Roxanne Pompilio
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20 Percent project—Brainstorm

9/16/2014

9 Comments

 
Brainstorm: 
The long term EDL 630 project is exciting, but I think I have too many passions. I have three passions I thought about for this project. These include: wine, gardening (I’ve been experimenting with this one, so I might already know too much about it), and cooking. Please see the three possible topics below and help me with my decision. 


What to do with my Wine Grapes—Learn to Make Wine or Jam?
I have been trying to grow grapes for the past few years with little success until this year. One of my wines broke through the container and went into the ground and totally took off. I’ve been blessed with about 40-50 clusters of Syrah grapes and they are about ready for picking. I’ve always wanted to learn to make wine. Although in terms of this project and what I know about wine, I don’t think the wine would be ready for us to sample like in the case of beer and I don’t know if that would be a requirement for this project. I went to a gardening class and it was suggested I make jam (the grapes do have seeds).

My authentic questions for making wine:
  1. What materials are needed to start making wine besides the grapes?
  2. Will I need to source grapes from other growers to make enough wine given that I only have 40-50 clusters? (I have a few wine makers and growers in mind)
  3. What is the process of making wine?
  4. Given the time involved, is this a doable project? (For example, the grapes have to ferment for awhile)
  5. What temperature do I need to keep the grapes while they are fermenting?
  6. Where do I go to bottle my wine?
  7. What are the costs involved for this process? (Probably don’t need to buy too many grapes)
  8. How do I label the wine?
  9. Can the wine be entered in a home wine maker competition once produced?
  10. When will the wine be ready to drink?


My authentic questions for making jam:
  1. If I use the grapes for jam, how difficult and painful will it be to remove the seeds?
  2. How do I remove the seeds?
  3. What materials do I need to make jam?
  4. What are the costs involved?
  5.  How long does it take to make jam?
  6. Do I have the right type of grapes to make jam?
  7. How long does the jam keep? Does it need to be preserved?
  8. How much jam can be made using my 40-50 bunches of grapes?
  9.  How do I store the jam?
  10. Do I need special jars?

Gardening
I’ve been gardening awhile, but haven’t always had success. I’ve had success with tomatoes, peppers, artichokes, eggplant, herbs, and more recently butterfly attracting plants and wine grapes. I have not been successful with growing from seeds (too impatient), squash, watermelon, and some of the root vegetables. I thought about trying to grow a pumpkin for Halloween.

My authentic questions for starting a pumpkin-patch:
  1. Do I have the right soil?
  2. How much space do I need?
  3. Is it possible to grow at least one pumpkin by Halloween or Thanksgiving?
  4. Do I use the same type of fertilizer as with any other garden crop?
  5. What types of pests do I need to be concerned about?
  6. How long does it take to grow a pumpkin?
  7. Can I get a starter plant instead of growing it from seed?
  8. Would it be better to grow it from seed?
  9. What resources are available online for growing pumpkins?
  10. What happens if nothing grows?


Cooking:
I’m extremely passionate about cooking, but I cannot bake. My specialties are Indian, Moroccan, Hungarian, and seafood. We do not really have the right oven for homemade bread, but I think my kitchen will work for homemade pasta, pies, cakes, soufflés, and tortes.

My authentic questions for cooking deserts
  1. Do I have the cooking tools necessary to make deserts, particularly soufflés?
  2. Does it have to be an original recipe or can I borrow ideas?
  3. What is the history behind the recipe?
  4. Are there particular deserts native to my family background? Should I start with these?
  5. How much will it cost for baking supplies?
  6. What kind of time does it involve? Will I be baking a 2 a.m.?
  7. What is the cultural background for each desert?
  8. Should I only focus on one kind of desert, for example soufflés or several?
  9. What is the best way to document my project? 
  10. Is there a way to make healthy deserts that still taste great?


9 Comments
Danielle Freitas
9/16/2014 03:21:21 pm

Great ideas! I made jam when I was a child (under adult guidance) and I found it fun...and delicious. ;-) I think it would be nice to use these grapes you have, and to me, wine seems a bit of a difficult task... though doable. With the jam you can also use your product as gifts. :-)

Nice questions, very practical.

Reply
Alex Gonzalez
9/17/2014 12:59:48 am

Roxanne I like all three of your ideas, and you are in a good position to do anyone of them. With your grapes, you have the ability to incorporate them into each of your choices. To me however, it seems that making jam might be a good place to start. You can make a small batch to start. I'm looking forward to your progress!

Reply
Jose Mendoza
9/17/2014 01:43:05 am

Roxanne,

I like all of your ideas. However, I think that you could either make wine or deserts. You could create unique labels for your wine whereas deserts, everyone loves them (or mostly everyone). You could create a variety of versions of cheese cakes, chocolate cakes, etc...

Reply
Alicia Gallegos Butters
9/17/2014 04:01:15 am

Hello Roxanne,
I voted to bake. I used to work at a Culinary School and what I learned from all my observations is that baking is such a science. It is difficult to do it correctly and you do need to understand chemistry. For example: when does sugar melt, when does it burn. How to combined ingredients at the right time to avoid inappropriate mixing. I loved it though and try to bake all the time. I just wish I could get my cookies to all be fluffy.

Reply
Kerry
9/18/2014 02:46:13 pm

I spent one summer playing with a chocolate chip cookie recipe to get them just right (according to my preference) and found that adding a little more flour if they spread too much made them nice and fluffy. :) Baking IS tough.

Reply
Kerry Strong
9/18/2014 02:48:38 pm

I voted pumpkin initially, after reading your post. But, after reading everyone else's comments I think I'm leaning more towards jam. Jam is yummy and will most likely be very successful. I like the idea of using it as gifts too.

Reply
Amal Hersi link
9/18/2014 05:58:03 pm

Hi Roxanne,
I voted for Jam making. I've always enjoyed eating a slice of bread with jam for breakfast. You've mentioned that the grapes have seed in them, how big are the seeds? Can they be easily picked?

Reply
chas
9/20/2014 01:50:51 pm

I vote for the Jam as well. There is nothing better than fresh bread, with butter and jam. Or a good old peanut butter and jelly. So many uses, and not limited to the over 21 crowd ;)

Reply
Angelica
9/20/2014 04:47:50 pm

I voted for jam. Let me know what you choose bc regradless it all sounds fun to make. Good luck!

Reply



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    Roxanne Pompilio is a History-Social Science Teacher at the School of Creative and Performing Arts. She currently teaches 7th and 10th grade World History.

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