Hi everyone
I intend to write a blog every week or so; I do hope you are continuing to read them.
You may be aware that I inadvertently set the fire alarm off a few weeks ago when some pasta bubbled over and caught fire on the ceramic cooker hob. You can imagine how distraught I was when I saw the whole school assembling on the playing field, just as School Assembly ended (good timing I suppose!).
Then there was another fire drill - nothing to do with me this time - caused by an incident in the canteen.
Mr Swain had mentioned in an e mail to staff that 'things have a habit of coming in 3's'. Well, they nearly did if if hadn't been for some quick thinking by yours truly and the valiant efforts of some of 7A....
During the Wednesday cookery Workshop last week, one would-be-chef accidentally put a plastic tray on top of the cooker hob while the ceramic ring was still turned on. He didn't notice anything amiss but another keen eyed Yr 7 saw from the other side of the room that a stream of white smoke was rising from the cooker hob.
I ran over immediately, turned off the heat, but of course, the ring remained hot, so continued to melt and burn the plastic. As the smoke continued to rise and seemingly deliberately make its way toward the heat/smoke sensor in the ceiling, I had visions of another alarm going off and yet another school evacuation.
Fearing disciplinary action from the Head, and with some degree of terror at the thought of yet another reprimand from the scary Mr Parker, I did some quick damage limitation and found a stainless steel mixing bowl which I inverted over the smouldering plastic on the cooker.
Then, warning the 12 highly excited Yr 7's to be prepared to turn off their woks and evacuate the room, should the alarm sound, I instructed them to get tea towels, damp them down with water and flap them around in the air in the vicinity of the rising smoke to try to stop it reaching the sensors. They thought it extremely exciting as they swung the damp tea towels around, keeping an eye out for an amber flashing light and listening for a beeping alarm. The odds were in my favour that day because... no alarm went off!!! All doors and vents were opened and the offensive fumes and smoke drifted out of the kitchen!
Then the pair of lads responsible for the incident had the nerve to suggest that they couldn't do any general washing and cleaning up of their work station because the lingering smell of the burnt plastic on their cooker in their nostrils made it impossible to go anywhere near the sink!!!
(Incidentally, with the help of a little heat, a plastic knife and a multitude of chemical cleaning agents, I later managed to clean the solid white plastic mound off the ceramic hob.
Ah well, another day in the life of a calm, collected, stress free Food Tech Teacher!!!
It's Open Evening this Thursday and the Food Tech Room will be open to our visitors from 6 -9 pm.
I shall be asking parents and prospective pupils to fill in a little questionnaire that is below...
If the world were to end tomorrow, what would be your chosen 'last supper'? Starter, main course, dessert, drinks.
Where would you chose to eat it and why?
Other than family and friends, what 2 other famous guests would you invite? Name 2 celebrities/well known persons (from the present or from the past).
Call into food Tech any time this week or the week after Easter, fill in and submit a questionnaire There's a prize fro the most interesting answers.
The quiz for years 8 and 9 from the previous blog is now open to anybody who wants to try to find the answers over the Easter Break. Staff too are welcome to have a go. Only a couple of boys have handed in answers so far, and there's an Easter Egg going for the winner!
Signing off now; it's late to be writing so creatively - More next time.
Tuesday 27 March 2012
Friday 16 March 2012
Hello everyone
I hope you are planning to look at my blog every week.
Food Tech will be very busy in the run up to the Easter Holidays.
In addition to the usual classes for year 7's and 6.2's, there are some extra afternoon sessions for boys in years 7 and 8 who gained high marks in their Nutrition Projects.
The Room will be looking its best on Open Evening; hopefully boys and parents visiting the school will be impressed by our wonderful kitchen.
Mr Collins is organizing a breakfast challenge for 2 teams to provide a value for money breakfast one morning before school; money raised will be added to the funds he raises when running the London Marathon later this year.
Then, on Tuesday 27th March I am holding a 'spelling test' at lunch time - for YEAR 7'S.
