Leaves, leaves, and more leaves

Leaf Project

Winter is just around the corner so before it's too late, I wanted to share a fun Autumn project that kids love.

I picked up hundreds of leaves for this project but I had to wait until most of the leaves had fallen from the trees, that way I had more color variety and I didn't hurt any trees. :-)

Once I got home after a long afternoon of picking leaves, I rinsed (too much mud) and dried the leaves using paper towels. Once that was done, I neatly placed them on old magazine pages and newspaper articles and then placed books on top of them. I let them sit there for about a day or two depending on the size of the leaves. The bigger ones took longer to fully dry. This step is important if you want nice flat leaves instead of hard-to-glue leaves with ends that stick up. 

Here is a tip: If you are planning on transporting your leaves, really make sure they are completely dry before packing them up. If they aren't, they will stick together and mold will form.

Now onto the fun part.

I had a lot of fun with this and so did my students (7-10 yrs). Before glueing, you want to lay out the leaves you plan on using just to make sure you have enough room on the page. I used liquid glue and not a gluestick. Then I let the leaves dry overnight to make sure no glue was left undry (it was cold in the room). The next day I applied a gloss all over the page in order to protect the leaves and add a nice glossy finish. And there you have it!

Here are some of the children's creations:

Let me know what you think of this project, but before you go, here's a little riddle: What did one autumn leaf say to the other?

Answer: I'm falling for you! 

Thank you for visiting, until next time! :)

Tonight's special is...

Stuffed Round Zucchini

Every Friday night I watch Masterchef ( It's the French version of Top Chef). So now, everytime I think about food, I just want to go in the kitchen and whip up something Masterchef status! It's become an addiction really. If only I had a big kitchen...

I have a very sweet tooth but lately, I'm feeling the need for salt. So, last night I was pumped and really excited about Masterchef this Friday that I decided to take the time to cook (well longer than 10 minutes). 

So here is my concoction! Stuffed round zucchini!

I used a recipe I found online. Check out the link below. 

Courgettes farcies

It is in French but I'm going to do my best to translate. Now I don't have a chef style kitchen so I had to improvise a bit. That's why I didn't follow the recipe to the letter and added a few things, too. It took me about an hour to prepare and cook everything.

So here is the recipe (4 people):

-4 round zucchinis

-500g of sausage (stuffing)

-2/3 tablespoons of olive oil

-1 onion

-3 cloves of garlic (or a shallot but I didn't have any, plus I LOVE garlic).

-1 tomato (I didn't have any so I used tomato paste)

-2 mushrooms

-herbs

-grated cheese

-salt and pepper

In a pot, boil enough water to cover the zucchinis. Meanwhile, cut the tops off the zucchinis and using a spoon empty them (just like a pumpkin). When the water is boiling, add the zucchini in for about 10 minutes. When they are cooked, drain the water and let them cool.

Chop the onion and garlic into small pieces. In a pan, warm up the olive oil and add the onion and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes at low temperature.

Add the sausage stuffing/farce (I don't know how to translate this) and cook for about 10 minutes (or until fully cooked).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Add the mushrooms (mine where already cooked) and 2-3 tablespoons of tomato paste. Add herbs and a little salt & pepper.

The recipe says to add a pinch of cumin but I didn't.

When everything is cooked and well-blended, add some grated cheese for a little more flavoring.

Then stuff the zucchinis and sprinkle a little bit more cheese.

Pop into the oven for about 15 minutes and then enjoy!

Let me know what you think of the recipe but first, here's a little fun fact about zucchinis: 1 zucchini contains 95% water and just 25 calories.

Thank you for visiting, until next time :)