Teacher Shortages

 Not a surprise that there is a teacher shortage. We lost a lot of great teachers, because of the state of our education system in the United States.

Many of the physical school buildings where I live are relics of the past. Built in the early 1900s, these buildings were built:

• Without the need for handicapped accessibility (retrofitting is expensive and doesn't eliminate all issues)
• Without Cafeterias
• Without classrooms that have enough electrical plugs for computers
• Without enough bathrooms for the current school population
• Without the ability to easily add good ventilation, modern heating and cooling systems

And then we didn't maintain the buildings, because one day the buildings would be rebuilt. We have been asking teachers (professionals with college degrees, master's degrees and beyond) to work in buildings where it is over 80 degrees in the classroom for the first month and possibly the last six weeks of schools. How many accountants, lawyers, scientists, journalists, politicians that work for months in a building where your "office" is above 80 degrees constantly? How many other professionals do you ask to work in a classroom where you need to wear your winter coat every day in the winter because the classroom heat is broken and hasn't been fixed?

We don't provide teachers with enough teaching supplies. We ask the PTO's and the parents for paper, markers, pencils, paper towels, tissues and hand sanitizer for the classroom. Then we expect the teachers to purchase supplies during the year. The teacher asks for classroom books, art supplies, rugs and other comforts. And then when that teacher leaves the district, the teacher takes the supplies, because it is his/hers. It isn't the district's. The teacher paid for it.

And our behavior towards teachers. Apparently it is okay for a student's parent to berate a teacher verbally in this country. Happens all the time. Parents demand that the teacher change a grade. Parents demand the work when they take the student out of class. Parents demand and don't ask and listen. We aren't treating our teachers fairly. We don't follow the Golden Rule. 

More great teachers are going to leave the industry. My daughter's female physics teacher left teaching for private industry where she gets paid better and has better working conditions. She was an amazing role model for the students in this high school.

How do we make the education world a place where the best and brightest want to be?

Weekend in Woodstock, VT

 Some weekends are for errands, and some weekends have nothing planned, and then the stars align, and you can get a weekend away without the kids and without the chores. The stars aligned for us, and we decided to venture to Woodstock, VT.

We managed to book the last room at the Woodstocker B&B (the Mount Mansfield Room). The drive up was beautiful once we hit Vermont. The Green Mountain State is named correctly. Due to Covid there is no warm greeting at the B&B. Instead we received a very detailed text and email of how to do contactless check in, which was perfect. Once we entered our room, we found this really nice note and treat (I do love maple sugar candy).

Our room had lotions and shampoos from Whisper Hill, and none of them contained coconut. There were delightful! 

Our room also had a sauna!

Breakfast was made to order each morning. The first morning we had eggs, and I forgot to take a picture! The second morning my husband had oatmeal and I had the pancakes. Both were delicious. Each morning we were served French Press Coffee, freshly made bread, brioche and jams.

We were very lucky and the Taste of Woodstock festival was down the street on Saturday.

Other places we visited while in Vermont:

Plymouth Cheese

The Vermont Flannel Company

King Arthur Baking Company

Sugarbush Hill Farm

The Precision Museum

The Vermont Country Store

I highly recommend a summer visit to Woodstock, VT!

Small Businesses that I support

Independent businesses are important to support in your community. Those businesses are part of the community.

The Spice House

While not in my neighborhood, their spices and herbs are amazing. And if you ever visit the store in Evanston, you are in for a real treat. Who knew there were so many types of cinnamon???

Kitchen Outfitters

Local business in Acton, MA. This is my ultimate store. Sooooo many interesting things all for the kitchen. Knowledgeable staff.

New England Soup Factory

The place to grab a fabulous soup or sandwich. The owner is active in the community. The community set up a Free Community Freedge, and Marjorie, the owner of the NESF, actively contributes to this resource.

Shubie's in Marblehead

Amazing gourmet food shop and wine store. Great owners.

Cleenland

The place to get your zero waste "stuff." We like their dish-soap and their TP. I also really like the reuseable produce bags for the grocery store. And the dryer balls! No more dryer sheets! We really like the reusable stainless steel silverware.

Wozz!

Amazing sauces! Delicious and speedy delivery.

Brookline Booksmith

Great independent bookshop that will mail you books!

Where do you like to shop locally?

Amazing Plum Salad

 I purchased Salad Freak this year and every salad I have made has been delicious

.

This salad was AMAZING.

