{Semi} Wordless Wednesday

GF/DF Going For The Gold Cookies

The Olympics have been a big part of our lives this past week. Last week I wrote about some ways we were learning about the Olympics and the countries involved. This week, I would like to share a recipe that we made for "Gold Medal" cookies. What is so special about these cookies?  They are gluten and dairy free....and still delicious! 

Gold Medal GF/DF Cookies

1/2 c dairy free butter (we use Earth Balance non-dairy 'buttery' sticks)

1 c. sugar

2 eggs

3/4 tsp. cream of tartar

3/4 tsp. baking soda dissolved in 1 TBS non-dairy milk (we used vanilla soy)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. GF vanilla

3 c. GF flour blend (we used King Arthur)

Cream 'butter' and sugar. Add vanilla, cream of tartar, 'milk', baking soda. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Add 2 c. flour w/ salt sifted through. Add remaining flour in small amounts until dough is a soft, but somewhat stiff consistency. Chill for an hour. Roll dough out to about 1/4" thickness. Using a circle shaped cookie cutter, cut circles out. Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 8-10 minutes or until edges turn slightly brown. Cool for a few minutes on pans before placing cookies on cooling racks. 

While cookies are cooling, prepare frosting.

1/2 c dairy free butter (highly recommend using only Earth Balance non-dairy 'buttery' sticks for the right consistency)

2 c. powdered sugar

1 tsp. meringue powder

non-dairy milk to proper consistency

Toppings: 

Wilton Gold Color Mist
Wilton Food Writer Edible Color Markers

After frosting the cookies, and allowing them to dry overnight, we sprayed them with the gold food spray and made them into shiny round 'gold medals'.  Using the markers, we decorated them with various Olympics designs, such as the 5 rings, US flags, and little statements: "Go Team USA" and "Go for the Gold!"

Copyright 2012-2014 - "Be The One" - www.aclassofone.blogspot.com  All rights are reserved. No text, photos, or content may be reproduced without direct permission from the author.

Having Fun While Learning With the Winter Olympics

My kids are more enthusiastic about the Winter Olympics than ever before. What is not to love? Extreme sports, athletes pursuing their dream, dedication, inspiration, patriotic spirit....not to mention all the science, geography, culture, language, and math you can sneak in if you are looking for those opportunities!

I wanted to share a few ways to make the Winter Olympics a fun and educational experience....

First, there is a huge list of resources at The Winter Olympics Resource Roundup at The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew's website.

Reading history lessons while keeping an eye on skating and hockey.....

I would like to share two resources we used that have been phenomenal.

First, we did a Winter Olympics Lapbook that I purchased from A Journey Through Learning for $1.00. Yes...a dollar! It has an instant download also, with full color pictures. Kelly (3rd grade) put it together in two days, and we learned a lot about the Olympics through it. It covered the history of the Olympic Games, the current location (so we found out exactly where Sochi is), and then what the different sports are all about. It is making watching events a lot more interesting, since we actually understand what is going on.

Here are some pictures of the assembled lapbook:

The cover: Kelly drew a slopestyle snowboarder performing a trick jump - from Team USA of course!

The history of the Games:

The third folder has a separate mini book for each event, where Kelly can record the medal winners and their countries. An added bonus is that she likes to find out where each of the countries are, so we are covering a lot of Geography 'territory' by doing that. 

This is a picture of a huge wall mural that Laura made, showing all the events and when they are taking place, so we don't miss anything exciting: 

Lastly, there is a really neat website put together by NBC that investigates the science angle of many of the Olympic sports. Laura is studying Physics this year, and found the short videos very informative and relevant to her studies. It is really interesting to see Physics in real life action. It makes learning such a hard subject much more interesting when the student understands its relevancy to real life situations. 

Here is a link to the Science of the Olympic Winter Games where you can find all the videos to watch. I guarantee you will find them fascinating!

Go TEAM USA!!!

Copyright 2012-2014 - "Be The One" - www.aclassofone.blogspot.com  All rights are reserved. No text, photos, or content may be reproduced without direct permission from the author.

Creation Debate

My family was very excited to watch the Creation Debate tonight with Ken Ham and Bill Nye.

Answers In Genesis has made the debate available to purchase on DVD or via download- which we plan on doing, so that we can watch it again.

Also, for the 72 hours following the debate, AIG is running a special on Ken Ham's "Foundations" curriculum and DVD series. If you enter the promo code: FOUND50 you can receive 50% off that particular DVD set or curriculum!

Uncensored Science: Bill Nye Debates Ken Ham Pre-order your DVD copy today!

**The above links are affiliate links - when you shop the Answers In Genesis Store through my blog,

I receive a small commission. Thanks for supporting my blog!**

Evolution Vs. Creation Debate

On Tuesday, February 4, at 7:00pm, there will be a debate between Bill Nye (aka "The Science Guy") and Ken Ham (of Answers In Genesis) over the issue of Evolution Vs Creation. This should be a very interesting debate, because both of these men are at the top of their respective scientific fields.

To watch a free live stream of the debate, go to Debate Live to sign up and test your computer.

I encourage you to watch this debate as a family and think carefully and critically about the points that are made.

Here is a promo video:

Family Game Night Linkup for February

Hope everyone has been enjoying the new year. It is flying by quickly, isn't it?  Are you taking time to slow down and make some memories with your children?

Here is another suggestion for Family Game Night. This is one of our family's favorite games ever. It is a quick card game, and can be played by 2 to 4 people.

Dutch Blitz is a fast paced card game that originated in Amish Country. Each game has 4 sets of 40 cards, which can be distinguished by the four different colored "Dutch Country" symbols on the back of the cards. The fronts of the cards are numbered 1-10, and also have four different colors. 

Each players starts off with a 10 card "Blitz pile" on the table in front of them, and the object is to be the first one to get rid of that pile. The catch is that no one takes turns, it is a spirited "free-for-all" of everyone putting down cards in order as soon as an opportunity arises. 

Players keep their leftover cards in their hand, and are allowed to turn them over in groups of three, with the top card available for play. Players put cards out on the table in sets arranged by color, and in numerical order. If you don't have a playable card, you have to wait until someone puts out a card that allows you to put yours down, and hope that you are the first to see it...because another player may be waiting for that same exact card! 

Here's a picture of what the table looks like during play:

This game doesn't take long, and can be quite fun and spirited. It's a great way to burn off some energy, and also has an educational twist of matching colors, and sequencing numbers. 

For variations on the game, our family has made the number piles "go backwards" where we start the card piles in the middle at 10 and play the cards backwards. This is much more challenging than it sounds! We have also combined decks with friends and played up to 8 people at once...which was just plain crazy fun! 

The game is recommended for ages 8 and up. We have played with younger ages than that, just combined them on a team, paired with an older player to help them keep up with the speed of the game. This works out great, and usually the younger ones have great eyes to see cards that can be played.

I am including an Amazon Affiliate link here in case you would like to purchase your own set of "Dutch Blitz" cards for your family, or read some of the other raving reviews that have been written about this game.

Dutch Blitz  {Click here for a direct link to purchase on Amazon for $9.66 w/ free shipping}


Copyright 2012-2014 - "Be The One" - www.aclassofone.blogspot.com  All rights are reserved. No text, photos, or content may be reproduced without direct permission from the author.


Please feel free to grab the button and link up your favorite family games here!

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I am also including a link up for some other blogs to join in with their favorite games - I don't know about you, but I am always looking for fresh ideas in the game night department!