May Flies and Mud Pies

With the month of May upon us, I felt the need to mix things up and get funky.  Mother's Day is in may, but spring is finally sprung, bugs are emerging and mud is getting mixed up during the downpours of the season.

Oven Baked "Fried" Pickles

Since we were aiming for weird and different, I chose this Oven Baked "Fried" Pickles recipe.  Fried pickles are my restaurant addiction, but many of my students had never tried them.  This was teen approved and easy-peasy!

Peanut Butter Muddy Buddy Cookies

We hit the garden with cucumbers, so we continued looking for mud.  Here you see Peanut Butter Muddy Buddy Cookies before they were baked.  Simple to execute, easy to eat.

Yikes!....  Snakes!

Under mud, or somewhere in the garden, you're likely to discover some snakes.  We made these Spicy, Sesame Snake Breadsticks just a bit less spicy (or not at all!) compared to what was called for in the recipe.  I like to stress to students their creative license is often welcome to edit the spices of a recipe.  Cut spice to your preference or omit ingredients which revolt against your palate.  

Crunchy, not slimy

These little snakes were so adorable!  Students liked them, too.  "Simple and satisfying, crunchy, but not slimy like a snake in the grass."

M i s s i s s i p p i

Mississippi Mud Pie was a great effort of a recipe, but totally worthless regarding the portion size versus the quantity of students in the class.  This was certainly my oversight, so something to pay closer attention to.  I noticed the pan was not full when these marshmallows were added and I thought the group missed a ton of ingredients.  It was a keen-eyed regular who discovered this recipe had a yield of 2 giant, decadent bars!  We were all shocked.  Who offers a recipe so decadent for only 2 servings!?!  We just could not fathom the time wasted.  These teens like to eat!  And we all agree that a recipe should have enough servings to feed your party or have left-overs.

Herb Marinated Cheese

Moms and loved ones alike in each students life got a jar of special olive oil from this class.  Herb Marinated Cheese.  Each jar had bits of feta and goat cheeses, which were infused in olive oil with fresh and dried herbs.  Such a sweet gift for anyone who is lactose tolerant ;)

  

The weirdest part of this class was the encore.  Considering we worked with mud pies, I wanted to challenge students to eat bugs, but not necessarily may flies.  We've read that protein from bugs can be more sustainable than livestock farming, but I wanted to know who would be willing to try.

NOT May Flies

I could not find edible flies, or perhaps I didn't want to find edible flies.  I felt most comfortable to eat a grasshopper.  So, these packages had 3 boxes of flavored grasshoppers distributed for a random student to receive.  The rest of these envelopes had icy pops as a cool treat to end the class.  The 3 (un)lucky students to get these grasshoppers were shocked/excited/grossed/pleased to get such an unusual treat. [They also got icy pops to be fair.]

Wanna Try?

Since I challenged each recipient to taste these bugs, the challenge was returned.  This box of Sour Cream and Onion Crickettes was the test package.  Our senior student was willing to be the guinea pig test subject and we have video proof.

After seeing these brave students, I HAD to try.  

Well, I lived to tell this tale and I quite enjoyed that little bug.  

(but ask me how I felt about this purchase the day before class)

That's a wrap for Teen Cooking Club this May.  We skip June and celebrate the end of this school year in July.  We'll discover how ice cream is made at our favorite local shop, Dippity Do Dahs.  It's certain to be a really cool, rockin' good time.

Thanks for visiting!

xo,

Erica

Squash Your Hunger

What food lasts forever in your pantry and can fill an army of friends on the cheap?  SQUASH!!!  That's right, squash is part of the cucurbita family and boast many health benefits for low cost, long shelf-life produce.

Squash Your Hunger

January is a cold month amidst the dark hours of winter.  To brighten our spirits and palettes, we cooked with gourd-geous organge hues to squash our hunger.  The first recipe involved curry, apples, onions and pumpkin.  We made Autumn Squash Soup, which was a great decision for a frigid afternoon.  The bomb cyclone was headed our way, so we needed to warm up quickly.