Ingredients

1 small red onion, sliced on a mandoline

2 pints Sungold Cherry tomatoes

6 plums

1 Fresno Chile (which I left on the side)

Cilantro

2 balls of burrata (8 oz total)

1/2 c red wine vinegar

honey

kosher salt

pepper

EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

Directions

Take the thinly sliced onions and place in a small bowl with the red wine vinegar, a touch of hone and salt and pepper. Let sit.

Cut the tomatoes in half. Thinly slice the plums. Thinly slice pepper on mondoline.

On a large platter, arrange plums and tomatoes. Scatter onions on top. Tear the burrata into bit size pieces and arrange over platter. I put the peppers on the side. Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with a bit of cilantro and season with salt and pepper.

25th Wedding Anniversary Trip

 Hello Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am back from Cabo! Mexico was HOT! We stayed at Cabo Azul in San Jose del Cabo and had a fabulous time. The resort was amazing. So many pools and such a wonderful room. So glad that we picked that hotel.

The highlight of our trip was seeing Adam's sister, who is the Executive Chef at Flora Farms.

Chef Rebecca Weitzman, with Adam and me

I can't remember what drink Adam had, but the Farm Julep was a delightful mix of watermelon, mint, cucumber and very tasty.

Cold beet soup and very tasty

Flora Farm Burrata with tomatoes

 on bread - Delicious 

Beet salad with hazel nuts and cheese

Millet cakes that were amazing.

Shrimp Cavatelli - OMG

Adam's pasta dish

Roasted sweet potatoes!!!

Guava and Mango Sorbet, handpie with strawberry filling and strawberry and cream ice cream with a pretty cupcake!

The Weitzman Clan Composts

 I have always been nervous about having a compost pile in the backyard. We already have enough critters, and I didn't want to attract any more. But composting is better than throwing the food waste into the trash.

When you separate the food waste, it breaks down faster.

We have been composting using Black Earth Compost for years. It is really easy. I have a countertop bin near the sink, that is lined. It is really easy to put egg shells, potato skins, coffee grounds, etc into the bin. When the bag is full, I bring it to my lined plastic collection bin, and once a week, I bring the "large" bin (13 gallons) to the curb. And Black Earth comes and collects it like clockwork. I also order the liners for the countertop bin and the large bin through Black Earth, and it is delivered when the bin is emptied! Magic.

We started composting BEFORE the City of Newton started partnering with Black Earth. The more customers Newton has the less expensive the service is. If you haven't started, sign up now.

You can also get the finished product for your own garden.

What do I compost? chicken bones, fish, skins and pits of fruits and veggies, old pasta, green cheese, egg cartons, paper towel tubes, and a whole bunch more.

Be a good earthling and compost. If you work in an office, have your office start composting!

Chocolate - pieces of heaven

Last night I had the privilege of hearing from the owner of ChocAllure, Liron Gal, about how she became a chocolatier. The Israeli born owner was a software engineer for a cybersecurity company. But her passion was baking. While in Israel, she went to Paris to take classes in the art of French baking. The last two classes were all about chocolate, and that ignited a passion in her. In all her years traveling, she said she has walked around France and visited around 150 chocolate shops. She was patient with the crowd as we asked the difference between French chocolate, Belgium chocolate and Swiss Chocolate. The mission at ChocAllure is to deliver happiness by turning every day treats into exquisite and memorable fine art. While taste is important, the visual art that Liron creates is outstanding. 

Everyone was given six chocolates.

The first chocolate we started with was the bottom right one - silver and pink dots. It was a Strawberry Cheesecake bonbon. She instructed us to bite the chocolate in half, which we all did. The room was all in awe of the initial taste. We had a strawberry pate de fruit (French fruit confection, with strained yogurt and white chocolate ganache with a graham cracker praline crust. OMG. Heaven on earth. We then had our white chocolate chaser (the top right chocolate) which had a 35% cocoa butter content, which is high for white chocolate. And it was made with blonde cane sugar, which is unrefined, and contained less sugar.

The next piece was the bottom middle bon bon, which was a caramel hazelnut bonbon. Again, we bit the piece in half. Inside was a vanilla bean salted caramel and caramelized hazelnut praline. Stunning taste. Then we chased it with a 46% single origin dark milk chocolate from the Dominican Republic. It contains a very high cocoa solid content for milk chocolate which is more of a dark milk and was amazing. (BTW, did you know Valrhona chocolate knows all of its sources and can guarantee no child labor?)

The last bonbon of the night was the blue bottom left piece, which was a hot chocolate and marshmallow, which is a homemade chocolate marshmallow with a dark chocolate ganache from Madagascar. The very last piece of heaven was a 64% single origin dark chocolate from Madagascar, which was fruity. Delicious. Heaven again.

I can't wait to purchase more chocolates from this local artisan.