Monthly Archives: August 2010

Common Threads volunteer: Week 4 in the kitchen

A cafeteria away there was a mirror-image, equally massive teaching kitchen, but this was
exclusively for pastry chefs. I peeked in – this is not even half of it. Those gigantic mixers
make Kitchen Aid standing mixers (roughly $150+) look like kiddie toys.
Getting the run of a professional kitchen is empowering for me as I’m a newbie. I consider myself to be a half-way decent home cook with a preference for baking. Looking over the recipes I thought, “I would struggle trying to cook these,” and I was happy that I wasn’t the chef in charge. I was “good” at volunteering because someone was telling me what to do!
I started helping my super-organized volunteer partner set up the work stations. Here is the kind of volunteer I aspire to be: always moving, remembering everything, and not making any mistakes. It’s not really a fair comparison considering that my volunteer partner is basically a trained cook. My approach is to try to get as much talk time with the kids as I can. Cooking is social too I tell myself.

Anyway, my volunteer partner and I were talking and we, I mean she, realized we needed more cilantro and jalapenos. There are small fridges under the work stations so it is usually not necessary to resupply. But today we needed more. “Let’s go to the walk-in fridge,” she says non-chalantly. Cue scary music.

I’m claustrophobic. It’s a phobia that has thankfully decreased in severity as I have aged. I worked in food service in college and so I have walked into big fridges cautiously before. But lockable semi-large walk-in fridges are not something I usually sign up for. Entering the walk-in feels sort-of like going into the county morgue. Brr and scary…now with vegetables!

The walk-in was far away from the kitchen stations. We hustled over to it and thankfully it was well lit and narrow not box-like and dark. I was relieved. I still stood in the open door just to make sure it didn’t close after me. I mean, how long can someone even survive in one of those things? I knew that there was little to no traffic over to that part of the kitchen. How quickly would I be an ice cube? Shiver.

With our cilantro and jalapenos in hand, we marched back to the area to hear the chef discuss today’s cuisine: Peru! Cool, yet another place I had never visited, but was eager to learn more about. The menu included Seco de Carne (beef stew with cilantro-based sauce), Tacu-tacu (Peruvian rice and lentils), and Cebiche de Atun (Peruvian canned tuna ceviche). Every group was doing all three recipes.

During the chef’s lesson, she tells the group that lentils and rice are a “complete protein.” I didn’t know that and I’m sure that was new information for the kids too. I have learned doing this project that basic nutritional knowledge is important. Where are kids going to learn about “complete proteins” if not at school? The chef also had a beach ball globe, which she used during lessons to point out the location of countries whose cuisine was prepared, cooked, and eaten. The chef also showed the students the beef, its grain, and how to cut it. I thought it was a great lesson and the kids paid great attention as they crowded around the station.

After the lesson we broke out into our groups. Nobody wanted to chop onions today. One girl volunteered to chop the jalapenos. We cautioned her to be careful and not to touch her face or eyes. She de-seeded them and diced like a pro albeit at a slower rate than a trained chef. One student in my group said, “I don’t like tuna.” But she was willing to open the can and do much of the preparation for the dish.

My favorite dish from this grouping was the tuna ceviche. Earlier this summer I shared that I really enjoy tuna. The recipe for canned tuna ceviche is really a great way to make a whole different kind of tuna for a sandwich for lunch. The recipe called for onions, jalapenos, cilantro, a tomato, lime juice and olive oil. Basically you stir it all together and then serve it. The camp counselor explained to her students that this was a great way to do a whole different kind of tuna salad without mayo. My husband does not like mayo and I made a mental note to try this with him.

I was surprised how much the kids like their food with spice. They showed no fear of jalapenos. No wonder these kids get bored with regular school lunches. Processed food cannot compete with the pow of good seasonings and the occasional jalapeno.

The rice and lentils are cooked ahead of time so that the kids can focus on prep and working at the stove. The chopping and the cooking went well and quickly. The cooking went fast today, but I attribute that to my spectacular volunteer partner. The rice and lentils were precooked so after the chopping was completed, stove top cooking was all that was left.

The kids set up the little bowls and plates and everyone got to have some of the tasty food. The trio of dishes was popular with the kids as they devoured everything. And just like that the afternoon was over!

