Birthday Bash

Gourd-geous Prizes

Teen Cooking Club celebrated the anniversaries of our lives with a Birthday Bash on Friday, November 13, 2015.  The menu was Italian cuisine and topped off with an ice cream social.

Caesar Salad

The first course was Caesar Salad.  We sourced the recipe from Betty Crocker.  There were no leftovers, despite it's soggy nature...

We recommend using A LOT LESS dressing

Next on plate was a first time attempt in our cooking repertoire, so a slight challenge to all.

Any guesses???

Stuffed Shells are a fun alternative to an average pasta dish.  This recipe was simple, but time consuming.  Bake time was 40-50 minutes, which meant the team needed to hustle to accomplish this task. 

Stuffed and ready for the oven

Ready to get stuffed in the belly.

This was a definite winner for taste appeal.  This fed 19 students with no left overs.  We could certainly have increased our shell quantity and still have eaten all of this goodness.

(It went so quickly, I didn't even get a taste!)

Garlic Bread

It seems bread is a necessity in Italian cuisine, so Garlic Bread was a must.  This was a simple recipe, yet I found a way to slice my own finger when instructing the students on how to chop garlic.  Band-Aids to the rescue; I'm happy that mistake happened to me and not a student!!!

Sugar Cookie Cups

The finale was supposed to be Sugar Cookie Cups.  They looked almost perfect in the oven. The trouble is that I sourced a picture for inspiration, but no actual recipe to give any tips on baking these beauties.  

These images make it seem so easy!

This was a moment where we looked at our results and ditched the idea for a new approach...Cookie Crumble!

Perhaps a little cooking spray would have released these???

If the cookie crumbles, eat it!

Cake is a traditional way to end a Birthday Bash, but we opted for ice cream instead.  This was "It's My Party" flavor, from Wegmans, with cake and icing all inside the container.  What an ingenious plan!  Cookie crumble on the side made this the perfect finale.

It's My Party!

Everyone enjoyed full plates of goodness that they all worked diligently to share.  

Some wonderful helpers made sure all the dishes were done...

Dishes and Clean up are a big part of Teen Cooking Club

While some participants needed a party activity to take up some of the down time...

Musical chairs has no age limit.

This cooking club concludes the year of Teen Cooking Club.  December entertains both Teen Cooking Club and First Friday Art Club in our annual Make & Bake Gifts event.

Check back in Teen Tones to get a taste for this fantastic event. 

Thanks for visiting!

~erica

Creepy Creations

Kitty Litter Cake

Creepy Creations were on plate for October, in recognition of a very creepy month.  We resurrected the Kitty Litter Cake, a ghastly concoction, that this new cat owner wretches over!  I warned the kids that no one ate this cake a few years ago, because it just looked too Grrrrroossssss!!!--this certainly made it the most favored creation of our event.  I believe the double chocolaty goodness aided in the success of this mess.  If you want to attempt this nasty treat at home, try this recipe.  We replaced the German Chocolate cake with Devil's Food Cake, which made it super delicious.

"Looks like intestines!"

Threaded Spaghetti Hot Dog Bites were the main course in our creations.  Slice hot dogs into bite size pieces, thread several strands of raw spaghetti through the hot dog pieces, then cook them in boiling water as you would cook spaghetti.  We added marinara sauce for a bloody look.  Mangia!

"Brrrainnnnssssss"

The next recipe was a sticky situation.  Bloody Popcorn Brains are popcorn balls with a twist.  The colorful marshmallows we used turned the mixture a beige-brown shade and the "blood" was used in making alien faces, so these are Bloodless Popcorn Brains.

Aliens Attack

Pretzels, icing, candies and creativity gave us this alien arrangement.  Alien Pretzels are really easy to create.  The makers of this recipe refused to stick to the "alien" color pallette and opted for the full spectrum.  As one chef in training said, "I mean, who says aliens are only green?"  This recipe is perfectly paranormal.

Green Goo

Last on the menu was this Green Goo Smoothie.  I like to test new ingredients with my group.  This recipe called for almond milk, carob chips--really hard to find in this area, chia seeds and spinach!  Yes, we drank spinach!!!  The recipe we used is M.I.A., but this recipe is very similar.

Yuck!

Gross on a Plate, but it's quite tasty!

Just can't get enough...Nom, Nom, Nom.

Stayed tuned, November is our Birthday Bash.  We celebrate our birthdays for the whole year in one big bash.  More cake, please.

Stellar Sammies

Stellar Sammies are outta this world!  That was my intention when planning September's Teen Cooking Club.  I missed last month's installment of "Animal Appetizers" for August.  The picture are M.I.A. at the moment, but I hope to share that event.  We made treats for stray and foster dogs of Tanner's P.A.W.S.  It was one of the most rewarding Teen Cooking Clubs ever held at SSC Library.--I promise to find the evidence and recipes.

Back to September's Stellar Sammies.  Sammies are sandwiches in the foodie community.  Anything between two pieces of bread can be a sammie with the right imagination.  I was originally letting my preconceived notion of a "sandwich" (two pieces of bread with something in the center) define my expectations.  Luckily, Pinterest steered me in a stellar direction.

"We need more cheese!"

First up for team 1 was Chicken Cordon Bleu Bundles.  These sammies were so simple and fun to make; I think the crew liked them best in their bellies!

