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Week One: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme {Spice it Up!}


For six weeks this trimester I am teaching a Friday afternoon elective - what our school calls a Schoolwide Enrichment Model, or SEM: Spice it Up!

I agreed to teach one dozen 4th through 6th graders all about herbs and spices. What the heck was I thinking?!? Just kidding. For the most part, they were all great...and I love watching kids cook and nosh on healthy, fresh foods.

This week our focus was on parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. We made green beans with gremolata (parsley); sage shortbread; and rosemary-thyme lemonade. Recipes to come....

I had the kids smell, touch, and taste the fresh versus the dried herbs. Here are a few things I saw in their spice journals...

My impressions of parsley...
"The herb tastes like a carrot. The spice is dry."
"Parsley tastes like broccoli. I'd make it with cheese tortillas."

My impressions of sage...
"Smells really bad"
"I'd pair it with roasted meat."
"It was really gross."

My impressions of rosemary...
"Bleck"

My impressions of thyme...
"Crunchy and spicy"

About the gremolata...
"The gremolata was so good I wanted more."

So, we'll see how the rest of our spice journey around the globe goes. Mental note: make a seating chart. I need to split up some of the kids.

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