Work by a Grade 3 Class at FACTS, 2008–09

Do-It-Yourself

Here are some things to think about:

Who is in your own gallery of valued cultural treasures?

From who have you learned? (And what?)

What do you value and want to pass on?

Where have you taken a stand?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Playing & Learning With Folk Arts

Photo of Samir

Photo of Samir

Recipe Book

Samir
Recipe 3: Nana’s Stuffing

Ingredients
corn bread (baked on a long aluminum pan)
bag of regular bread
mixed vegetables (frozen or canned)
1 can of cream of chicken or cream of mushroom
1 onion

First, I make my corn bread from scratch.  Once it has cooled, I crumble it in a big bowl along with the regular bread. I season my stuffing with Mrs. Dash b/c I cannot eat too much salt and with pepper.  Then I add the can of cream of chicken. As I mix the ingredients, I have to make sure that it is not too thick and too thin. I also use 1/2 cup of water as I’m I’stirring. Also, I melt either a stick of margarine or butter and mix into the ingredients.  The last thing I put into the bowl are some mixed vegetables. I prefer them frozen. Finally, I spray a pan and then I bake the stuffing at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

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Artwork of Samir

Talking with Nana by Samir

Yes, I do enjoy cooking.  I learned to cook from my mother who didn’t believe in fast food.  So I cook every day… I like to eat stuffed fish, sweet potato pie, cabbage and greens, stuffed chicken breast. People call it soul food but to me it’s just my everyday food&38230;During Thanksgiving, we each cook something. We may or may not know how to cook it but we all make something. I make my own stuffing.  It’s different from other stuffing b/c I make my own corn bread.

Samir cooks with me all the time.  Sometimes he won’t even leave the kitchen if I’m there. We make cookies together.  We read together. I have a Nana wall where all my grandchildren draw pictures and paintings. Samir likes to taste the stuffing before I even bake it. He also used to love eating my sweet potato pie. Now he doesn't eat it as much because he'd eat so much before. I thicken it with sugar, honey, syrup and some flour…We started cooking when we was 8 years old. My mom cooked every day. Today, I make everything she made for us. The one thing I regret not learning from her was making biscuits and dumplings. Samir calls all the food I make “real food.”

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