Entry fee is £1 and there will be a maximum of 30 tickets, so come and buy one as soon as you can in order to secure a place. Proceeds to Food Tech funds. The entry fee will entitle you to a drink and a cake, and a chance to win a prize -awarded to the most correct spellings. When you call into Food Tech to buy your ticket, you will be given a list of 40 spellings related to food tech to learn before the test.
In the test Mrs P will read out 30 of these, one by one, which you must write down correctly.
Marking will take place that afternoon and the winner will be announced the next day.
For Years 8 and 9 a different competition: at the bottom of this blog, you will find 20 questions from subjects that have some input/relevance to the study of food.
See if you can do them, and submit your answers by the end of term; again a prize will be given to the pupil who has the most correct responses.
I am always amused at the newly-created words that come up with, usually by accident.
Favourites so far are :
'Miss, I need a scouser to clean my wok.' ( scourer)
'Miss, I can find my coleander'. ( colander)
'Miss, can you show me where the scratchulas are kept?' (spatulas).
'Miss, can I have a turn at using the jet spray?' (the new steam mop).
'Miss, we can't get our windshields up' (statement from 2 boys using a ceramic hob cooker when they saw the glass covers raised up from the gas hobs being used by other pupils.)!
In contrast to being amused, I am also often horrified by things that boys get up to in class. The latest incident last week was when I saw a pupil trying to open a can of chopped tomatoes with my special Global Chef's knife that they knew cost £70!
That's all for now; blog 3 will follow in a few days. Add comments if you like.
As for 'My profile' - don't click on there because there won't be anything to read. I'm sure no-one is the slightest bit interested in facts about me, least of all the journalists from the tabloids!
Quiz for Yr's 8 and 9 folows....
I hope you are planning to look at my blog every week.
Food Tech will be very busy in the run up to the Easter Holidays.
In addition to the usual classes for year 7's and 6.2's, there are some extra afternoon sessions for boys in years 7 and 8 who gained high marks in their Nutrition Projects.
The Room will be looking its best on Open Evening; hopefully boys and parents visiting the school will be impressed by our wonderful kitchen.
Mr Collins is organizing a breakfast challenge for 2 teams to provide a value for money breakfast one morning before school; money raised will be added to the funds he raises when running the London Marathon later this year.
Then, on Tuesday 27th March I am holding a 'spelling test' at lunch time - for YEAR 7'S.
Entry fee is £1 and there will be a maximum of 30 tickets, so come and buy one as soon as you can in order to secure a place. Proceeds to Food Tech funds. The entry fee will entitle you to a drink and a cake, and a chance to win a prize -awarded to the most correct spellings. When you call into Food Tech to buy your ticket, you will be given a list of 40 spellings related to food tech to learn before the test.
In the test Mrs P will read out 30 of these, one by one, which you must write down correctly.
Marking will take place that afternoon and the winner will be announced the next day.
For Years 8 and 9 a different competition: at the bottom of this blog, you will find 20 questions from subjects that have some input/relevance to the study of food.
See if you can do them, and submit your answers by the end of term; again a prize will be given to the pupil who has the most correct responses.
I am always amused at the newly-created words that come up with, usually by accident.
Favourites so far are :
'Miss, I need a scouser to clean my wok.' ( scourer)
'Miss, I can find my coleander'. ( colander)
'Miss, can you show me where the scratchulas are kept?' (spatulas).
'Miss, can I have a turn at using the jet spray?' (the new steam mop).
'Miss, we can't get our windshields up' (statement from 2 boys using a ceramic hob cooker when they saw the glass covers raised up from the gas hobs being used by other pupils.)!
In contrast to being amused, I am also often horrified by things that boys get up to in class. The latest incident last week was when I saw a pupil trying to open a can of chopped tomatoes with my special Global Chef's knife that they knew cost £70!
That's all for now; blog 3 will follow in a few days. Add comments if you like.
As for 'My profile' - don't click on there because there won't be anything to read. I'm sure no-one is the slightest bit interested in facts about me, least of all the journalists from the tabloids!
Quiz for Yr's 8 and 9 folows....
