<p>Hi Spectrum! Mazal Tov! On the subject of cooking, I have shelves and shelves of great cookbooks that I no longer use because of the advent of this new fangled device–the computer and its friend, the internet. There are just so many websites, starting with food and wine dot com and foodnetwork dot com that are amazing. The best beginners cookbook I think is probably Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything.</p>
<p>Spectrum, he might want to get a small George Forman grill. My D1 used it a lot in her first apartment. It’s really easy and quick for cooking chicken breasts, fish or steaks.</p>
<p>I like the Allrecipes site for online recipes. They include videos for some recipes that show you how to prepare the recipe.</p>
<p>Congrats to your son and all the other graduating seniors. Time flies!</p>
<p>esteemom, My DD attended Alexander Muss High School in Israel for 2 months in the 2nd semester of her junior year in high school. DD was the first student ever in her school to do this and we jumped through hoops to make it happen. I won’t bore everyone with the details, but suffice it to say that I was in constant contact with DD’s school Guidance Counselor and the HSI administrative personnel months before her departure. Yes, it was a pain in the tokhes, and DD missed out on playing hs softball, applying for National Honor Society, and taking mandatory statewide testing, but it was all so worth it in the end…AMHSI was a transformative experience for DD and the greatest adventure of her young life. (+ DD became a NHS member & took the state test in her senior year.)
Bonus: 2 colleges noted DD’s “global” experience as a determining factor in her acceptance letters.
DS, a hs frosh, is looking forward to his “study abroad” in 2 years. His Guidance Counselor isn’t. :)</p>
<p>Has anyone had experience with Technion?</p>
<p>Mazel Tov to the new graduates!</p>
<p>I still can’t cook. Rather, I choose not to. I’m still looking for simple, few ingredients, one-pot recipes. Wait, who am I kidding? I would just rather do anything but cook! LOL!</p>
<p>Regarding HS in Israel, both of my kids had friends who did a semester in Israel during junior year of HS with EIE. I’m sure they had to juggle schedules, but it certainly did not have any adverse affects on college acceptances. One of DS’ friends who went on EIE got into Northwestern ED this year; his sister (also did EIE) turned down Northwestern and went to Michigan.</p>
<p>I have been on this thread since the beginning… I will be picking up DD from her junior year of college on Wednesday. Can’t believe it!</p>
<p>Thank you Shalamit, Pennyland, Chocchip, Vitrac and Momjr for all of the great cooking suggesions. I am about to forward the Pillsbury and Allrecipes links to him that is the easiest thing for me to do now. I use Allrecipes lots, but when I do, I read through a bunch of recipes and comments and pick one or a combination and go for it. The recipes cannot be relied upon to be simple which is a key criteria for this kiddo. I know the way I approach it is way too much trouble for him. (Liny, if you had a source you liked it would be perfect because he is a kindred spirit to you.) In spite of being a 20 something young man food isn’t a priority for him and cooking is just a matter of survival. I love the suggestion about a George Forman Grill. I think that will be on the to buy list. I’m thinking that having one basic cookbook would be great and ya’ll have given me some great suggestions. Now I’m off to Amazon to read about them so I can make a selection.</p>
<p>Congrats to the rest of you whose kids graduated this weekend. It an exciting time and another challenge to let go a little bit more. It is both thrilling to see the kid taking charge of his life but a little scarey not to be there to save him if he needs saving.</p>
<p>Tuition Insurance:</p>
<p>I just want to mention this for all of the newbies and maybe for some of you who have been around for a while but had not given it a thought. When S1 went to his private college we got a flyer in the mail about getting tuition insurance for him. We took it all four years because the thought of loosing a semester’s tuition was more than we wanted to wrap our brains around. We never used the insurance but considering the cost of the school it was well worth it. (No telling what happens to grant money if you pull out for a semester). </p>
<p>S2 is going to a state school which is far less pricey and we didn’t get any mailing about tuition insurance. However based on S2’s autoimmune condition and our knowledge about the insurance from S1’s college, I searched the web and found a policy that would cover students at any college. We took out the policy and this year we actually got to find out what it was worth when S2 got mono early in the semester. The policy refunded everything that we either didn’t get reimbursed for and didn’t use. This included full tuition ,and meal plan money that wasn’t used or reimbursed. Unused dorm fees were refunded and they didn’t reimburse us for the the time he was in the dorm. We also didn’t get reimbursed for books purchased but didn’t expect to and in his case he will use the books next semester. We were very satisfied with the outcome and very thankful that we took the time to find the policy. In all the policy reimbursed us about $8,000 and cost about $350 (I don’t remember exactly). It took quite a while to get all of the needed documentation from the university and then to get the claim processed but we were happily reimbursed without any red tape from the insurance company. </p>
<p>I have mentioned having this insurance to several people and many were surprised that it even existed. It is a personal decision about whether or not it is worth the cost but we were very happy we had it and will continue to take out a policy as long as S is in school.</p>
<p>Three years and going strong! Thanks to everyone who posts, shares or simply follows along.</p>
<p>If anyone is looking for a great panini maker /grill I recommend the DeLonghi panini maker. It has a knob to adjust the temperature and it cooks a steak better than the Forman Grill (I have booth).</p>
<p>My concern with the grills is the clean up. Some have removable grills that can be put in a dishwasher and some don’t. I would be concerned that the grills wouldn’t be cleaned well or often if it was a hassel. Any thoughts about which ones are easy to clean?</p>
<p>The DeLonghi does not have a removable grid but can has a great non stick surface that is easy to clean with a damp cloth. I do it right after grilling to take advantage of the heat. Even sticky cheese comes right off. I like the panini style because it allows me to make and heat up a variety of sandwiches, breads and meats for one or two people,while the open style electric grills tend to occupy a larger counter space and be more convenient for grilling for several people.</p>
<p>Something very off our usual topic but I am curious as to opinions, as I am of all minds on this one!</p>
<p>There is a co-op day care/preschool that is based in a Modern Orthodox shul. They do not have use of the facility’s kitchen, so all children bring their own lunches and snacks, and the contract requires that all lunches or snacks be dairy or pareve. There is a family who would like to join this co-op, but their child has very severe allergies to all nuts, legumes, soy and dairy, and to some fruits as well. The child also is gluten free. </p>
<p>They would like all allergens barred from the premises so their daughter can attend. This would mean no peanut butter, almond butter, hummus, etc in other children’s lunches–and also would require a lot of supervision to make sure that the two year old child did not “share” other children’s lunches with strawberries etc. The co-op is debating whether to accept the family or not.</p>
<p>Your opinions?</p>
<p>I’m all for inclusion, but for a child with so many dietary needs and a small private co-op, this is debatable. For one- every family will be affected. While the banning seems harsh, it’s because if the age group. Older kids would know better than to share a lunch, but a preschooler is likely to get peanut butter on his/her fingers and then touch the allergic playmate or the playmate’s food.
