Photographs of us testing out Day Of The Dead recipes

Testing out Day Of The Dead recipes

Skull Shaped Lemon and Poppy Seed Cookies

Although not a traditional item for placing on the alter it is a fun and easy way to experience a bit of the Day Of The Dead in your own home and they are fun to decorate.

Recipe

Ingredients:

• 4 tbsp lemon juice
• zest of 1 lemon
• 230g butter
• 460g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 230g sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp poppy seeds

To decorate:

These can be decorated any way you choose. We used chocolate beans, marshmallows,poppy seeds, flaked almonds and edible gold spray paint.

1. Preheat oven to 190C
2. Bring lemon juice to simmer until reduced by half. Add half of the butter and stir until it has melted. Remove from heat.
3. In a bowl, cream together the rest of the butter with the sugar. Add the egg and stir. Then add the lemon butter mix and stir for three minutes until the mixture becomes pale.
4. Mix in vanilla extract and lemon zest.
5. Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix together.
6. Roll the mix into balls, then flatten them and shape them into skull shapes.
7. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes
8. Leave to cool and then decorate.

Pan De Muerto Recipe Card

We decided to produce recipe cards that would be available at the museum during the exhibition because we couldnt provide real food due to health and safety. This is the one I created for Day Of The Dead bread. It is a different recipe that the one we used when making it ourselves because it was to complex a recipe for kids to be able to do easily and ingredients like orange blossom water are hard to come by. Complex recipes are off putting and we want the recipe cards to be as assessable as possible so that familys can experience The Day Of The Dead in their own homes. Learning through a practicle family activity like baking could help children learn about The Day Of The Dead in their own homes. The recipe card is made to scale to be printed onto A4 paper but the edges of it cannot be seen in this post because the recipe card uses white paper and the background of the blog post is white.

Testing out Day Of The Dead recipes

A main aspect of the Day Of the Dead is the alter. One of the main contriputions to the alter is food, so as part of our research into the items placed on the alter we decided to try out some recipes. The recipes found and the photographs taken could be turned into a handout available at the exhibition to encorage familys to learn about the Day of The Dead at home through cooking.

Day Of The Dead Bread

• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 2 3/4 oz. (5-1/2 Tbs.) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• Two 4- by 1-inch strips of orange zest (use a vegetable peeler; avoid the white pith)
• 1 Tbs. orange blossom water
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 oz. (1-3/4 tsp.) active dry yeast
• 15 3/4 oz. (3-1/2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour; more as needed
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• Vegetable oil as needed

For the topping:

• 2 oz. (4 Tbs.) unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

Directions:

1. Make the dough: Put the milk, butter, and orange zest in a small saucepan over medium heat; stir until the butter melts, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool until warm. Discard the orange zest, add the orange blossom water, and whisk in the eggs.
2. Dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup lukewarm water (no hotter than 110 degrees F) and let stand until the mixture bubbles slightly, 5 to 10 minutes. (If the yeast doesn’t bubble, discard it and start again with new yeast.)
3. Mix the flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the center. Gradually pour the yeast mixture and the milk mixture into the well while mixing with your hand.
4. Knead until you have a nice, uniform dough, about 10 minutes. The dough should be smooth but still slightly sticky. If it seems too sticky, add more flour as needed.
5. Put the dough in a large, lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a towel, and leave in a warm place (about 70 degrees F) until doubled in size, 1 to 1-1/2 hours.
6. Shape the bread: Cut off a piece of dough about the size of a lemon and reserve. Divide the remaining dough in half and shape the pieces on a lightly floured surface into 2 rounds. Lightly oil a heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet or line it with parchment; put the dough rounds on it and flatten the tops with your hands.With some of the reserved dough, form 2 balls the size of large marbles; set aside and cover with plastic. Divide the remaining dough into 6 pieces and roll them with your hands from the center out, making ropes that are slightly longer than the width of the loaves. As you’re rolling, press with your index and middle fingers spread about 1 inch apart to make knobs that represent bones. Arrange 3 of the ropes on top of each dough round, overlapping the ropes in the center. Cover loosely with a cloth or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Dab a little cold water on the top center of each round where the ropes meet and put the reserved dough balls on top, pressing slightly so they adhere.
8. Bake until the loaves have an even golden color, 30 to 40 minutes. Cover the loaves loosely with foil and continue to bake until their bottoms are browned and the internal temperature is 190 degrees F, 10 to 15 minutes more.
9. Remove from the oven and cool for a few minutes on a wire rack.Top the bread: Brush the loaves all over with some of the melted butter. Holding one from the bottom (if it’s too warm, use an oven mitt or a piece of cardboard), sprinkle half of the sugar all over the top, tilting the loaf slightly to help coat it evenly. Repeat with the other loaf and remaining sugar.
10. Cool to room temperature before serving. The bread is best eaten within a day of baking.Makes 2 loaves.

Prototype Table Top:

Hey gals, heres some of the photos I have taken in an attempt to simulate the concept of letting the observers write the names of their lost loved ones. I was also thinking maybe a personal message could be rather touching, but thats leading it into different intensions.

My attempt at a day of the dead ragdoll

This is my doll so far, it just needs something to wear now. I made it out of a skirt I dont wear anymore which I sewed together with thick thread. I embroidered the face and sewed tassels on that I took from a scarf to make hair.

Compromised Geriatric Slapper Doll

Ahoy there shipmates, well i couldn't find any material in my budwah, so i thought it would be best to use my dirty tea towels that my flatmates keep nagging me about, so here she is, haven't yet decorated her, and yes she looks a little mouldy, but thats because i have been coating it with a waterproofing agent before i ink on it. i also made it a little cape. Im gunna try making it a origami mexican hat too, oh and she is stuffed with rubbishy bits from the bin! Niccce! Mwahh!