"Rolls are sanwiches?!"

 The second teams' recipe was Cucumber Sandwiches.

"Mmm...this cheese spread is delish!"

The sliced bread in the recipe was replaced with a baguette, which we sliced in coins to match the shape of the cucumber slices.  I'm surprised how fast these gems disappeared.  I mean, they are vegetables!

The third recipe was Meatball Poppers.  I replaced the meat with vegetarian meatballs in this version to introduce another food option.  Some kids run the other way when I say something is "meatless" as though it is a disease.  I actually prefer these little nuggets.  They are easier to work with out of the bag, rather than mixing meat and making meatballs from scratch.  I'm sure the kids would agree that skipping that step was a fantastic idea!

Uncanning the crescent rolls.

Pretty tasty, minus all those caraway seeds.

The groups worked very well together, as usual.  There seemed to be a little bit of hazy-daze going on with the group, but I remembered that it was the effects of the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL.  They were like zombies of a too-long-summer.  One thing is for certain, they are never too far when I "ring the dinner bell."

NOM, NOM, NOM!

Check back next month when we make Creepy Creatures in preparation for Halloween.

We will have a ghoulish good time!

Edible Books

Edible Books was the cooking club theme for June.  It was actually set for April, but several events canceled or postponed cooking club between February and June!  I have a lot of catching up to do. 

An array of books to choose

I provided book scans donated by a patron who had used them for a baby shower.  These were a lot easier to offer the kids versus the bulk and weight of actual books.  After the event, I was even more pleased to recycle these icing-coated-images rather than clean books forever.  

Getting the attendees to focus and plan a "book" look was a little tough, considering they just wanted to eat all the treats.  I did get a few very fine examples:

Blue Chicken

Rainbow Fish

Emerald

Clumsy Crab

A Cat Called Penguin

The trouble was getting the kids to see past the sweets and use them as building tools for their creations.  Eventually, I gave up steering their direction and let them create sugar castles fit for a belly ache.

Donuts, marshmallow, graham crackers with icing "glue"

"Heart Failure"

GROSS!!!

YUCK!

This loosely reference a farm book

I have seen amazing edible books designed for contests, but this mission fell a little flat.  Perhaps if the students bought these supplies, there would have been more reverence for their usage.  This is just another lesson in working with teens and tweens. 

That's Amoré

"When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie"....that's a foodie experience at it's finest!  
February is the month that Cupid's arrow is aloft on St. Valentine's Day.  Our program landed on Friday the 13th (ooh, creepy!), but we cooked with L.O.V.E. in the air.

The menu for the day started with some scrumptious Mozzarella Cheese Filled Hearts.

 Second course was Red Velvet Brownie Conversation Hearts.

 Third on the plate was Mini Mac and Cheese.

Last on the list was Kiss Me Cakes.

We had so much fun making these sweet treats and filling our happy bellies.  

Let's end this post with an endearing song app that holds a lot of meaning for me...

Souper Bowls

Teen Cooking Club is back with a new year of recipes and treats.  January is such a terribly dark and cold month that soup had to be on the menu.  The Super Bowl is usually scheduled for January, so we made a play on words....

The crowd was split into two teams, Green Team and Red Team, by random drawing, although I believe siblings broke the rules to stay together.  I let each group decide upon a leader to oversee their recipes and make sure everything was being prepared as directed.

The Green Team took to the field with a recipe for Bisquick Biscuit Bowls.  I altered the recipe ahead of time to remove excess spices, but I would try Paula Deen's Chili in a Biscuit Bowl at home!  The recipe yielded 6 biscuit bowls, so I persuaded The Green Team to use their skills to multiply the recipe.  They tried, but fumbled with the sticky dough!!  Their soup was a Baked Potato Soup.  A vegetarian in the group voiced their concerns about meat in any of the recipes, so we kept this one meat free.  

The field looks open, but competition was brutal!

The Red Team faced their challenge with an Easy Bread Bowls recipe.  Although this team had to work with defrosted bread dough, it seemed less sticky and easier to mold onto the pans.  The Red Team soup recipe was appropriate to their team name,

Classic Tomato Soup.  This recipe is easily altered.  We substituted whole peeled plum tomatoes for tomato puree.  This removed the need for a blender, which could have been problematic within our time frame.  If vegetable stock was used, this would be another terrific vegetarian option, but we used chicken stock according to the recipe.

The teams played good games.  Here is a recap of the moves:

 The Green Team had so many more moves to complete their soup vs. 

The Red Team, but their hard work helped them win the best recipe choice.

Hands were flying for that potato soup! 

Left panel shows The Green Team

Middle panel shows The Red Team

Right panel shows results of both teams, Green on Top, Red on Bottom

I recommend making bread bowls for soup nights at home.  They are quick to make and provide a restaurant feel for a simple meal. 

While these concoctions sizzled and simmered, we had a half time show with Frosty Snowman Pretzels.  I found it difficult to source ROUND PRETZELS anywhere in the Southern Tier.  I substituted regular pretzel twists to actually make this adorable treat.

This recaps another SOUPER Teen Cooking Club with SSC Library.

Check back next month when L.O.V.E. is in the air.

Everybody now:  "When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie...