A Pirate's Life for Me

Last Wednesday was International Talk Like a Pirate day, so I decided it was a good time to kick off our second unit study: Pirates! We heard that if you dressed up like a pirate, Krispy Kreme donuts would give you a free dozen... sad to say, the nearest Krispy Kreme was over 200 miles away. But we made the best of   it and took Uncle Ben to our favorite donut shop in full costume anyways! Ben even wore his "Pirate Boots", to the delight of Max. When we got to the donut shop, the owners were excited to see two little pirates come into their store! We even got a few extra donut holes along with our purchase for the buccaneers... so I guess pirate costumes can get you free donuts anywhere!

Our first day of pirate school, we learned about five famous pirates- and Max drew portraits of each that now decorate our living room wall. But that's about as far into real pirate history that we're going to go... much of pirate lore is not exactly preschool-appropriate. Instead, we're focusing on maps, ships, oceans, precious gems... anything remotely related to the pirates that Max knows and loves.

First on the list, pirate FOOD! We found recipes for hard tack and grog (don't worry, we left out the rum), and we cooked and ate them to see what meals would be like on a ship. I was thanking my lucky stars that I don't have to eat that stuff every day, but when I asked Max, he was ready to board the next ship he saw!

In case you want to give it a try, here are the recipes we used:

Hard Tack

2 c flour

2 T salt

approx. 1 c water

Mix flour and salt

Add water gradually until dough stays together but is not sticky

Roll out dough on floured surface, form into a rectangle

Cut dough into squares, place on ungreased baking sheet

Poke 4 rows of 4 holes on each square

Bake at 350 for 1 hour, flipping the biscuits after 30 minutes

Grog (the real stuff!)

3 measures hot water

(1 measure rum)*

1/2 lemon or lime

3 scoops sugar

*We obviously skipped the rum, opting to soak a tea bag in the hot water to give it a little flavor. 

Squeeze 1/2 lime into hot water, mix in sugar and stir until dissolved

Enjoy!