What does Will.i.am have to do with Geography?!?!

School begins again tomorrow.

A fresh start. 

Yet another opportunity to share my passion for Geography with others.   

To steal a phrase from a woman I greatly admire (and try daily to emulate): I'm in the business of creating Culturally Literate Global Citizens.

Geography is the 'glue' that holds all of the other Social Studies strands together. 

It's "The Why of Where".  

One of my greatest hopes each year is that all of my students finish the course realizing that Geography is more than just maps, landmarks and physical features. 

Here are two fun ways I try to counter those stereotypes and get them to think about it a little differently...

Photo: Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage.com

1) I Gotta Feeling you're gonna love this article by Will.i.am, member of the Black Eyed Peas, on what being "American" means to him.

2) Although the show isn't on the air anymore, this clip from The West Wing is timeless, hilarious and eye-opening.  

Grilled Pizza

 Who doesn't love pizza?!?!  And being able to toast it to perfection without heating up the kitchen is a bonus. 

I try to always have a few balls of PW's Pizza Dough on hand in my freezer.  They thaw in 15 - 20 minutes and are delicious. 

My take on PW's Pizza Dough (makes 2 large or 4 individual pizzas):

• 1 teaspoon Active Dry Or Instant Yeast

• 2 1/2 cups All-purpose Flour

• 1 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour

• 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt

• ⅓ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

TO MAKE THE CRUST:

Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm (not lukewarm) water.

In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with paddle attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined.

Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and store in the fridge (or freezer) until you need it.

It’s best to make the dough at least 24 hours in advance, and 3 or 4 days is even better.

The Hubs rolled out the dough for us.  We decided that since our tastes differ wildly, two personal pizzas would be better than sharing one large pizza.  (Oh, and this would be a good time to pre-heat the grill; medium to med-high is best)

Here is where you get clean out your fridge and use those leftovers hiding way in the back.  Dig around a little bit... the deli and veggie drawers will be key! 

And who says you have to use red sauce for a pizza?  Although it's the Hubs' favorite, I never use it. 

Pesto is my favorite.

Be creative.  Each pizza should be a reflection of its maker...

R's Unbaked Pizza

My Unbaked Pizza

You can either cook them on the cookie sheets or directly on the grill, both methods work really well.  After the first 7 or so minutes, rotate the pizzas 180 degrees and cook about 5 more minutes.  Your nose will know when the pizzas are ready, and also when you put the spatula under the pizza it will feel crispy, even in the middle.

R's Grilled Pizza

My Grilled Pizza

After taking them off the grill, let them sit 3 - 5 minutes before enjoying!

Summer Challenge

Well, it finally got hot here.  It's as if as soon as August hit, so did the heat.  Summer has been bearable up to this point, but I feel I have sweated more in the last two weeks than I have in the last 2 months!

We live in a house that is a little older and doesn't have the most energy efficient A/C unit, windows, doors or insulation.  To keep from adding unnecessary heat to the already warm kitchen/great room area of the house I issued myself a personal challenge this week:

Cook a week's worth of dinners using only my outdoor grill; no microwave, stove top or oven. 

Oh, and just to be clear I don't have a 'tricked out' outdoor kitchen with a mega-grill, fridge and sink.  I have a basic gas grill with one side burner. 

I knew this would take some forethought and that I couldn't just wing it every night if I was going to be successful. 

Here are a few pictures and highlights from the week:

Monday:
*Grilled Shrimp with Mango Sauce - too much vinegar in recipe, even using just ¼ cup; also ended up  tripling sugar. Forgot the red pepper flakes. It lacked the intense balance it needed. An okay first try, but not sure there will be a second...

Tuesday:

*Cilantro Citrus Chicken and Mango Black Bean Salsa

*Mixed Berry and Red Wine Sorbet
Divine. Paired beautifully with the peach gelato we still had.  I didn't have raspberries, so I just used some frozen mixed berries.  Once again, David Lebovitz came through. 

Wednesday: (Dinner Divas)
G hosted and made us the most fabulous lo-cal bellinis that I cannot wait to share with everyone.

Thursday: (my favorite grilled meal of the week, even though I have NO PICTURES!  I guess that's what happens when you wait until 8 pm to prepare dinner outside on one burner)

Grilled steelhead trout – not dried out at all; S&P, lemon juice from ½ lemon, a teaspoon olive oil; grilled over med-low heat, flipping twice.

Quinoa Pilaf – used garlic and walnuts, no parsley, raisins or cilantro. LOVED it!!! First quinoa experience and I'm hooked!

Grilled Artichokes with lemon garlic sauce – LOTS of work both in the prep and in eating them. Liked the dipping sauce a lot, very similar to zucchini salad dressing from cooking class. Used immersion blender and it made all of the difference.  Ended up breaking down leftover grilled artichokes and using the hearts on a Mediterranean style pizza. 

Friday:

Cowboy Burgers (from HEB) - I had a coupon and we always love 'em!  Chock full of bacon, cheese and herbs.  1/2 pound each!!!

Garlic Dill Pickles (homemade) - I will add extra mustard seed next time and maybe even make my own pickling spice so I can omit the cloves.

After the week was over I decided I had had so much fun and loved not heating my entire house that I just kept on going...

My Italian take on Shrimp and Grits...
Marinate the shrimp in cayenne, smoked paprika and salt for about 5 minutes then skewer them.
Slice a tube of prepared polenta (any flavor) in to 12 discs, brush both sided with some olive oil then sprinkle them with salt and pepper. 
Toss the broccoli florets with garlic slices, olive oil and S&P.

Grill all 3 at the same time over low to medium heat. 

I love this one because it's ready in 20 minutes and tastes delicious.

 Next time... a favorite and fun grilled meal of ours: Grilled Pizza.