8.15.2009

Jr. Chef School #3!!!

Jr. Chef School #3 is coming up this Wednesday, August 19 from 10am-12noon. The theme is Super Pasta, the guest chef is Chelsea Hindenach from the Village Bakery, and this event is FULL! I know Chelsea has plans to teach the kids to make some delicious food using as many ingredients as possible from the Athens Farmer's Market; so if you're at market this Wednesday, you'll be sure to pick up on the yummy scents of summer food and see kids having a great time learning how to prepare it.

I'm gonna take this moment to recap on the last two Jr. Chef Schools that occurred this year. The first one was with guest chef Jennifer Baldwin from the Village Bakery and she had a blast teaching the kids how to mix up some great tasting Berry Pancakes using local berries from some of our farmers. The kids got to go shopping and learn where their food comes from and how it's grown.

Some of the same kids had such a great time, they signed up for Jr. Chef School #2 with guest chef, ME! I also had a blast making Breakfast Burritos with my group. We visited several growers of produce and bought all kinds of fun veggies, as well as eggs, cheese, salsa and tortillas.

These kids were already so skilled or extremely helpful in the kitchen! They learned how to or helped to wash the produce, chop veggies, saute veggies and whisk and scramble eggs. Then they learned how to wrap all the ingredients up in a tortilla for a delicious breakfast burrito, and they did SO well. I was so impressed; I mean, it took me a good 6 months to learn how to roll a nice tight burrito. Way to go, Jr. Chefs!

There were 10 kids in each class, and they all got their own aprons, bandanas and cookbooks. If they didn't like cooking before, I bet they do now! I heard from many of their parents that they'd never seen their kid each such-and-such veggie; now they like it and know they can get it at the AFM!

And as a matter of fact, I know one of my Jr. Chef students made the 3RD place prize for his delicious souffle in the "3 or More" Cooking Contest put on by the Friends of The AFM on Saturday, July 18!

It was a really good time for all, and I feel fortunate that we were able to do this at our farmer's market. Thanks to Bob Fedyski and Sarah Conley-- I borrowed your pics from the Ohio Foodshed website for this post. See you at Wednesday market!

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