Ashtrays and Artichoke
By Lee Ann Flemming
While I am thoroughly enjoying my retirement from teaching, I often miss the students and my fellow teacher friends. Several of my teacher friends and I get together for lunch or just to visit. The conversation always rolls around to funny things that happened in the classroom.
As a brand- new teacher, many years ago, I learned a valuable lesson. Sometimes you can’t outfox children. I was a first- year teacher in a self -contained classroom. I was a little behind on reading the stories in our reading book. On a Monday, I had the children read the reading story in class and answer the questions at the end of the story. I would just listen to the story as we read it aloud in class. I had everything under control – or so I thought.
After glancing at the illustrations and reading the title of the story, Pedro Goes to Town, I assumed the young boy’s name was Pedro. There was a picture of a young Mexican boy, a girl, and a donkey. Before we read aloud, I asked the students why Pedro was going to town. Was he helping his family? Going to the market? There was dead silence. A young boy from the back of the room quickly let me know that the donkey was named Pedro, not the boy!
I was teaching Spelling and introducing the week’s new words. I will be quite honest and tell you that I really had not studied the list of words and was planning to “wing it”. When we approached the last word, ashtray, I told the students that is a word we aren’t really familiar with because people aren’t allowed to smoke in public areas. I went on and on telling them about how when I was their age people smoked in restaurants and in public all the time. All the restaurants had ashtrays on the table. Smoke filled the rooms as people were eating. I even told them the story of how in the movie, The Help, they piped in smoke for the restaurant and banquet scenes so it would be more realistic. Several students told me that they had family members who smoked and that they had ashtrays in their homes.
It was quite a discussion. I noticed a very perplexed student in the back of the room with her hand raised. Her response was that the word was astray, not ashtray! Might need to put my glasses on!!
For some reason, that really “tickled my funny bone”. I started laughing and could not stop. I quickly recovered and told them that I was just seeing who was paying attention. You’ve got to think fast if you are a teacher.
I love artichokes. Today I have some recipes featuring them. Hope you will give them a try. Thanks for reading.
ARTICHOKE SQUARES
2 (6 oz.) jars marinated artichokes, drain and save liquid from one jar
1 small onion, chopped
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 clove garlic
¼ cup dried breadcrumbs
Dash Tabasco
½ tsp. oregano
Salt and Pepper
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
Pour drained juice from jar into a skillet; saute’ the onion and garlic. Add artichokes that have been chopped. In a bowl, beat the eggs, breadcrumbs, Tabasco, oregano, salt, and pepper; stir into onion mixture. Add cheese and artichokes; mix well. Bake in a lightly greased 9 x 13- inch baking dish. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes. Cut into squares and serve hot. They can be made in advance and reheated on a cookie sheet.
HOT ARTICHOKE DIP
1 (14 oz.) can artichoke hearts, drained and finely chopped
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 pkg. Good Seasons Italian salad dressing mix
Mix all ingredients and pour into a baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Serve with Wheat Thin crackers.
SPINACH ARTICHOKE DIP
1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen, chopped spinach, cooked and drained
12 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
3 cloves garlic
Mix all ingredients and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly. You may serve hot, bring to room temperature, or refrigerate and serve cold. Great with crackers or vegetables.
