Cinco of May

YOU SAY POTATO:  Continuing our theme of 'let's be adventurous' this month, today's new-to-us Ciproduce was jicama, also known as the Mexican turnip, Mexican yam, or Mexican potato, depending on which source you read.

It almost looks like a coconut - round and hard, with a tough brown outer covering.  

I was busy int he kitchen with a cookie project, so I asked Annabelle to research what it was and how to prepare it.  She settled on a jicama "fries" recipe. One thing she read is that it's important to remove all of the outer skin, as eating it can produce a stomach ache.

As the article suggested, first we tried a potato peeler. That didn't go too well, as the skin was too tough. So, we opted for a paring knife.

When Annabelle read the the recipe she found for jicama fries, I could hardly believe the instructions. It called for both microwaving shoestring sized strips of the stuff on high for 6 minutes, followed by cooking it at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for another 40 minutes. Yowza. 

As directed, we mixed it with some turmeric, garlic, onion powder, smoked paprika and cumin before cooking.

When it was finally done cooking (or overcooking, based on some to of the strips' tips), we were eager to taste it.

It tasted kind of like sweet potatoes, and kind of under-cooked (which seemed impossible at that point). It certainly could have benefited from having a lime squeezed over it and tossing some cojita cheese in with it.

It wasn't bad. In fact, it was good.  But it's not our new favorite thing. That said, nice to have tried it.

ROCKIN': Today, we started a new 4-week class, "The Dynamic Earth: A Course for Educators" via Coursera. It's offered by the American Museum of Natural History, so we have to think it will be worthwhile. 

Per the course description, the class will offer an overview of the origin and evolution of the Earth. We will cover geological time scales, radiometric dating, and how scientists “read the rocks.” We're also going to look at how the evolution of life on Earth has affected our planet's atmosphere. We're especially looking forward to local field trips and learning more about geology in our neighborhood.  

We dove right in today, and have already taken (and passed!) the first week's test!