New Piano Duet

Hello fellow blog readers! Carly here. I've been having a lot of fun working on this piano duet (Chopsticks Themes and Variations by Randall Compton) with my friend Meagan! It is a very intense version of Chopsticks, and has a lot of fun rhythms in it. Here is a sample of the duet below. We aren't finished with it yet, only one more page to master, and lots of spots to polish. I'll be performing the piece in Meagan's piano recital in the Spring, and possibly my piano recital (we'll see...I'm currently in the process of switching piano teachers).

Take a listen!

P.S. Here is a really awesome youtube of the piece. :)

Happy Holidays!

For our traditional "Goodie Making Day" this year we made coconut clusters, peppermint bark, chocolate lollis and our favorite fun new goodie - Pizzelles. Our friend brought her Pizzelle maker and we turned out dozens of the pretty sugar cookies.

Here is the recipe we used:

6 eggs 1 cup butter 2 teaspoons vanilla or anise extract (pure) 4 cups all purpose flour 3 teaspoons baking powder 2 cups sugar
1. Beat the eggs until smooth. Melt the butter in the microwave or in a small saucepan on low heat. 2. Allow the butter to cool briefly while you blend and mix the sugar and vanilla or anise extract into the eggs. 3. Add the melted butter into the mix, sift the flour and baking powder onto the mix and blend vigorously to ensure uniformity. Happy Holidays!

Meet the Elements

Holiday Dough Ornaments

By Allie,

My brother and I have been having fun making these holiday salt dough ornaments. Here's how:

What you'll need:

• ½ cup salt
• 1 cup flour
• ½ cup water
• Rolling pin
• Cookie sheet
• Toothpick
• Cookie cutters - Christmas trees, snowmen, stars, etc.
• Acrylic paints

How to make it:

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
2. Mix together, salt, flour, and water until dough is formed.
3. Knead the dough on a floured surface until the mixture is elastic and smooth. If dough is too sticky, sprinkle with flour, continue to do so until stickiness is gone. Do not add too much flour, this will dry out the dough and will cause it to crack before you get a chance to bake it.
4. Roll out the dough to about ¼” thick with a rolling pin that has been dusted with flour.
5. Use cookie cutters to cut shapes
6. Use a toothpick to make a hole toward the top of the shape.
7. Place all shapes onto an ungreased cookie sheet and place into the preheated oven.
8. Bake for 2 hours.
9. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
10. Paint

Thanksgiving Baking

This year we made 6 pies + four mini pies for the Thanksgiving feast tomorrow. Nate helped with the pumpkin pies and blueberry pie. Allie made the banana creme, Micayla made key lime pie, and I made pecan. We started baking around 10:00 in the morning, and continued making a mess throughout the day; cooking and cleaning nonstop, as well as blasting Pandora on the stereo. In the end, we had 10 pies in all, beautifully displayed on our 1800's organ (which also serves as a sideboard). Mmm can't wait to eat them!

Micayla whisking up the key lime filling.

Me with the pecan pie. The recipe (<----click on link for recipe) for it used maple syrup instead of corn syrup.

Allie showing off her banana creme.

Nate and his scrumptious mini blueberry.

All the pies! Happy Pie (I mean Turkey) Day!

The Nutcracker

post by Micayla

.... It's time for The Nutcracker!! This year I am performing as little Clara!! Carly is in Snow and Chinese. You can see me as Clara on December 19th and 23rd. Here is the link if you would like to buy tickets.

Here are a couple of pictures from an outreach performance we did:

Secret Life of Scientists

These are awesome videos that we discovered which feature different scientists and what they do in their secret lives.

Here is the link for the videos

And here is one of our favorite ones:

Watch the full episode. See more Secret Life of Scientists.