Beauty Treatments and Tea...!

Our creative arts class wanted a relaxing afternoon on the 29th of September so we decided to do DIY beauty treatments. 

Our teacher Ms Dunne found face masks to make with only using the following ingredients : Banana, Avocado, Honey, Greek yogurt, Oats and Cacao powder. 

There was an option of five masks we could make. The steps were really easy and they smelt really good ( ….even good enough to eat!).

 We applied the mask to ourselves and others creating our own mini spa with tea and having chats. It left our skin smooth and smelling good.

Some people preferred to do a lip scrub and hair mask these were used with the same ingredients but we added in coconut oil and sugar. The lip scrub was used as a DIY lip exfoliator which removes the dry flakiness of your lips and makes them smooth and keeps your lipstick on for longer. 

 

Tie Dye Thursday!

Our first Creative Arts class we did tie dye. We were told to bring in a white 100% cotton items like a pillow case or top. 

We got a hand out of what type of design we wanted like the bull’s-eye pattern, the spiral and many more.  

We made the dye which consisted of 100 grams coloured dye powder, 10 grams of table salt and 200 ml of warm water. 

We then wrapped rubber bands on our item in the area we wanted to be white and to create the wanted design. We then headed outside to pour the dye on certain areas with certain colours. 

We left them for a week to dry off and soak up the colour. On the following Thursday we washed them with cold water and took pictures.

Love Food, Love Home Ec!! 📸☺️

So here is what happens when you give a TY student your phone to take some photos (as you have to teach another class) - a rather interesting selection of pictures that I just couldn't delete until I had uploaded/collaged them - as promised! 

I think its obvious from the photos however that the students in St. Mary's really do enjoy their practical cookery classes. Pictured here are the current group of TY Home Ec students who had a fantastic cook off against Ms. Buckley's class with Kate Lawlor - head chef/owner of Fenns Quay, Cork kindly visiting the school to act as judge. 

Kate visited a few weeks prior to the cook-off to give the girls advice on local foods and products to use, the benefits of buying local and what the career of a chef is like from a female perspective.  With this knowledge in hand the girls had an in class cook-off where Ms. Buckley and I selected the dishes from each group that would go forward to the final.

Its one of the highlights of the TY Home Ec course for both students and teachers! The selection of dishes, creativity and presentation that the girls put in was extremely impressive and they did themselves proud on the day. 

Such was the high standard that Kate found it extremely difficult to pick just one winner, so well done to the 3 winning groups, who will be heading off to dine in style with their prize of vouchers for brunch at Fenns Quay!

Well done to all the girls & special thanks to Emma my photographer, enjoy the photos!📸

Creative Crafts in St. Marys!

Baking & cooking isn't the only creative side to Home Ec, something that is sometimes forgotten about is the creative craft aspect. 

Craft & Design is held in very high esteem in St. Mary's and this year was no exception with the 3rd years doing themselves proud and upholding the usual very high standards.

Pictured are some of the crafts that were completed over a period of 12 weeks (and maybe a few extra weeks depending on circumstances!) Student are free to choose what craft they would like to do - under teacher guidance, and as you can see from the wide variety, the girls are not afraid to challenge themselves! From cross-stitch to tapestry, knitting, patchwork, applique wall-hangings, quilts, and cushions, the girls creativity is fantastic! 

It's really obvious all students have a wide range of talents and interests and this is reflected in their craft projects. Lots of love, patience and time went into these and hopefully they will have gained a skill they will put to use again sometime in the future!

 A selection of some of our cross stitch pictures. None left out on purpose - Ms Dunne will get around to photographing them all at some stage!

Lots of thought and personalisation = a forever piece  - although I think I should have ironed some of these before taking the photos!

Apprentice Chef 2016

St Mary's is lucky enough to have three extremely enthusiastic TY students participating in this years Apprentice Chef project. 

Now in its fourth year it was established by Mark Doe of justcooking.ie and Mark Murphy, senior lecturer in Culinary Arts at IT Tralee.

Aimed at secondary school students, the theme is ‘Good Mood Food’, to promote the importance of healthy eating in overall personal physical and mental wellbeing, as well as combating obesity and other health issues. 

Dishes should include a variety of ‘good mood foods’ based on seasonality, availability, locally produced and healthy unprocessed ingredients.

The girls spent weeks researching, planning, practicing and altering their recipes in anticipation of their cook-off held in Tralee IT. Accompanied by Home Economics teacher Ms. Buckley here are some pictures of the mouth-watering dishes the girls made on the day.

Lena cooked up a main course centered around Ballinwillin Farm venison, parsnip crisps, herbed quinoa and a beetroot puree.

Rachel served a platter of tempting desserts - an indulgent chocolate fondant, crisp buttery biscuits, panna cotta with poached rhubarb and cream filled profiteroles drizzled with caramel sauce.

Laura created a succulent lamb dish with hassle-back potatoes, wilted vegetables, roasted vine tomatoes and a vibrant green pesto.

I think you will agree all three dishes look extremely professional and well executed and certainly fit the bill of "Good Mood Food"!

Now the wait begins until the finalists are announced and fingers crossed for the girls that the preparation and planning will continue!

Click below to have a behind the scenes look at what happens on the day - enjoy!

Apprentice Chef 2016 Day 2 Vimeo

Fri-Yay! Treat - Chocolate Mousse

This delish dessert was practiced by one of my 3rd yr Junior Cert students today, and it was a great way to start the weekend! 

We only had strawberries in school to garnish with but raspberries and a sprig of mint would really add to presentation and I personally love the cute vintage feel to the cups!

I was lucky enough to get a taste and it was fab so fingers crossed it turns out as well next week during the practical exam.

Home Ec is Glittering!

I created a new display area outside Home Ec kitchen - Tios 1, using these DIY glitter letters.

Really easy to make I picked up the cardboard letters from Vibes & Scribes in Cork city. I coated them with PVA glue and then things got messy (and fun!) when I started applying the glitter. I would definitely recommend having lots of newspaper on hand as the glitter does tend to get everywhere!


The "Inspo" bunting was cut into triangles using a pinking scissors and the writing stencilled on using metallic paint. I then machined it on to a strip of scrap fabric I had - a very quick sewing project!


It created an eye-catching display and was great to see students stopping as they passed by to look at the photos I had printed out.


Now the hard part - keeping it updated!