Yellow stripe and meatballs.....

Earning your yellow stripe means you can follow and read a recipe.
It means you know the difference between Tbsp. and tsp. and other measurements.
It means you know the basics of cooking and have taken at least one cooking session.

Several of these girls are almost ready for their red stripe!

And, I just have to say that I'm so proud of these girls! They have come such a long way and have learned so much already! They are on their way to becoming little chefs and I'm so happy I have the good fortune of being a part of it. I hope their love for cooking and their curiosity of food and all the many flavors to explore continues to grow!

During our next class, Friday Feb. 27th, we will be making italian meatballs and the best spaghetti sauce ever!
I love making these meatballs because they are so versatile. You can make a large batch and freeze some for multiple meals.
Some suggestions for meals with meatballs are:
spaghetti & meatballs, of course!
meatball hoagies with provolone cheese...yum-o!
put some in the crock pot or saucepan with terriyaki sauce and serve over rice
slice as topping for pizza

make the meatballs larger and they make a great hamburger patty

Comfort Food

Nothing beats homemade comfort food like homemade soup and homemade mac and cheese, especially when it contains secret good for you ingredients like squash! I made some ahead of time for the girls to try and they gobbled it right up. They couldn't believe it had squash in it!

Notice the yellow stripe on Emily's hat? Yea for Emily and Sydney who both earned their yellow cooking stripes!!

Chicken Cordon Blue Pockets with gravy

We made Chicken Cordon Blue wrapped in little individual sized pockets. The new kitchen appliance we used today was an electric cheese grader (food processor or attachment for the bosch). The girls used three different methods to grade the cheese but quickly decided this one was the favorite!

As a side dish, we made salad on a stick with dip. "How, the girls asked, do you put salad on a stick!?"

A new thing we added this session are the chef hats...they finally came in!! Aren't they so cute!
The girls will earn their cooking "stripes" as they advance in their skills. Stay tuned to see some of our first girls to earn their stripes.....
Oh, and I added the menu finally, check it out below!

Dinner Menu for Session II

Chicken Cordon Blue Pockets with gravy - Preheat to 350 - Bake for 20 minutes

Broccoli Potato Cheese Soup with Homemade Mac-n-cheese - Preheat to 375 - bake for 20 minutes, then broil for 3.

Italian Meatballs Galore! - Preheat to 350 - Bake for 25 minutes.
Chicken Stuffed Shells - Preheat to 350 - Bake for 45 minutes.

The sides aren't listed because they generally don't need cooking or will bake at the same temp as the main dish.

Upcoming Cooking Sessions......

This session, in addition to the dinner classes, I am adding a baking class per request. The upcoming class schedule is as follows:

Dinner Classes - Wednesday or Friday from 3:30 - 4:45
Wednesdays, February 11th - March 4th
Fridays, February 13th - March 6th
The cost of the Dinner class is $120.00.

- In our cooking classes, the children will make a complete dinner to feed your family. On the night of their class, they will come home with dinner all made and ready to be popped into the oven. I will have the oven preheat times posted before the classes so you can have the oven all preheated and ready to go when they come home.
- We try making different recipes that enable them to learn about and try a variety of kitchen appliances and gadgets so they feel comfortable using basic kitchen tools.
- Each student will have their own apron and cooking station, complete with their own set of basic kitchen equipment to use during class.
- At the end of every session, they will get a recipe book with all the recipes used in the class.

Dessert Classes - Mondays from 3:30-4:45
Mondays, February 9th - 23rd
The cost of the dessert class is $65.00

Basically the same things apply in the baking class as the dinner classes except the students will come home with desserts instead of dinner.

Please email me at anna@onceuponawhisk.com to register for classes.

Little Meat Loaves and Cheesy Potatoes!

"Meat loaf with lemons?!", the girls asked.

A little trick for chopping onions without crying, cut your onion in half and put it in the freezer for 10 minutes before chopping. Unfortunately for Makena, I forgot to put the onions in the freezer until right before the girls came so she got a little teary..... :)

The oven for today's dinner needs to be preheated to 350 for both dishes. The meat will cook for 45 minutes and the potatoes for 30 minutes, both at the same temp.

The girls had fun today juicing lemons and making homemade lemonade!

Maiya loved cutting the lemons and did a great job doing it!

Sidney loved juicing the lemons!

The lemonade recipe is as follows:
1 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar
2 quarts water
Add more or less sugar to your liking!

Okay girls, you were sent home with lots of fresh lemon juice. Try this yummy recipe for lemon bars this week at home!

Lemon Bars

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup powdered sugar

3/4 cup butter, softened

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 tablespoons flour

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/3 cup powdered sugar for decoration

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.

2. Combine the flour, 2/3 cup powdered sugar, and butter and pat dough into prepared pan.

3. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until slightly golden.

4. While the crust is baking, whisk together eggs, sugar, flour, and lemon juice until frothy. Pour this lemon mixture over the hot crust.

5. Return to the preheated oven for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, or until light golden brown.

6. Cool on a wire rack. Dust (dust means to sprinkle, using a fine strainer works best or you can can shake over the top with a spoon) the top with powdered sugar. Cut into squares. Yum-O!!

Friday's Class....

Here are some of the girls "tossing" their fresh salads. Putting your chopped up salad and veggies in a big ziploc, is a great (and fun) way to mix or toss the sald before putting in a bowl!

For next week's class, we will be making Little mini meat loaves with potatoes. For those of you who want to come home straight from class and pop it in the oven, the oven needs to be preheated to 350 degrees. See ya' next week!