Solar Fudge

I was ready for the Jedi this morning and had his lessons re-planned and ready to go early again.  We began with grammar.  I'm using the Bob Jones University English grade 6.  We've only done 3 lessons, but so far it's a great fit for the Jedi.  While he's a wiz at Math, English is not his passion.  Today we talked about diagramming sentences...they still teach that?  Yes, and apparently it's still important.  I actually enjoyed going over compound predicates and the Jedi seemed responsive.  Although, I believe I forgot to mention we were eating left over birthday cake during the lesson.

We separated to do our work and I logged on to my class and responded to some discussion questions.  I'm on my second to last class for my Masters and although the end is in sight, the fog has yet to clear.  I can't believe I've made it this far, but I still feel like I have so far to go!

The Jedi had just the right amount of assignments today and no busy work.  That is another reason I love home schooling.  If he grasps a concept, we can move on!  He finished just in time for us to run over to the allergist and get our allergy shots.  (We live in the South and are allergic to just about everything.  The only way we can breath is to be on shots.).  Then, we had to make a quick run to the grocery store and Sams to pick up some food and supplies for our afternoon science project.

Last summer the kids made a solar oven out of a shoe box.  They cooked s'mores in it and enjoyed learning the science behind it.  I thought I'd take that lesson a step further and see what else we could make.  We had a pizza box laying around (we'd just finished it at lunch) and I sent a text to another home schooling mom for ideas and recipes...

First we started with our pizza box...

The Jedi traced a sheet of paper on the lid and then cut three sides of the traced rectangle with a blade.  (He was supervised, don't worry.)  Then, we lined the inside bottom of the box with black construction paper.  We covered the top flap with covered with aluminum foil.  Then we rolled up newspaper and put in along the inside edges of the bottom of the box to create insulation.  Finally, we taped plastic wrap (I was out so I had to use press 'n seal) to both sides of the lid to create a seal.

Then, we got out an umbrella...

(This was another idea I got from my friend too.)  We lined the inside entirely with aluminum foil.  I believe you're actually supposed to cut the metal out with wire cutters, but I wasn't about to ruin my ONLY umbrella.  Well, there is that Dora umbrella my daughter still uses, but she would not have been happy if I disassembled that family heirloom.

Then, we mixed up our recipe for solar fudge...

1 1/2 cups Semi Sweet Chocolate chips
1 & 3/4 cans of Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 tsp vanilla
(That's it! - I didn't know what to think either)

We poured it into two brownie pans lined with non-stick foil.  I hate to make a mess...

Then, we set up our solar ovens and put the brownie pans in each one...

Fifteen minutes later we stirred each pan.  The fudge in the umbrella cooker still looked like it did when we set it in there, but it mixed well and we thought it might be fully cooked.  It's hard to tell.

The one in the pizza box didn't stir as smooth and the chips hadn't fully melted.  We gave it another 10 minutes before bringing it in.  

As we brought each one in, we gave it another stir and then put it in the fridge.  I suppose it could have hardened at room temperature, but we're not patient people when it comes to chocolate. 

Here's the final product:

It's still a bit gooey and I'm not sure if it will ever cut like normal fudge, but it tastes super sweet!

We had a great time doing this and Jedi's Sis came home just in time to join in the fun.  Tomorrow we'll discuss how it worked and why one oven cooked faster than the other.