded into recognizable items like, crosses, school mascots and props for plays and productions.  Styrofoam is lightweight and easily transportable and can be painted to look like heavy-weight items.
The girls most enjoyed the recycle room where they were able to karate-chop as much styrofoam as their heart desired.  I do believe this was the highlight of our Foam Fabricator tour!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bY3ERap9TwU

Paint the Town

Your input helps guide my blog posts. Is there a topic you'd love to explore or an issue you would like resolved? Do you want to hear more about an activity, event or field trip? Please let me know!

Recently my Daisy troop had the fortune of visiting Texas U Can Paint.  Conveniently located at 2008 State Hwy 114 across the freeway from Home Depot.  The owner, Robin Hill, is incredibly enthusiastic and accomodating.  There was more than enough room for my 25 girls and the instruction was organized and age appropriate.   The studio can accomodate any age painter or troop.  The girls were so proud of their end result and the parents were absolutely thrilled to see their daughter's treasured art.  The facility is roomy, clean and even allows outside drinks and snacks.  The cost was very reasonable at $12/girl and simply "priceless" when you consider each girl walked away with confidence and pride in their master piece.  The actual price is dependent on the size of canvas and art work the leaders choose and can vary up to $15.  Robin truly enjoyed all the girls and worked hard to make them feel comfortable.  Furthermore, Robin can create a theme or design to meet your patch or badge requirements. From start to finish it took the girls 1.5 hours to complete their lady bug painting and most importantly they were able to take home their work, same day.  Robin, has the most availability right after school during the week days, although other arrangements can be made.  She has 2 classrooms and can often schedule 2 events at once.

http://www.texasucanpaint.com/

While this is a fantastic event for your Girl Scouts, I can see many other opportunities to enjoy Texas U Can Paint.  Imagine planning a council meeting here or a birthday party.  My parent chaperones were so jealous watching the girls paint, we have decided to have our Cookie Mom reward celebration at Texas U Can Paint.  Guests are encouraged to bring in their own wine and food!  He is another great opportunity to create a Sign Up Genius and generate a RSVP and pot luck/wine list.

Call to schedule:  817-789-5038 or you can schedule on line.

2 Q Salon

Your input helps guide my blog posts. Is there a topic you'd love to explore or an issue you would like resolved? Do you want to hear more about an activity, event or field trip? Please let me know!

Today I took my Junior Troop on a field trip to 2 Q Salon for a Make-Up 101 Class.  We recently completed the Amuse Journey and I decided we were going to have a fun outing before Spring Break.  This adventure was not tied to any patches, rewards or journey.  However, I think this field trip could easily be related to any patch that involves general hygiene or care of the body.  I would not recommend the class to any girls younger than 10 years of age.  The older the troop, the salon can expand the tips to accommodate your age range.  The Q&A session was really helpful to my girls as well because they could ask any questions regarding cosmetics and caring for their faces that came to mind.  The salon is a bit of an hike from the heart of Southlake since the salon is located on the corner of Glade Rd and Hwy 121, next door to the Hobby Lobby store.  However, it was clean and the staff was very friendly.  The staff had chocolate chip cookies and cold Capri Suns for the girls when we arrived.  Debbie, the owner had her daughter, Breanna teach the class.  She is the make up artist for the salon.  And Debbie generously offered the girls free skin care samples including toner and moisturizer from her Rhonda Allison skin care line.  This was the first class they have ever held for a Girl Scout Troop and I could tell they were very excited to meet our needs and thrilled to have the opportunity.  I have found sometimes you really have to think outside the box to find unique field trip opportunities for your girls.  I don't hesitate to call any business to see if they would be open to having Girl Scouts visit.  Really the sky is the limit when looking for different activities.  You never know what opportunities the girls will really enjoy, but I do think every field trip inspires learning.
The class started off by teaching the girls the importance of washing their face twice a day, in the morning and before the girls go to bed.  Breanna then chose a volunteer and washed the girl's face to show the troop how to properly wash your face.  She talked about the various skin textures, hydration and touched briefly on how to avoid acne in the near future.  She also discussed the importance of sun screen.  Then she moved on to talk about make-up at the age of 10.  She explained that while it is fun to experiment with make-up, it is important at their age to use very little and strive for a natural look.  So Breanna applied make-up to each of my girls using a very soft palatte of colors including creams, light pinks and light lavender shades.  She recommended only lip gloss, a small amount of blush and a light dusting of eye liner under the eyes and on top of the eyelids near the eye lash line.  She discussed when make-up is appropriate like for parties, recitals, dances and special events, but encouraged them not to wear it every day at their age.  She reminded them that they have plenty of time to grow up.  The girls really seemed to be intrigued and loved sitting in the chair to have their faces beautified!  I was most impressed with the way the salon related the class to their age and did not promote make-up, but instead discussed the inevitable basics.  I was thrilled to have another "more qualified" adult explain to my daughter that bright blue glitter eye shadow with hot pink cheeks and red lipstick is not appropriate for any occasion at their age and that their faces are beautiful with or without make-up.  Anyone that knows my daughter, knows my drama queen loves to be over the top.  In the past when it came to make-up she had a Picasso flair!  I am hoping after our cosmetic lesson today she has learned a few tips that she can carry and use throughout life.  Even at the most basic level, I think the lessons learned are invaluable.

http://2qsalon.com/

Cost: $10/girl

Town Hall

Today I took my Daisies on a tour of the Southlake Town Hall.  Well not really a tour... I had hoped we would get to see each room within the large building and maybe say hello to the workers in each department, but the experience was a bit different than I envisioned.  A City Manager Intern led the 1st graders into the City Council Chambers and the intern talked to the girls about what our city does for the residents.  A very valuable lesson in deed, but I will say Daisies lose their attention and focus in about 20 minutes after sitting down.  Moving around really helps with keeping them interested.  Fortunately my girls were well behaved and inquisitive.  So inquisitive in fact, a girl asked the guest speaker how much money she makes.  One girl insisted if she were ever elected she would eliminate all stop signs, they are really just an inconvenience.  I believe I will guide in her into the arts!  When the intern asked the troop how old they thought the Southlake Town Hall is, the answers varied from 5 years to 98 years old.  Sadly I can remember the day they cleared the old pasture and egg farm to make way for the new Town Square.  It was a huge piece of land and the heart of Southlake which stands true today.  To me it feels like the Town Square opened a year ago, so it was really interesting to get a 1st grader's perspective.  Clearly the Town Square is older than all the girls, so in their mind it must be ancient.  Ha!  While this tour was not a fast pace, mind shattering or thrill seeking event, I think it was very worthwhile and I believe the girls learned the very basic notion that our City is here to make every effort to improve their life and the residents.  The field trip helped them earn their Honest and Fair, light blue petal.  I was really impressed that the intern made every attempt in conversation to tie in the value of fairness and honesty.   He taught the girls that whether you are a Daisy, student, citizen or mayor, being honest and fair, while not always easy, is a very valuable character trait.  Just one of the many values Girl Scouts work hard to develop, foster and maintain in our girls.