Join us as I share how we travel the world, passport-free, right from our kitchen. Recipes will be shared each day as well as some of the why’s and how-to’s.
We do not follow one philosophy strictly in our learning (classical, Charlotte Mason, un-schooling, Montessori, etc.) but focus more on learning together as a family in as natural as a way as possible. Geography is one of my favorite subjects, but I don’t treat it as a separate subject. I do use some specific geography resources, but in my mental list of what we cover in a week, geography isn’t on there. Geography is easy to touch upon and bring into other subjects. The science side of geography is easy when you study earth sciences. Learning about different biomes and habitats is part of learning about the animals that inhabit our earth. It is natural to pull out maps to see the “where” while learning about “when” as you study history.
Whenever our trek through history has us spending a bit of time in one particular area or country, that region or country is our focus for a time. I will pick out literature that takes place there, we may also study art or music from this place at that time as well. The time we spend and types of things we use may vary, but one thing remains constant no matter the country or region, we always try to taste the food.
Many “experts” and more experienced educators say that we learn best when using all of our senses. Why leave out our sense of taste? Trying foods from different cultures can be an easy way to get a better understanding of people and how they live (or lived).
Often, we will choose recipes for an appetizer type dish or cookies. These have been our favorite “tastes”. I usually try to find something that stretches us from our usual, but still has a familiar component. Often, the recipe isn’t set aside after we finish learning about the country, but is made again simply because we enjoyed it.
As we eat these things, we remember our time spent learning about the people, the history that happened there or perhaps some great story we read. Just as smelling and eating “that pie” of Grandma’s evokes many memories, your tastes of various countries will bring memories to mind for your children.
One of the first recipes I made for the children at church as they learned about missions in Afghanistan was this one for these delicious cookies. Pistachios are something our children and I had not eaten before, so these were something new to us as well. The cardamom is really yummy in these cookies and sets the taste apart.
I found this recipe by a simple SwagBucks search for Afghan cookie recipes. The recipe came from a blog titled Afghan Culture Unveiled. We have learned a lot from the blog itself as well. It is always interesting to read what someone native to the region has to share.
I have made these cookies a few times since that first time. I usually use regular AP flour. It’s not authentic, but it is what we have on hand. Sometimes we skip putting the whole pistachio on top of each cookie. They are good no matter which way you make them. Enjoy!
Be sure to follow the “hop” and check out some of the other posts from my fellow Crew mates. We will all be posting something new each day in keeping with our own themes. You can find our main post, the starting point right here.
