Happy Columbus Day!

We began formal educational lessons on September 8 with ambitious intentions. These intentions included covering U.S. history from the age of exploration through the civil war. However, a week after beginning lessons Dad came home and, as mentioned in previous posts, most formal lessons went to the wayside. As we anticipate Dad leaving we must also anticipate returning to a schedule that will allow us to accomplish our goals. As a way to ease back into our lessons and as a way to share what we do with Dad, I opted to take advantage of Columbus Day. I decided that we would take this opportunity to review what we had learned about Christopher Columbus at the beginning of the school year. I had the boys complete worksheets that I acquired from www.enchantedlearning.com. These sheets will be used in lapbooks that I hope will be assembled by the end of the week. We did map work, identifying places relevant to Columbus - Italy, Spain, Portugal, Bahamas, India. We discussed the terms 'Old World' and 'New World'. We created lists of foods from the Old World and the New World. The boys then went on a scavenger hunt looking for foods from our kitchen that were representative of Old and New World foods.

We wanted to have foods that would honor Columbus in a sense. The boys wanted to have pizza as Columbus was from Italy and pizza is Italian. So we had pizza for lunch and examined the ingredients on the pizza. The boys came to realize that pizza as we know it would not have existed prior to the introduction of New World products to the Old World. Tomatoes for the pizza sauce would have come from the New World. For dinner we served a Genoa Sandwich Loaf, a fruit salad (it was 3/4 Old World), and a Genoise Sponge Cake. We gave thanks to God for the wisdom and courage of Columbus. We asked for God to impart his wisdom to us and to give us the courage to be obedient to him especially when we are asked to do something that is contrary to conventional wisdom or popular belief. We also thanked God for His creation, the diversity within it and His provision for His people regardless of what part of the world they might come from.

In case you are interested, the sandwich recipe came from the Taste of Home website and it goes a little something like this...

1/3 c. olive oil

1-1/4 c. packed minced fresh parsley

1 c. minced fresh basil

1/2 c. shredded parmesan cheese, divided

4 garlic cloves, peeled

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1 loaf (1 lb.) French bread, halved lengthwise

1 lb. thinly sliced hard salami

2 large tomatoes, thinly sliced

For pesto, in a blender, combine the oil, parsley, basil, 1/4 c. parmesan cheese, garlic and nutmeg. Cover and process on high until blended. Spread cream cheese over cut sides of bread; spread with pesto. Layer the salami and tomatoes over pesto; sprinkle with the remaining parmesan cheese. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.