Mrs P here. I am having a bit of a break from writing the blogs as you know; this week it's 2 more pupils from 8P who are having a go. They created this blog all by themselves, and with a bit of tweaking by me have published it for you below.. Do take time to read it through and have a go at the multiple choice quiz at the bottom of the page No one entered last week's quiz; so the chocs go into the roll-over and get added to the prizes for this week. That means there will be a runner up too, rather than just one winner..

Hey guys, I’m Alex and this is Priyesh, from 8P. This week we are blogging about potatoes, and how they are humble. We’ve found 48 synonyms for humble. We had to go through a lot of websites and thesauruses to get them. Some of them are: obliging, obsequious, reverential, self-conscious, self-effacing, subservient, supplicatory, unambitious, unostentatious, unpretentious. All relevant to the spud, don't you agree?

In the English dictionary, it said ‘also called Irish potato, white potato. The edible tuber of a cultivated plant, Solanum Tuberosum, of the nightshade family.’

          Potato in Gujarati is ‘batako’.

If you want to play some Christmas games, just go to:

‘’www.miniclip.com/games/genre-1003/christmas/en/’

INTERESTING SPUD FACTS

·       Children get more vitamin C, B1, B6, Folate,Iron, Magnesium and Potassium from potatoes than beetroot, bananas, nuts, broccoli and avocado all combined.

·       All the nuts, seeds and nut products eaten by children provide kids in the UK with less selenium than potatoes.

·       The record number of chip portions sold in a fish & chip shop, in a day, is 4000

·       ¼ of all potatoes grown in Britain are made into chips. That’s around 1.5 million tons each year, or nearly the same weight as 125,000 full double decker buses.

CHRISTMAS FOOD FACTS

·       One notable medieval English Christmas celebration featured a giant 165-pound pie.
The giant pie was nine feet in diameter. Its ingredients included:
* 2 bushels of flour
* 20 pounds of butter
* 4 geese
* 2 rabbits
* 4 wild ducks
* 2 woodcocks
* 6 snipes
* 4 partridges
* 2 neats' tongues
* 2 curlews
* 6 pigeons
* 7 blackbirds.

·       In the Ukraine, they bake a traditional Christmas bread called "kolach". This bread is braided into a ring, and three such rings are placed one on top of the other, with a candle in the center of the top one. The three rings symbolize the Holy Trinity.They also set the table for Christmas Eve dinner with two tablecloths: one for the ancestors of the family, the other for the living members as in pagan times, ancestors were believed to be benevolent spirits who, when shown respect, brought good fortune. The Ukrainians also prepare a traditional twelve-course meal at Christmas time. A family's youngest child watches through the window for the evening star to appear, a signal that the feast can begin. 

·       The inventor of the Christmas cracker or bon-bon was Tom Smith who owned a sweet shop in London.

Visiting France in the 1840's, while Tom was in France, he came across sweets wrapped in a twist of paper. As they were quite popular, he began to copy the idea.When Tom noticed that young men were buying them to give to their sweethearts, he began to place "love mottoes" on small slips of paper inside the sweet wrapping.Later in 1846, and thinking about Christmas, Tom's thoughts turned towards placing toys and novelties inside the twisted wrapping. He experimented with this and invented the idea of producing a wrapping that could be pulled apart. Voila! The humble Christmas cracker!

A fun christmas quiz - Mrs P has the answers locked away in the Food Tech safe. Print off your responses, hand them in this week, and win a Christmas selection box!  If no one enters, the 2 bloggers get the chocs!!

1Mince pies used to be oblong with a pastry figure on top. Who did this symbolise?

Jesus Rudolf Noddy Holder

2 Brussels sprouts got their name because

They were called russels, but this was mispronounced They were popular in Brussels Little cabbages was deemed too long a name

3 How many mince pies should you eat for luck?

3 6 12 52

4 When did good king Wenceslas step out?

On the eve of Christmas On the feast of Stephen To the tune of Jingle Bell Rock

5 In which direction should you stir mincemeat?

Clockwise Anticlockwise

6 Who first tucked into turkey in Britain?

Henry VIII Charles I Oliver Cromwell Queen Victoria

7 Which spice would you not normally use when mulling wine?

Cinnamon Cloves Nutmeg Cumin

8 What might have been served as a traditional Christmas dinner in early Britain?

Lancashire hotpot A mustard-smothered pig's head Black pudding

9 What might you find running through the middle of stollen?

Chestnuts Marzipan Gold More cake

10 Which of the following is a traditional flavouring for bread sauce?

Sage

Cloves

Star anise

11 The first mince pies actually contained meat as well as fruit.

True

False

12 What do Germans cook their Brussels sprouts in?

Water Apple juice Beer Schnapps