Ragdoll

After a good three hours of making this rag doll, I have found out a few things. We simply cannot give this to children as it is far to time consuming and I can imagine them getting bored and frustrated...also I cannot sew for toffee.

...Anyway here is the little fellow sans arms.

Email The International School of Moscow, Russia

Rather modest response from melissa.danby@internationalschool.ru, however she is fine with handing the kids sheets to do as homework/ own time studies :P

Hi Will,

So you would like me to give the activity sheet to my class? The problem
is that I can't really fit any of this extra work into the timetable as we
have tests and curriculum work to cover each lesson.

I do however think that its a great idea, especially for children based in
the UK who you would have easy access to. Another problem that I can
foresee would be how to get any work which they had done back to you
before the deadline?



On 14/11/2011 15:25, "WILLIAM DANBY" wrote:

>Dear Miss Danby
>
>
>I am writing to you from a specialist art collage located in Plymouth,
>United Kingdom.
>
>I have been given a project where we have had to congregate into a groups
>of 4, then working with the Plymouth City Museum & Art Galley curate an
>exhibition. As curators, we will completely independently manage the
>exhibition, selecting artists works, writing about it, deciding how it
>will be presented, where it will be presented, financing it, promoting,
>criticising it etc. However we will never actually follow it through,
>this exercise is purely planning, but approaching it in a very serious
>way. Our final deadline for presentation is the 15th December, we must
>have explored every angle for pursuing this task, even down to obtaining
>a 'health and safety' document from the museum.
>
>
>Our group have decided on curating an exhibition based on the Mexican
>yearly Aztec festival "Day of the Dead" where families who have lost
>loved ones will celebrate there memories by creating vast shrines and
>altars, decorating them with colourful creations, significantly edible
>sculls with the names of their losses inscribed. A day well practiced by
>Catholics, dating back to pre-Hispanic times, although still popular in
>Mexican culture.
>
>
>Due to the interest and history of this festival, we feel it is a great
>starting point for our exhibition, as there will be a mixed variety of
>responses. We plan to contact a range of different organisations,
>culturally spread out for different responses to the event, be that
>verbally, or physically. This will help us explore critically the many
>different aspects to curating, it will be included in our research and
>may be exhibited.
>
>
>These are early stages in our investigation and planning stage, however
>we were thinking of ways to accumulate responses to the 'Day of the
>Dead'. One route we have began to question is a how a child would think
>of this ritual, we therefore have planned to produce some basic
>questionnaires helping us understand what people think of death. Also one
>idea was to produce some activity sheets for a young group to participate
>with. Most likely guiding them on how to make some of the attractive
>memoirs and beautiful displays that the Mexicans produce, this will
>hopefully educate them about this amazing culture and hopefully they
>would get some enjoyment out of learning.
>
>
>We were wondering, if there would be a possibility of you both being able
>to in some way combine this into one of your younger classes, we can
>appreciate that this is a large request, and im sure you have specific
>schedules for your students. We would ultimately like a class to produce
>a credited piece of work that will relate to our topic, providing you
>have the time and approve of our request. We are still in our planning
>stage and i appreciate that this may come across rather motley, however i
>thought i would await your response before 'jumping the gun'. Please find
>attached our early prototype worksheet as a sample, that we will further
>develop.
>
>
>Many Thanks
>
>
>William Danby
>
>Ba (Hons) Fine Art Practices
>Plymouth College of Art and Design
>

Email Lady Lumley's School, Pickering:

Heres what i sent to achaddock@ladylumleys.net CC. pmcgrath@ladylumleys.net, my previous art teachers, i have missed out a few irrelevant paragraphs, so the start probably wont make sense :D

// We have been given a project where we have had to congregate into a groups of 4, then working with the Plymouth City Museum & Art Galley curate an exhibition. As curators, we will completely independently manage the exhibition, selecting artists works, writing about it, deciding how it will be presented, where it will be presented, financing it, promoting, criticising it etc. However we will never actually follow it through, this exercise is purely planning, but approaching it in a very serious way. Our final deadline for presentation is the 15th December, we must have explored every angle for pursuing this task, even down to obtaining a 'health and safety' document from the museum.


Our group have decided on curating an exhibition based on the Mexican yearly Aztec festival "Day of the Dead" where families who have lost loved ones will celebrate there memories by creating vast shrines and altars, decorating them with colourful creations, significantly edible sculls with the names of their losses inscribed. A day well practiced by Catholics, dating back to pre-Hispanic times, although still popular in Mexican culture.


Due to the interest and history of this festival, we feel it is a great starting point for our exhibition, as there will be a mixed variety of responses. We plan to contact a range of different organisations, culturally spread out for different responses to the event, be that verbally, or physically. This will help us explore critically the many different aspects to curating, it will be included in our research and may be exhibited.


These are early stages in our investigation and planning stage, however we were thinking of ways to accumulate responses to the 'Day of the Dead'. One route we have began to question is a how a child would think of this ritual, we therefore have planned to produce some basic questionnaires helping us understand what people think of death. Also one idea was to produce some activity sheets for a young group to participate with. Most likely guiding them on how to make some of the attractive memoirs and beautiful displays that the Mexicans produce, this will hopefully educate them about this amazing culture and hopefully they would get some enjoyment out of learning.


We were wondering, if there would be a possibility of you both being able to in some way combine this into one of your younger classes, we can appreciate that this is a large request, and im sure you have specific schedules for your students. We would ultimately like a class to produce a credited piece of work that will relate to our topic, providing you have the time and approve of our request. We are still in our planning stage and i appreciate that this may come across rather motley, however i thought i would await your response before 'jumping the gun'.


Many Thanks


William Danby


Plymouth College of Art and Design