Education doesn't only happen in a classroom. More often than not, a fun outing can lead to learning.
And, if you choose your trip field well, it can also lead to ice cream!
A few weeks ago, my children and I were
lucky enough to witness the ice cream
making process from beginning to end.
Zany Zeus in Wellington is more than an ice
cream factory and parlour. That's because
the owner, Mike, is focused on educating his
customers about the ice cream making
process. This is why his shop has a
ceiling-to-floor window looking straight into
the factory where the magic happens.
And magic it is indeed. From ingredients
as simple as organic milk, skim milk powder,
sugar, stabilisers and frozen boysenberries,
Mike and his assistant John can whip
up boysenberry ice cream in as little
as 15 minutes!
But first, the laws of food hygiene have to
be observed. Anybody who steps into the
ice cream factory has to wear a hair net, an
overall apron, and gumboots. They must
also wash their hands like a surgeon. "It's
because harmful bacteria can grow rapidly
in the ice cream mixture," Mike explains.
Once the ice cream makers are scrubbed
clean, the fun begins. Mike and John work
as a team to blend the ice cream
ingredients into a uniform mixture, achieving
the most amazing colours: pale green for
pistachio ice cream, pink for boysenberry
ice cream, brown for chocolate. "Nothing
artificial," Mike assures us as he pours the
big bucket of ice cream mixture into the
By Teri Douglas
churning machine. "If we can't achieve the
flavour or colour we want using natural
ingredients, we simply don't make that
ice cream."
The churning process takes 10 minutes at
-3 to -6 degrees Centigrade and you can
see the liquid ice cream turn solid before
your eyes. When Mike scoops it out of the
machine into plastic containers, I get a
taste. Amazingly, the pistachio ice cream
tastes of pistachios, and the chocolate ice
cream is a chocolatey as you can get. All of
them are incredibly smooth and creamy.
The last part of the process is freezing the
ice cream for an hour in an industrial fridge
at a whopping -30 degrees! In a world
where children sometimes don't know that
apples come from trees, factories like Zany
Zeus are a boon.
At the end of the visit, the children and their
cousins are delighted to taste Monkey Poo
ice cream (banana flavour with chocolatecoated hokey pokey). The older ones get
the joke, and the 2-year-old is happy to eat
ice cream no matter what it's called, but the
5-year-old needs to learn to overcome her
word-association phobia. She also learns
this quote by Shakespeare: "A rose by any
other name would smell as sweet."
Who said eating ice cream can't
be educational?
The preventable
reality of chickenpox
Chickenpox can cause severe disease,
like meningitis, pneumonia and bad skin
infections)t2 Every year in NZ, 150-200 cases
end up in hospital and 1 or 2 cases result in
long-term disability or death. 1
A
Give chickenpox less chance with Varilrix
vaccine.2,3 Ask your doctor about protecting
your child against chickenpox with Varilrix.
e'veQbod has the ri.it+ -fio be protected.
CP
GlaxoSmithKline
LIVE ATTENUATED VARICELIA VACCINE
V:Plo.
Vaccines
1. Ministry of Health. Immunisation Handbook 2011. Wellington: Ministry of Health; 2011. 2. Heininger U, Seward JF. Lancet 2006 14;368:1365-76. 3. Var//fix® Data Sheet, GSK New Zealand.
Varilrix® (live attenuated varicella vaccine) is available as an injection. Varilrix is a private-purchase prescription medicine for immunisation and prophylaxis against varicella (chickenpox) in adults and
children older than 9 months. You will need to pay for this medicine. Children aged 13 years and older need two doses with an interval between doses of at least 6 weeks. Two doses at least 6 weeks
apart are also recommended for children aged between 9 months and 12 years, to provide optimal protection. Use strictly as directed. Do not have a Vail/fix injection if you are allergic to Varilrix or to the
antibiotic neomycin, if you have a high fever, if you have a condition that causes lack of immunocompetence, or if you are pregnant. Pregnancy should be avoided for 3 months after vaccination. Tell your
doctor before you have the vaccine if you have a lowered resistance to disease or have a severe chronic disease. Common side effects: mild rash, a small number of chicken-pox-like blisters, or pain,
redness and swelling at the injection site. Uncommon side effects include fever, headache, cough, vomiting, swollen lymph nodes, and joint pain. If you have any side effects, see your doctor, pharmacist, or
health professional. Additional Consumer Medicine Information for Varilrix is available at www.medsafe.govt.nz . Prices for Varilrix may vary across doctor's clinics. Normal doctor's office visit fees apply. Ask your
doctor if Vail& is right for you. Vatilrix is a registered trade mark of the GlaxoSmithKline group of companies. Marketed by GlaxoSmithKline NZ Limited, Auckland. TAPS NA5848JU/0004/12. H&T G5K0960.
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2012 Wellington
TOTS TO TEENS