Soup Prep

Preparation was a snap with a responsive team.  Ingredients were sauteeing before I had relayed all the steps in the process.  The kitchen filled with savory scents, calling to our bellies.

Bubble and Boil

Once the soup was complete, it needed to be blended to a smooth consistency.  I brought my trusty immersion blender to class just for this step.  Students were fascinated by the speed and precision of the immersion blender.  "We need more recipes using that tool!"

Blended Squash Soup

 I learned some fun facts preparing for this class.Cucumbers are part of the squash family.  Look at the species name- cucurbita.  Cucumbers fit in the name!  An adult student who likes to participate so she learns new life skills took ownership of a Creamy Cucumber Salad.

Whipped up in Minutes

This salad was mighty popular and a great way to cool off tongues after eating a hot soup.  Dill and cucumber are cool ingredients versus a hot curry or spicy onion.

A Cheesy Butternut Squash Pasta plate was tackled by a third team.  This seemed to be the most unusual of our recipes.  The girls made a cheesy sauce with blended squash and tons of cheese.  This sauce was mixed to cooked pasta and voila!  Cheesy goodness that disappeared in moments.

So good, it was Gone!

Now that the savory plates are covered, we can step into Sweetsville.

Muffin Mania

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Muffins were the first stop in Sweetsville.  This is not an actual town, but the place we all like to be when making meals.  Desserts are often coveted, despite knowing we need savory foods, too.  The library is undergoing construction, so some important tools are trapped from usage.  It turned out that the hand mixer is one of the hostages.  Therefore, team mates took turns flexing their muscles and working the cream cheese to a fluffy consistency.

Mmmm...muffins

This was a winner recipe!  I took this photo before the pan emptied with few crumbs remaining.  Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies were the last recipe to tackle in our plan.  I wanted to test the theory that gluten free (GF) all purpose flour acts equivalently to regular all purpose (AP) flour.

Cookie Experiment

In theory, GF flour should equate to AP flour.  The recipe mixed up just fine, but we noticed a major difference in cooking.  These cookies were only supposed to take 12-15 minutes to bake, but the GF flour seemed to cause a delay.  This recipe took upwards of 20-25 minutes per batch to firm up.

Yummy in my Tummy!

Regardless of the extra bake time, students still called these cookies, "Yummy in my tummy!"  My favorite joke for this recipe was a teen consistently calling them Goatmeal Cookies.  I finally understood his reference to the Gluten-free part.  This student often expresses his opinion that Gluten Free recipes result in cardboard quality products.  "Only goats eat cardboard."  I found that hungry teens and tweens devour Goatmeal Cookies, too. 

Time to Eat!

Many thanks to Wegmans Food Markets for sponsoring this teen cooking club.  The community of Corning, New York is supportive of these learning lessons and we are grateful.  The Local Steelworkers Union Hall provides our giant kitchen, the students provide the fun.

Let's Go Shopping

This wraps up another delicious cooking club event.  Join us in February as we go shopping at Wegmans Food Market.  We will meet and shop just like a large family preparing to stock up their pantry for the month.  Their chefs will also engage us with a cooking demonstration!  That will be fun to see how the professionals get the task complete.

Until then, thanks for visiting!

~Erica

Vegan Ventures

Teen Cooking Club ventured into a Vegan menu on Veteran's Day 2017.  For those readers who are unaware, vegan diets eliminate all animal byproducts.  Meat, dairy, and honey are also eliminated from this diet.  "NO CHEESE?!" screamed a few unsuspecting students.

Soup's On!

Once we covered the basics of what not to expect, we rolled up our sleeves and got chopping.  Despite no cheese, the apparent main food source in the minds of these students, the menu was filling and easy to accomplish on a cold Friday afternoon.  Soup is a great entry into a vegan diet.  It's easy to avoid meat, while getting lots of flavor and substance using beans and greens.  Cookie and Kate provided this yummy Spiced Lentil Soup, which included curry powder.  Insert the olfactory scent of the kitchen here.  

