The Children's Culinary Academy

"It All Started With a Leaf..."

The past week was pretty great overall--Huevos Rancheros, 

Aloo Paratha
(an Indian bread stuffed with curried potatoes and peas),

Chocolate Orange Bread and homemade Cherry Fizz (the bread was a little weird, but the Cherry Fizz was terrific, especially with a little lime juice added), and Strawberry Shortcake, but the best part of the week, for me, came on Thursday when we made fresh Whole Wheat Herbed Pasta with Tomatoes and Swiss Chard.

I KNOW! Crazy! Most of them LOVED it. But that wasn't even the best part of the day, though it easily could have been.

Every Thursday some of the kids from PAL come over to cook with us. This past Thursday morning Nick and Julia, who'd cooked with me before, came over and left happy. I didn't expect anyone else for the afternoon, so I was a little surprised when just after 1pm I saw two faces peeking around the doorjamb. I asked if they wanted to come in and check out the kitchen. They nodded and stepped boldly into and walked all the way around the kitchen.

Then they left.

A few minutes later they were back and wanted to know if I would let them join that very class. I grabbed a couple of cutting boards and helped them set up their stations. Then I sent them out to the garden to get some herbs and pick some Swiss chard.

They spent the next three hours chopping and kneading and rolling and sauteeing. We put everything together and they headed back to their day camp classroom with the pasta. They enjoyed themselves, that much I knew, but I couldn't have guessed how they would describe their experience to their peers.

Mr. S. came by and told me that I'd be getting more kids next week. The girls were thrilled with their work and upon their return everyone gathered around them, tasting, asking questions, and listening. He heard them say, "It all started with a leaf...."  

And so it did.

Nothing could have made me happier.

Rake and Bake 2010: Week....The First!

I love this summer program! I get five days in a row to work with some really fantastic kids and see their eyes light up when their amazing creations come out of the oven. And this year we’re able to do it in the HUGE kitchen at the Police Athletic League (PAL). Our new home is serving us well. Everyone is happy and comfortable and our garden is getting amazing amounts of sun and regular watering and it shows.
  (The Chive Monster)
 
 
  The week started with Lemon Ricotta Pancakes and Blueberry Syrup, which were an incredible hit, in spite of the fact that there’s, uh…um…cheese in them? The kids were amazed to find that the pancakes didn’t taste cheesy at all. And oh! They whipped egg whites to soft peaks! And they *folded* those egg whites into the batter and got
creative on the griddle, where they learned to use the spatula and successfully flip their way to breakfast-y success. We moved on from there to Filipino-style empanadas that were filled with peas, carrots, onions (oh those onions made everyone cry!), garlic, and ground turkey and seasoned with rice vinegar and soy sauce. I know! Can you believe all that tasty goodness in one package? They couldn’t either, really. Some ate the extra filling while waiting for their pastries to cook, while others held onto theirs so family and friends could have a taste. The dough was part whole wheat and was easy to roll and had a great crumb.
Next was snack day, which was probably everyone’s favorite because it involved chocolate and a frozen treat. Well, the frozen treat was almost frozen—everyone was so hot they didn’t want to wait until their popsicles had time to freeze solid. Slushy was more like it. Actually, one person was able to wait—Madeline. The next day she had a special treat while her friends looked on, green with envy. Thursday we went wild and shucked ear after ear of corn for some spicy corn fritters. The spicy dipping sauce, made with sriracha chile sauce, was well-received, even by those who claimed not to like spicy things. On the side we made a lovely lemongrass-infused coconut jasmine rice that provided a nice balance to the spicy sauce. The lemongrass and scallions came from the garden, and all week we used eggs from my backyard chickens. The girls (Gladys, Wiggles, Chickadee, and Peeps-a-Lot) worked hard to provide us with nearly 3 dozen eggs.
We capped the week off with Peach Cobbler. Everyone was a fan of the crunchy part (the doughy topping) and the cinnamon and nutmeg we used to liven things up. The one thing I would definitely change in that recipe is the amount of sugar we used. At this time of year, with fresh, in-season peaches, it’s not necessary to sweeten them so much. I can’t wait to meet next week’s students! Rake and Bake in the morning and Green Teens (a huge class) in the afternoon. A BIG shout out and thank you to Emily and Stephen for all their amazing volunteer help this week! Class would be a lot more difficult without them there to help and the kids would miss having a chance to bond with some pretty great teenagers.