Since President’s Day has become more of a shopping and day off school and work holiday, maybe it’s time to get back to basics and teach our children about the presidents and U.S. history. One way to do this is with Do-Re-Me & You’s America the Musical book. This book is a Dr. Toy best A/V Product and Children’s Products winner. It’s also a 2006 Teacher’s Choice Award winner.

On a musical journey through time, your budding historian will read about the cultures, politics, and lifestyles of the people who inspired the famous lyrics. Penned in kid-friendly language and riddled with oddly-interesting facts (one President had hippo bones and cow’s teeth in his mouth), it’s an unforgettable musical lesson in history when the CD brings each era to life with vivid characters, engaging and humorous dialogue, and the songs themselves.

Each chapter has a section called “Amazing Presidents” and highlights outstanding people, events, and “Music of the Times.” The CD contains classics like “Erie Canal,” “The Yellow Rose of Texas,” and “This Land is Your Land” that both you and your children will enjoy.

And believe it or not, there are presidential recipes as documented at the Red Tape Blog, a blog about items of interest to the government documents librarians of Michigan State University. There’s some great links, including one to George Washington’s Mount Vernon kitchen. I love old recipes because they’re so wild. Imagine making a Great Cake with 40 eggs and 4 pounds of butter!

Here’s an old presidential recipe that I liked and that you could actually make at home.

Abigail Adams Apple Pan Dowdy
Serving Size : 4

Ingredients – Pastry :

1. 1 1/2 cups flour
2. 1/2 cup shortening

Ingredients – Filling:

1. 1/2 cup sugar
2. 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3. 1/4 teaspoon salt
4. 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
5. 10 large apples
6. 1/2 cup molasses
7. 3 tablespoons butter — melted
8. 1/4 cup water

Directions – Pastry:

1. Blend until mealy. Sprinkle a little ice water over dough, enough to hold together.
2. Roll out to 1/4″ thickness, brush with 1/4 cup melted butter. Cut pastry in half. Place halves on top of each other. Roll and cut again.
3. Repeat until 16 times (16 pieces of dough piled up on top of each other) then chill for 1 hour.
4. Roll pastry again and cut in half. Line bottom of baking dish. Save other half for top.

Directions – Filling:

1. Peel and slice the apples. Mix with sugar and spices and put in pastry lined dish. Combine molasses with butter and water. Pour over apples.
2. Cover with top crust and seal. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Then reduce heat to 325 degrees.
3. “Dowdy” the dish by cutting the crust into apples with sharp knife. Bake one hour. Serve hot with ice cream or whipped cream.

(Picture courtesy of Martha Stewart who has her own recipe for Apple-Raisin Pandowdy.)

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