Sweet Treats

When veggies are involved, I stress to students to "Try it!  We made it together, so it won't kill you.  If you decide it's not for you, the round file is in the corner."  They laugh at the idea of a trash can being a round file, but they respect my efforts and give the required taste.  Not everyone liked the soup, but those who did came back 2 or 3 times!

A sweet addition to our menu involved no-bake cookie balls.  The Beaming Baker posted this recipe for No Bake Peanut Butter Coconut Bites (Vegan, Gluten Free).  Since they were gluten free and no-bake, this seemed like a simple recipe to tackle.  I swear the holiday off of school and the phase of the moon had a portion of my students in a tizzy!  Just look at the top left corner of these pans---that is not the best work of my budding chefs.  I believe we need to focus a class on meal presentation.  At least these treats disappeared in zero seconds flat.

Chewy Cookie Bars

The last recipe on our menu was a suggestion from a patron.  These Reese's Chewy Chocolate Cookies are tried and true in her vegan home, but we ran into some issues.  Switching the butter with a vegan replacement was not much trouble.  Using "fleggs" in place of chicken eggs offered a great lesson. {A flegg combines ground flax seed and water to create a gelatinous mixture quite different from the average egg from an animal.}  Despite following this recipe step by step, the group of students found the mixture to be tough to blend and very dry.  We added extra oil and water to adjust the issues.  Baking the mixture in a pan to make bars rather than cookies allowed them to be quicker to prepare, since class was quickly coming to a close.

Come and Get It!

Despite our concerns about the cookie bars, they also disappeared within seconds!!!  Families were arriving to pick up their charges, so younger siblings and curious parents tasted the foods we cooked.  Everyone was surprised to eat simple food that tasted so good.  Only one family of the group lives by the vegan diet, but everyone decided it's an easy solution to cook healthful foods that have a low impact on our environment.

Clean up!

Kitchen chores are the least favorite of my students.  I stress that balance is important to life, so with fun comes responsibility.  Sometimes it's a struggle to get these students to clean up, but I love when I catch them in the act without any prompting. <3

Last chance to create with Me!

This wraps up another fun-filled year in the kitchen with teens.  Join us in December to catch a recap of the annual Make & Bake Gifts event.  Filomena Jack will bring her stuffed creatures to teach some sewing skills.  Craft Farm will enlighten students with some kitchen chemistry while making lip balms.  We will also test an old-fashioned corn flake candy wreath recipe, plus add in cinnamon-sugar pretzels.  It is always a great way to get into the holiday spirit.

Thanks for visiting!

xo,

Erica

Fall Feast

The Southeast Steuben County Library Teen Cooking Club sessions returned in October after a two month hiatus.  Down time did nothing to the program participation, in fact, the quantity of students surged!  Luckily, we have the spacious USW 1000 Union Hall to cook up a storm and contain the 30 teens buzzing with excitement to create the concoctions I collected.

USW 1000 Union Hall houses the SSCL Teen Cooking Club

To start off the event, I set up tables with recipes on each station.  Each recipe was labeled with a number.  Attendees drew from a bucket to find out which recipe was their's to accomplish.  This method has been valuable in breaking up "besties" and siblings, while meeting new friends with similar interests.  

Station 1 created a Butternut Squash Broccoli Quinoa Casserole.  I just love the way quinao (pronounced "keen-wah") is read by the students.  Only the veteran students know the grain and it seems to be overlooked by many households.  I wanted veggies to be used and loved in this main dish.  CHEESE makes the difference.  The dish was warm, colorful, and filling.

So yummy, we doubled the recipe!