THE STUDY OF FOOD OVERLAPS
WITH MANY OTHER SUBJECTS STUDIED AT SCHOOL. CAN YOU ANSWER THESE
QUESTIONS?
1.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Recipes are usually written in the
‘imperative’.
What does this mean? Give
an example……
2.
RELIGIOUS STUDIES
Which religious group requires that meat
and milk products must not be served at the same meal, or cooked together?
3.
MICROBIOLOGY
Which pathogenic bacteria is commonly
associated with chicken and eggs?
4.
PHYSICS
What method of heat transfer is taking
place when food is grilled?
5.
CHEMISTRY
Which gas acts as a raising agent when
bicarbonate of soda is used in a cake recipe?
6.
BIOLOGY
Which enzyme is responsible for the
breakdown of starch during digestion and which sugar is produced?
7.
DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY?
Why are many cooking utensils coated in
TEFLON?
8.
ENGLISH LITERATURE
Which Shakespeare play is this quote from?
‘if music be the food of love, play
on…’
9.
HISTORY
Why would mince pies not be on the festive
menu during the 1640’s?
( rather a trick question )
10. SPORT AND
FITNESS
Which of the following activities uses up the
most calories per hour?
SQUASH
STAIR CLIMBING FAST
DANCING
11.
GEOGRAPHY
Why are the Prairies suited to the farming
of wheat? Give 3 reasons.
12. MATHS
Eggs weigh approximately 50 g each. If all
the ingredients in a Victoria Sandwich recipe need to be of equal proportion,
how much Self Raising flour is required in a 4 egg mix?
13. INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
How would you find a recipe that uses
bulgar wheat?
14. SPANISH
What well known Spanish dish comprises
rice, chicken, and seafood plus other ingredients, often coloured with saffron?
15. FRENCH
What are mangetout and what is the literal
translation in English?
16. GERMAN
What might this dish be?
ROTKOHLSALAT
MIT RAUCHERKÄSE
(split the words up further if that helps?)
17. ITALIAN
What shapes are these types of pasta?
penne,
fusilli, farfalle,
conchigliette, orechiette
18.
CHINESE
What is Oolong?
19. RECIPE
KNOWLEDGE
What is the difference between Shepherd’s
Pie and Cottage Pie?
20. HEALTH AND
SOCIAL CARE
Why should you not give skimmed milk to
babies between 1 and 2 years of age?
Monday 12 March 2012
FIRST FOOD TECH BLOG
Hi everyone!
This is my first blog to pupils and staff at QMGS. My hope is that you will log on regularly to this blog to see what we are up to in the Food Tech Department: to find recipes, read up to date articles on food and healthy eating, quizzes to try, funny anecdotes from my lessons etc. Some of this stuff will be in the shared area too, under Food Tech.
I am totally new to blogging, so bear with me whilst I navigate everything under the excellent tutelage of Mr Paul Scandrett, IT wizard and mentor (also a promising pupil in my staff cooking sessions!)
Hope you like the blog name - bon appetweet, thought up by my daughter Samantha (an ex-pupil of the school, and a cleverclogs like her Mom). A close runner up in a long list of suggestions was CHATATOUILLE but I finally went for the former.
Watch this space. Nothing else to find yet, I am just learning how to write a basic blog.
Keep cooking!!!
Mrs P
This is my first blog to pupils and staff at QMGS. My hope is that you will log on regularly to this blog to see what we are up to in the Food Tech Department: to find recipes, read up to date articles on food and healthy eating, quizzes to try, funny anecdotes from my lessons etc. Some of this stuff will be in the shared area too, under Food Tech.
I am totally new to blogging, so bear with me whilst I navigate everything under the excellent tutelage of Mr Paul Scandrett, IT wizard and mentor (also a promising pupil in my staff cooking sessions!)
Hope you like the blog name - bon appetweet, thought up by my daughter Samantha (an ex-pupil of the school, and a cleverclogs like her Mom). A close runner up in a long list of suggestions was CHATATOUILLE but I finally went for the former.
Watch this space. Nothing else to find yet, I am just learning how to write a basic blog.
Keep cooking!!!
Mrs P
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)