Kiddie Kitchen Capers

What's the most stressful thing you did today? For me, it was keeping twenty little hands safely away from a 300 degree griddle during their first grade cooking party while they cooked pancakes!

When the kids achieve certain goals, their teacher lets them pick a party; they opted for a pancake-omelette party this time around. And because Dylan gushed to his teacher that "my mommy is an Italian chef" - which is patently untrue, by the way - I was roped in to chaperone this party.

So, the unnerving part of the morning: keeping them from getting burnt. The great part: watching them, in groups of four or five, create with a recipe. Some tables wanted to use all of the ingredients (bananas, blueberries, strawberries, and chocolate chips); some tables wanted some cinnamon, others didn't. Some topped theirs with only syrup, some used syrup and whipped cream. And at the end of the breakfast, they had to make a cookbook.

What a great, hands-on way to teach and reinforce measuring, fractions, and healthy eating. Okay, the chocolate chips in pancakes probably weren't the healthiest, but I heard most of the kids order their omelettes with spinach. Popeye would be proud. I surely was.

The "engreadens" for Dylan's super "pangcakes" = "flower, blueberri, egg, wipcreme." Love that kid.

Comments

Hot Chocolate Agasajo-Style {Spice It Up!}

photo by D For my Spice It Up! kiddos this week, I was looking for an exotic drink to serve while we learned about saffron. I found a recipe from food historian Maricel Presilla that mimicked traditional Spanish hot chocolate from the 17th century where it was served at lavish receptions called agasajos . When I teach, I don't always get to shoot photos. Thankfully, D grabbed my camera and snapped a few. Ingredients serves 14-16 1 gallon organic whole milk 3 T dried rosebuds - or 2 t rosewater 2 t saffron threads, lightly crushed 3 T ground cinnamon 3 whole tepin chiles, crushed 2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise 1 C organic granulated sugar 1 lb. bittersweet chocolate Procedure In a large soup pot that can hold a gallon plus, combine milk, dried rosebuds (or rosewater, if you are using that), saffron threads, ground cinnamon, chiles, vanilla beans, and sugar and warm over medium heat till it steams. Whisk to dissolve sugar, then lower heat an...

Frozen Art Gourmet Ice Cream

As we headed inland from the coast, I cringed as the temperature gauge in the car for outside temp climbed into the triple digits. Ugh. I'm a rather wimpy central coastal Californian who begins to wilt when it's 70 degrees outside. Thank goodness for air conditioning and a planned ice cream stop. When I parked the car outside Frozen Art Gourmet Ice Cream in Santa Rosa, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. We knew that we still had to get to the campsite...and set up our tents in the heat. But we were going to enjoy the cool, sweet treats from Frozen Art first! Michoacana ice creameries are the equivalent of Starbucks in Mexico; they're ubiquitous. Purists, however, claim that operating a true Michoacana ice cream shop require ties to Tocumbo. It's estimated that almost ninety percent of the Tocumban population is currently employed in the ice cream business from making ice cream itself to making equipment. But the real art of Tocumban ice creams: imaginat...

A Cheese Board Anchored on a Trio of Italian Cheeses + A Pinot Nero from Alto Adige #ItalianFWT on CulinaryCam.Com

I am in the process of migrating over to my new domain. Come on over to read " A Cheese Board Anchored on a Trio of Italian Cheeses + A Pinot Nero from Alto Adige " for December's #ItalianFWT.

Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Search This Blog