Culinary Adventures with Camilla

This week kicks off my six-week cheese class: The International Cheese Board. No, I'm not taking a six-week cheese class. I wish!! I'm teaching a six-week cheese class - to a dozen fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh graders. Yikes. Wish me luck. Thankfully I have a co-teacher this term; that always makes life much easier. Susan wasn't here this week as she was off leading a teachers' workshop in Los Angeles. But, stay tuned for all our cheesy shenanigans. As a little ice breaker, I had them introduce themselves and tell us what their favorite cheese is. I was pleasantly surprised to hear: "I like stinky cheeses. Whatever is the stinkiest is my favorite!" But they ran the gamut from goat cheese to brie and more. Thank goodness no one answered, "American" because, well, that's not real cheese. Milk Curdling I told the kids that cheese is simply milk that has been curdled, drained, pressed, and ripened. Four little steps. That...

I haven't had a chance to post this. It's been a busy week! But two Fridays ago, I brought a durian to school for my Bizarre Foods SEM . Are you familiar with durian? No, I did not murder a hedgehog, as a friend initially thought when she saw my photos. The durian whose name is derived from the Malay-Indonesian languages word duri for "spike" is distinctive for its formidable, spike-covered husk, its noxious odor, and its distinctive flavor. Did you read: noxious odor?! The fruit emits a distinctive smell that is potent even through its armor. Some people regard the durian as sweet-smelling; others find the aroma overpowering and revolting. My class and I thought that, perhaps, it's similar to cilantro where some people like it and others think it tastes like soap. In any case, it does have a distinctive smell. So, back to my banishment. I had posted a photo of the fruit on Facebook the night before class and a friend, who works at the school, must h...

For the past few years, I've only taught SEM - Schoolwide Enrichment Model - once a year. I used to teach every term and I've taught everything from Italian to ocean conservation. Most recently, I've focused on cooking classes. But wrangling a dozen kids for six weeks at ninety minutes per class on a Friday afternoon is less than relaxing, especially when there are knives and hot stoves involved. The only good thing: all the kids want to be there. They chose the class. However, it's still a lot of work. Hats off to all you teachers. Seriously. I am in bewildered awe. Jenn and I just taught 'The Science of Cooking with a Food Writer & an Engineer' last term; I thought I would be done teaching for the year. But, when I realized that this was the last time I would be able to have both D and R in class together, I had the boys help me pick a topic. Inspired by Andrew Zimmern's "Bizarre Foods", we're going to traverse the globe looking at bi...

One of the benefits of having a best friend whose kid attends school with my kids: we can co-teach a class! Our boys' school has 6-week elective courses that are volunteer-led called SEMs or Schoolwide Enrichment Models. I've taught several through the years; Jenn is new to the SEM world since this is the first year that G can take one. So, she wanted to teach together. Perfect. Naturally it has to involve food...and science. To include all three of our kids, this is going to be an all grades class. Yikes! I've never had the span of 1st graders to 8th graders. This will be a culinary adventure. We are still working on our syllabus, but we plan to cover emulsification, fermentation...not sure what else. It's a good thing we have till February to plan. Stay tuned.

Since I only have about 90 minutes with the kids, I roasted and peeled the beets ahead of time. Otherwise, this was all them... Ingredients 1-1/2 lbs beets (roasted*, peeled, and sliced) 4 t red wine vinegar 2 t freshly squeezed lemon juice 1/4 C olive oil 2 t fleur de sel 1 t freshly ground pepper 1/4 C fresh mint, chopped *click for how to roast beets Procedure Place the sliced beets in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together the vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper in another mixing bowl. Stir in the mint. Pour the dressing over the beets and toss to coat. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

This trimester, I am teaching a Friday afternoon elective to a dozen 5th through 7th graders about 'eating a rainbow'. We're discussing the different nutrients and vitamins in the different colored foods; I've picked at least two recipes for each color, including one international recipe. This week's class was brought to you by the color red! I managed to take photos before they arrived and, of my own plate, after they left. I didn't take any photos of them actually cooking. Argh. They did a great job. Recipe posts to follow. For now...they had... Pugliese Beet Salad Beet Pasta with Red Pepper Flakes Sliced Red Bell Peppers Strawberries Dried Cranberries ...and Watermelon Lemonade.

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 gros...

This trimester I'm leading a group of a dozen 4th through 6th graders on a culinary adventure around the globe based on herbs and spices! We start this week when they'll discuss the difference between herbs and spices, make notes on parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme...and taste some goodies with those herbs and spices. Can't wait. Photos and recipes to come. What's your favorite spice? What do you do with it?!?  Comment below or email me at constantmotioncamilla[at]gmail[dot]com. I can always use a new-to-me recipe!