Initiatives, 23rd August

Hi Guides!

On 23rd August, we had Initiatives! Initiatives, as the name suggests, is an initiated activity by a patrol to teach the rest of the Company new skills. Usually, Initiatives activities are crafts or cooking. P4 and P5 did baking while P1-P3 and P6-P10 made snow globes.

Before P4 and P5 started baking, they leanrt some interesting facts about the food they were going to prepared.

Brownies...
- originated from the US at the end of the 19th century

- were popularised by the US and Canada at the first half of the century

- served with ice cream, whipped cream and marzipan

Pancakes...

- also known as a hotcake or flapjack

- it's said it originated in Olney when a housewife was so busy making pancakes that she forgot time. When she heard the church bells ringing, she ran out of her house, still carrying her pan and pancake! 

Here are the recipes for those who want to try them at home:D
Pancake recipe
Ingredients:

3/4 cup milk

2 tablespoons white vinegar

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 egg

2 tablespoons melted butter

Recipe yields 4 pancakes.

Directions:

1) Combine milk with vinegar in a mixing bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to "sour".

2) Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl.

3) Whisk egg and butter into "soured" milk.

4) Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone.

5) Heat a large saucepan over medium heat and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.

Brownies recipe                                                                 

Ingredients:

½ cup salted butter

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

½ cup all purpose flour

¼ teaspoon baking powder

Ingredients for frost:

3 tablespoons softened butter

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 cup icing sugar

Recipe yields 16 brownies

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2) Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.

3) In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter.

4) Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla.

5) Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder.

6) Spread batter into prepared pan and fry.

To Make Frosting: 

1)Combine 3 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons cocoa, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 cup confectioners' sugar into a mixing bowl.

2)Frost brownies while they are still warm.

Here are the instructions to build a snowglobe:

Here are some of the snowglobes that we made!

Needless to say, we had a fun time baking/making snow globes and bonding with our patrol mates:)