Chez M. Swanson

We are, once again, lucky enough to host an Amity Aid from France. Judith will be arriving around the 2nd of September and we are very excited to meet her. Judith was born and raised in Versailles, France. Amity is an organization that pairs up young people from different parts of the world to volunteer in schools and classes to facilitate cultural understand and language education. Each year we try to find someone from the French speaking and Spanish speaking parts of the world to come to MPA. In the past we have had Amity Aids from Haiti, Senegal, Martinique, and France. We are not always able to find a good match for the school, so I and the other members of the French department are very excited that Judith will be joining us. Judith will be at MPA until the beginning of winter break.

We are looking for families that would be willing to host Judith for part of her stay. If you are interested, please contact any one of the French teachers at school.

The first spelling list went into the 4th grade assignment notebooks on Monday, August 25th. The test will be on Thursday, August 28th. The vocabulary is all colors. Students will have to match the word with the color and make sure that spelling is correct. Here is the list ...

bleu
blanc
rouge
violet
jaune
orange
vert
rose
marron
noir

Yes, we did cook the first (or second) week of school. We made crêpes - one of the specialties from the region of western France called La Bretagne. Crêpes, similar to pancakes but much thinner, are easy to make, and many of the students have asked for a recipe in English. This is a good one to mix the day before and let sit in the fridge, but it also works without waiting. Here goes:

3/4 c. flour
pinch salt
1 Tbsp powdered sugar
3 eggs
2 Tbsp orange or lemon juice
1 c. milk

4Tbsp melted butter (added just prior to cooking)

Mix all ingredients in bowl. Add melted butter (just prior to cooking). Start with a test crêpe. On a hot frying pan, griddle or crêpe pan place a small amount of batter and spread to the edges of pan. The batter should be very thin. When the outside edge has just turned brown, flip the crêpe. Second side will take less time. If the crêpe sticks, try cooking the next one a little longer. Repeat process until you have used all of the batter or you have the number of crêpes that you would like. This will make about 10 crêpe.

Serve plain, with a little butter and sprinkled sugar, with a little of your favorite jam, with Nutella, or any other topping. Roll or fold the crêpe and enjoy.