The Children's Culinary Academy

Nostalgia

Last week I was feeling nostalgic about the kids who have been with me from the beginning of the program. I've had the pleasure of watching them grow for three years. Many have moved from Rake and Bake to Green Teens this year, and they've done so seamlessly. A couple of the teens are becoming teachers and mentors to the younger kids, which is a joy to watch.  Sometimes I'm surprised by what they've retained. The kitchen is a comfort to many of them, and they don't seem to mind doing dishes, putting away equipment, or even cleaning before we leave for the day. I like having them around. They're funny and weird and self-assured in ways that only kids are. Sometimes I think I can see glimpses of their future selves. It's tempting to try to tell them what I see, but I know they won't understand and will look at me like I'm a three-headed squid, so instead I just observe and enjoy.

And because of this sort of sentimentality (sucker!) occasionally get roped into letting them make something crazy like doughnuts and soft pretzels.

Henry P., who has matured so dramatically over the past three summers that it caused me to experience some sort of mental break, was the catalyst. He mentioned how much he loved the soft pretzels we made last summer and asked if we could do them again this summer.  I acquiesced, which only served to empower him to make a more outrageous request. He then said that he wanted to make glazed doughnuts, which are not something we'd ever normally make because they fall a...ahem...tiny bit outside the guidelines for what I think of as a healthy treat.

Nevertheless, he kept asking until one day I finally gave in. BUT! There was a catch. These weren't going to be your average run of the mill deep fried doughnuts (What?! Doughnuts are deep fried?! Most of the kids had absolutely no clue about this and expressed great shock before falling to their knees muttering "but they're sooooooooooooo good!").

I told Henry the doughnuts would have to be baked.

He was thrilled that I'd given in, but I wasn't 100% sure he'd be happy with the final product. I'd never tried baked doughnuts before. At best, it they would taste wonderful. At worst it would all make for an interesting experiment.

I chose an enriched, yeasted dough--the same we used for French Toast earlier in the week, because it was soft and sweet and rose well. We made a big batch of dough and then rolled and cut the doughnuts with the doughnut cutter. The kids were surprised to learn that doughnut holes actually do come from the hole of the doughnut. 

We laid them out on sheet pans, waited for them to rise again, baked them, and then glazed them. They were fantastic!

Some of our other creations last week were barbecued chicken (in the oven) with corn bread (made with agave syrup), and more vegetable samosas, mainly because it just tickles me that the kids will devour something so spicy and foreign to their taste buds.

The garden is in full swing and we've harvested beets, onions, tomatoes, all sorts of herbs, a couple of really hot peppers, and of course lots of zucchini and yellow summer squash. My biggest surprise of the season so far, however, has been the cantaloupes, which are growing like crazy! I planted them but didn't expect much and right now we've got at least a dozen growing out there. Amazing! Hopefully they'll make it to full ripeness. When they do, you can be sure there will be pictures here!!

Evolution

I’ve been doing this cooking with kids thing long enough now that the nuts and bolts of it all come pretty easily, even in a less familiar space. Setup is easy, clean up is getting easier (although nothing will ever make confectioner’s sugar easier to clean), and all the in-between time seems to go more smoothly than ever. Not having to sweat the details gives me the opportunity to spend more time enjoying the kitchen dynamics. Antics, even.

The biggest shift has come from the kids who have been with me for the past three years. Jenna and Ben have now seamlessly taken on more responsibility in the kitchen, watching out for the other, less experienced students.
They’ll help with knife grips, warn them about safety hazards (“keep your eyes on your knife,” “don’t run in the kitchen,” etc.), and they’ll even offer little tips and tricks for how to do things more easily—smashing garlic with the side of the knife, rolling a lemon on their board before juicing , and rolling up basil leaves to make for an easier chiffonade.  They’re even focusing more on technique, working on a clean station, and, of all things, doing the dishes! And that’s just the 5 to 9 year olds.  

The teens have evolved in ways that delight and surprise me every day. They are realizing that they have actually learned the basic techniques (I can write “Biscuit Method” on the board and they know what to do), and they’ve developed a rapport with each other that is both fascinating and charming (in a teenage sort of way).  What used to present a challenge to them is now executed with ease, and most of the time they’re engaged and interested in what I have to say.

So they’re evolving. And so am I. And I’m enjoying and appreciating the process of it.

One of the most fun developments this week was that Emily made us an enormous (4- by 8-foot) chalkboard and we’re loving it! Saving paper and ink is a breeze now. 
No one has to shuffle paper around their station, and when Jenna approached the board to talk her classmates through the recipe she used the visuals I put up there (pictures of measuring spoons and cups) to help clarify the directions.