Station 2 was assigned Harvest Pumpkin Soup.  Pumkins and soup scream fall to my belly and everyone seemed to agree.  The recipe claims you should puree the mixture, but I allowed the team to choose to leave it chunky or smooth.  The "chunky" vote won.  Lots of kids loved this recipe, which was our appetizer as we waited for all recipes to finish in the ovens.

"This is so warm and makes me feel cozy."

Station 3 were given the favorite recipe that disappeared before it hit the counter, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Due to the pumpkin, these sweet treats are high in fiber and very moist.  They were the dessert before dinner, since the squash in the casserole took longer to soften than expected, but no one seemed disappointed by this fact.

Cookies before cooking...they vanished right out of the oven.

Station 4 was given a double dose of recipes to allow enough tasks for each student.  Old Fashioned Apple Crisp speaks to the season of harvest.  The Finger Lakes region is abundant with apple orchards and the cost of apples goes way low in autumn.  With a large crowd, we doubled the recipe.  This was another sweet treat with a knack for vanishing.

Gone too soon...

For the Harry Potter fans, like myself, who anticipate the upcoming film "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," (click here to borrow the book from our library!--books are always better than movies...)I felt it necessary to introduce a beverage from the much-loved book series. Butter Beer is a quick, 5 ingredient recipe that is sure to please, though it would taste much better served at the Three Broomsticks in Hog's Meade.

The bespectacled bud imbibed like he was in Hog's Meade.

So many great recipes and equally fun company.  These chefs-in-training worked hard and ate 'til their bellies burst.  As families arrived to retrieve their kin, it was irresistible for their noses to guide them to the serving counter.  What little food was leftover ended up being tasted by parents and siblings.  Everyone wanted recipes, and I promised this recap for the exact purpose of taking the lessons home.  Please enjoy!

Go worldwide with us next month with guest chef, Nithya Krishnan.  We will be experimenting with new ingredients and recipes foreign to my knowledge--I can't wait!

Animal Appetizers

August 2015 was dedicated to dogs with the theme Animal Appetizers.  These images were M.I.A. for  a few months, but recently found on the iPad we used for the event!  Miracles at the end of the year are wonderful.
This event supported the efforts of Tanners P.A.W.S., an animal rescue and education organization in the Corning region of New York.  I have worked with the organization in the past, having stray dogs in my backyard and wanted to help give back to their good deeds.

Today's snacks go to the dogs...literally

All of our recipes were sourced from a book in our collection, In the Dog Kitchen.  If you follow the link and have a library card in our STLS district, I urge you to borrow this book.  It provides 35 healthful dog treat recipes.  You know what goes into the treats for your fur-baby, and they are so wholesome, you can even eat them (if you dare)!

In the Dog Kitchen

Teens split up into 3 teams to bust a move in the kitchen and get their good deed on.  Using an array of cookie cutters, we had adorable collections to celebrate these shelter/ foster pups.

Pause for P.A.W.S.

Bones are always a hit...

Doggies even hit the parade...

Lucky Dogs

Of course, the moment I mention that these treats are good enough to eat, there were dares all around.  Taste testing seemed to be a right of passage to the program, but we still had a great time for a good cause.

My colleague connected with Tanners on her own and fell in love with everything they do to rescue and save the lives of needy animals.  For the full month of August, we offered "Make a Dog Toy" kits to anyone interested in taking time to make and donate a tug-toy.  Old t-shirts were employed and we had a giant bag to offer the shelter and pet-foster families.     

Braid, braid, twist, tie, knot...viola!

Water bottles also make great toys for dogs. Slipping one into an old t-shirt sleeve and tying off the ends makes a fun crinkle sound machine that will last for hours.  We are grateful for organizations like Tanners P.A.W.S. and all of their foster families who make a safe home for pets who have run away, gotten lost, been abused, or whose original owners can no longer afford to keep them.

If you have love in your heart and space in your home to foster or adopt a shelter pet, I strongly encourage this move!  As a pet owner, rescue is the most rewarding experience to provide an animal and yourself. A rule of thumb I love:  you can't buy love, but you can rescue it.