We had a lot of fun learning about Georgia this past week. We had a couple of books from the Library that we had fun reading from, also a friend from church had loaned us a book about all of the states that we read from, another
friend from church loaned us a game called the "Game of States" that we had a lot of fun playing a couple of times (and hope to play some more). And then I checked my e-mail a couple of days ago and was excited to find an e-mail from Mary who reads this blog and lives in Georgia. She shared a bunch of info with us that I thought I would also share here.
- Make sure you eat peaches because Georgia is the Peach State. You should be able to find lots of good recipes because Georgia is known for famous cooks such as Paula Deen and Nathalie Dupree.
- We have lots of chicken farms around where I live. I suggest you make some Southern Fried Chicken. Also, you have to try grits for breakfast.
- On the coast shrimp and other seafood abound so you might want to make some kind of fish.
- Off the Georgia coast is Cumberland Island, an island where people are not allowed to live. It is know for it's natural beauty and the wild horses that roam freely over the island and on the beaches.
- In the southern part of the state you will find Plains. This is where President Jimmy Carter is from. He was a peanut farmer in Plains before he began his political career. Also in the southern part of the state is the Okefenokee Swamp, which is a huge national wildlife refuge.
- Did you know our state capital, which is in Atlanta, is topped by a big dome covered in real gold. This commemorates the first gold rush in the United States in Dahlonega, which is in North Georgia.
- Georgia has produced many famous musicians. We have our own Georgia Music Hall of Fame in Macon, which is a large city in the middle of the state.
- Currently we are experiencing a severe drought in Georgia. The drought is also affecting Florida and Alabama as they get some of their water from us.
We did enjoy grits for breakfast one day. That is something that I ate fairly often growing up but haven't fed my family very often. My kids didn't remember it but thought it was wonderful. We had read that Georgia produces around 1/2 of the peanuts in the U.S. , just for that we are thankful for Georgia as we love peanut products. We enjoyed eating peanut butter, peanuts and peanut butter cookies this week. One evening we enjoyed Georgia Hash and Georgia hush puppies from recipes from cooks.com . Another evening we had Southern fried chicken (I really cheated and went and bought already fried chicken. I can make good oven fried chicken but I tried the other before and didn't do well at all. Also we had a busy day and it was nice to have something easy.), mashed potatoes, corn (they grow a lot in Georgia) and Peaches.
I found this nice list of famous people from Georgia. We got a book about Martin Luther King Jr. from the library and read it.
Georgia sounds like it would be a very fun place to visit. It is so neat to learn about the variety of places that God made all over this country. His creativity never ceases to amaze me.
This week we are studying about Connecticut. Are any of you from there? We would love to know about your state!
Over a week ago when we were studying about New Jersey we decided to make Salt water taffy. We had read that salt water taffy was first thought of in New Jersey when some waves washed over a taffy stand that was on the beach. We found a recipe for Atlantic City salt water taffy online. This wouldn't be something that we would make to often as I don't think it has any nutritional value but it was fun to make once.
I am not sure that I got it as hot as it was supposed to get. I don't have a candy thermomoter and we were a little uncertian about the hard ball stage and a little impatient. Anyway it was some very sticky candy!
The kids thought it was very good even if it was sticky. These two spent a lot of time licking their fingers and every time we gave them something to pull it got eaten up.
Here are some dazed looking girls. I guess candy can do that to you. We tried several different flavors for our candy. Mint, burnt sugar, almond and coconut. They all tasted pretty good. We also did a variety of colors. If you don't mind a mess this is a fun family project.