What did we make this week?  We started with Breakfast Pizza, which is basically a pizza with scrambled eggs as an added topping, Chicken and Pesto Quesadillas with fresh Basil Pesto, 
Power Bars, Berry Mango Slushes, amazing Pink Lemonade (colored with strawberries, not food coloring!), Lemon Bars, and Vegetarian Chili with Cheddar and Chive Biscuits. The teenagers also got to make their own Graham Crackers and Marshmallows from scratch and we catered a small gathering for Stephen’s mom who has just partnered up with some friends to open the Massage Co-Op in Sandwich. Check it out!

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.

Spring Chives

This time of year is exciting because the earth is warming, flowers are quietly unfurling themselves towards the brightest sun we’ve seen in months, and the grass is greening up. I start to anticipate the bounty the vegetable garden will yield long before the first chives emerge.

And they have emerged.

They were the first things I saw as I walked slowly up the garden steps this week. Bright green and eager, they stand at the center of what was a large patch of herbs. The rest of the garden is brown and black and a tangle of straw-colored stems left trapped under last season’s early snow.

There are already worms and weeds taking up residence. The worms we love. The weeds not so much.

Megan and Amelia gave us some young asparagus and strawberry plants. They were ready to be planted, so on Saturday I took the Kids Cafe class out to the garden after we made Chive, Ham, and Potato Frittatas and Blueberry Lemon Muffins and we put those little plants in the wet, warm ground. 

I must admit that I had no clue how to plant asparagus. First we planted them upside down (!), but I quickly realized my error and ran out after the kids left to replant them roots down.

After I got home that afternoon I did some research and came to learn that although this time I’d gotten them the right way round they still needed to be replanted. Note to self (and anyone else wishing to plant asparagus):

1) dig a trench

2) make a mound of dirt the length of said trench

3) put asparagus plants along the trench, 12 to 18 inches apart, spreading their roots out over the mound of dirt.

4) cover with dirt up to the crown.

And now I have to hope that no one inadvertantly digs them up or steps on them (hello person with the giant shoe whose swirly-bottomed soles left prints all over the newly turned earth around the wrongly planted asparagus—USE THE PATHS!!)

Other than that this week we used chives in as many things as we could manage—frittatas, potato pancakes, and lovely green beans with lemon and butter. Nicole even said she doesn’t normally eat green beans, but she definitely enjoyed these!

Tots and Pans and Kids Cafe kids also made some truly yummy Blueberry Lemon Muffins (loaves) with wheat germ, yogurt, and oats. Delicious and healthy!

Young Epicureans also made Lime Shortbread drizzled with white chocolate, Ciabatta bread, and Sundried Tomato and Green Olive Stuffed Chicken Breasts.

Emily, our resident vegetarian, made some pasta and sauce, which everyone enjoyed.

(Huh? No, way was this picture staged!)

And now, some gratuitous cuteness:

Many thanks to Chloe for taking all these fabulous pictures for me and to Fran and Gina for helping with clean up again!

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

We're all super excited that Highfield Hall will be hosting a children's cooking and gardening program this summer. Produce from our brand new, 1100 square foot kitchen garden will be incorporated into the curriculum, and while I'm sure we will be able to grow a lot of beautiful herbs and vegetables I know we won't be able to sustain our cooking programs solely on our gardening efforts. That's why I was thrilled to learn that Coonamessett Farm, one of my favorite places on the Cape, has decided to introduce Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) to their farming program this season.

I first learned about CSA back in 1998 when I was doing research for Bitter Harvest (Routledge, 2000), and in the spring/summer of 1999 my husband and I found a farm that allowed us to do a full work share, which meant that if we worked a certain number of hours each week on the organic farm we'd chosen we would get a full share of produce (the value was about $600 for the season) in exchange for our work. It was a great deal back then for two struggling foodies. We worked hard for about eight hours a week and in exchange for our labor we got a delightfully fresh, wide variety of organic produce, some of which we were trying for the first time. That year we were introduced to kabocha squash, garlic scapes, and tatsoi lettuce among other things, and because you don't get to choose your produce, we had to learn to be creative with what we got. We learned some invaluable lessons that year—not the least of which was that organic farming is incredibly labor-intensive and we walked away from that adventure with a much greater respect for farming than we'd ever had.

Luckily for the lazy time-challenged among us, Coonamessett Farm isn't doing work shares, instead, customers buy a share—about 8 pounds of produce plus flowers, herbs, or berries, depending upon availability, each week for 12 weeks (all for $300!) and pick it up on a scheduled day at a scheduled time. Easy! And so popular, the farm's CSA program is already full.

It will be very exciting for us to be growing our own produce *and* enjoying the efforts of Coonamessett Farm. Not only will the children be learning about a wide variety of locally available produce, but they'll be getting to eat it at its peak of flavor, aroma, and natural beauty. I, for one, am looking forward to a fantastic summer season at Highfield Hall!

For more information about our summer programs for children ages 5 to 13, click here. Registrations are being taken now and can be made online.