I know that public schools must provide an education for every child- and funding for appropriate supervision, but this may be beyond the scope of the preschool. I wonder what kind of liability insurance the preschool needs and if it is affordable? Is the family willing to pay an extra fee for an assistant in the lunchroom to watch the child? Perhaps a parent or relative is able or willing to come in at lunch time to supervise the child? It would require one on one supervision- but only for an hour each day if snacks were allergen free.
I don’t think it is fair to impose the child’s restrictions on every child, but I agree that common allergens like peanuts might be banned since so many kids have them. With this child, I would want to know if the family is willing to help provide the supervision needed and help with any costs involved.</p>
<p>Interesting dilemma. The restrictions needed by one family sound like quite a burden for everyone else. However, S2 works at our JCC summer camp and is required to bring a dairy lunch and it must be peanut-free as well. Been a little challenging to find enough options for him without getting monotonous. Did a lot of cheese sandwiches and cold pasta salad.</p>
<p>Which exact food products are they asking to be banned? You say “all” but then give an example that implies that the allergenic fruits would be allowed.</p>
<p>Almost all of the preschools in our area are nut free, including the Jewish ones that don’t allow meat, but adding soy, legumes, dairy and gluten to that list would make it super challenging.</p>
<p>Just left Elon - finally had a chance to see the gorgeous renovated Hillel House. Amazing space and so homey! If you are visiting Elon, make sure to stop by.</p>
<p>Figuring what all the other children could bring for lunch and snacks becomes problematic, and I am also thinking back to my one of my own sons, who at that age had a limited range of what he liked to eat. For a while, S2 only ate scrambled eggs, string cheese, wheat thin crackers, and raw veggies dipped in peanut butter or hummus. There would be virtually nothing for him to eat in this situation! </p>
<p>Catering to the needs of one child would certainly have a great effect on all of the others. I am trying to figure out what they could bring for lunches and snacks because of course meat products are off the list too. What’s left?</p>
<p>I hadn’t thought about the liability angle, either. What if one child ate a strawberry or some other food dangerous to the girl and then played with a toy or a book, and the little girl played with that toy or book next?</p>
<p>It seems almost too much to handle in any public environment–and yet it seems cruel to exclude the child.</p>
<p>It can be a difficult situation when kids are allergic to several foods, specially at an age where they touch everything. A very allergic child do not even need to eat the food to get a reaction. Some small schools are not equipped to handle the supervision required. My kids could not bring meat products to theirs school when young and they survived thanks to PB sandwiches and soy products (Morning Star) so I could not imagine how I would have done it without (even though I know there are substitutes out there). Gluten allergies are also very difficult to manage, specially for young children. All children should be included and have an opportunity to develop socially and intellectually, but the facility that takes this responsibility has to be able to provide those children with the assurance that they are ready to provide supervision and assistance in case something goes wrong. IMHO</p>
<p>My son has multiple food allergies and there are steps you can take short of banning numerous foods from the classroom which sound unfeasible. For example, I always asked that he not sit next to or across from a child eating PB. This was b/c in preschool another kid’s PB crackers shed crumbs all over my son’s lunch. Another practice we adopted is I send a paper towel in his lunch bag as a kind of placemat so that he doesn’t have to worry about any allergens on the lunch table touching his food. Also, I always used to have a treat box with safe treats for parties, etc and I send a safe lunch on field trips which he can toss in the garbage if the restaurant has safe choices for him (I always phone them to discuss ahead of time). Of course I would have been very happy if his preschool or school had been nut free. And there are good substitutes for PB such as Sunbutter that are nut free.</p>
<p>The preschool may want to contact a pediatrician in the community to get some medical advice, as well as consider any liability. I think asking everyone to not bring any allergens is putting a burden on the other families. Also- if their kitchens are not free of all the allergens- then cross contamination is still possible, ie, the child might eat a gluten free cookie cooked on a pan that had flour on it. Is the school prepared to use an epi pen?
I hate to leave the child out, but also would not want the child to be in danger, or the school liable for something that happened in another person’s kitchen. Like Shulamit said, there are ways to avoid this- the towel on the table- not sitting near a child eating something. With a child this vulnerable, the school might want to establish standards for taking precautions- perhaps those in line with other pre-schools.</p>