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I got a couple questions about why I didn’t photograph the food. We were working together in a large commercial kitchen. Everyone had clean hands for food preparation. If I had ducked away to the far side of the room to find my cell phone in my purse and then come back and tried to take a picture that would have been very odd. Trust me that the food was colorful, hot and just plain delicious.

Common Threads volunteer: Week 3 in the kitchen

The “L” tracks nearby
Each summer camp session at Common Threads is three weeks long. I volunteered the first two weeks and then I took a vacation so I missed the third and final week of that camp session. So when I showed up today, it was to a completely new group of kids, a new chef, and more volunteers than before. From what I had observed before, I had been the only volunteer during my particular afternoon for the first session. Today I noticed two other volunteers.
Another new chef introduced herself and informed me that this second group of campers had participated in cooking camp last summer. She commented that they were “pros” and would be more able to be self-directed with their work in the kitchen.
I was paired with the other volunteer and we were assigned to run a station ourselves. It was nice to work with another volunteer and we complemented each other nicely. She was far more organized than me as she had received formal chef training, whereas I have had more experience with school kids.
The kids assigned to us were focused and eager. Two girls started chopping zucchini and I told them both that I thought they looked like professional chefs in their precision and dedication to task. The other two kids were measuring spices. The chef had told us that the spice level in the earlier group had been a little too hot. She suggested halving one of the spices. I asked the kids a very hard questions, “What’s half of 1/2 teaspoon?” I know that kids their age (Fourth and fifth grades) learn fractions, but they seemed to be a bit rusty on identification of fractions. I couldn’t find a pen (I’m bringing my own next time) so that I could draw out the fractions and they could see them visually. I used my hands to describe various fractions in an impromptu math lesson.
The recipe for today’s session was the same as the first week I participated, the falafel, Kushari and the Dukkah encrusted salmon. I was on the Kushari team again, but we were also going to be making the salmon and the Amba so that was a nice change.

The chef was correct about the kids: they had participated in camp before and were indeed “pros.” There was not as much jumping around and getting excited as the previous group. They were poised at the cutting boards to the point that if they had been older, anyone would have thought it was culinary school. These kids were chopping machines — they had serious knife skillz!
The onions were strong and when the kids were chopping them, many had to step away from the table and wipe their eyes. Even the kid next to the girl chopping onions had to step away. Potent!

The recipes for dishes like Kushari are long. As I said earlier, the toughest part is the prep and chopping. When you are working with four or five kids, the prep is quick. At home a recipe like this would take me much longer to do mostly because the prep alone would take me at minimum a half hour if I was minding my toddler simultaneously. I like Common Threads’ approach because it teaches kids basic cooking skills that can be applied to any recipe. If I were running this program, I might try to water it down by attempting less complex recipes. What I like is that the kids learn not to be afraid of long ingredient lists and multiple spices. Often at home when I am looking through a cookbook for a dish, I’ll skip recipes with “too many” ingredients. I believe that the kids at camp learn not to be intimidated. Leaving the program I think they feel a lot of confidence about themselves and their abilities in the kitchen.

Two hours in the kitchen sounds very long for kids this age. It flies by as the camper learns new skills, has fun, works at the stove, and then eats. There is time to socialize with the other campers. Once I saw two girls spontaneously start doing a hand clapping game. Many of the kids are meeting new people and making new friends. They come from different schools and include people of all different ethnicities including African-American, Asian, Latino, and Caucasian, mirroring the diversity in their communities on the south side of Chicago. I love how the creed (what they read before they eat) ties into their experiences with the food and also with other campers.

Having a competent chef volunteer as a partner made my job easy. The kids worked together to finish the Kushari and the salmon. I carried around the recipe and provided guidance when necessary. I didn’t work at the stove this time, but instead helped with the clean up. The kids have jobs in the kitchen aside from ingredient prep, stirring, baking and cooking at the stove. Each station is a color and every week they rotate clean up responsibilities. This week my group had to set up the station to eat and sweep the floor. Other groups helped to wash dishes (not the knives or graters which are put aside for the hired kitchen help) and wiped the counters.

One of the stations was cleaned off and that was where we stood and ate our creations. The kids set up small paper bowls, paper plates, and spoons. I noticed that the spoons were bio-degradeable. Then I stood at the stove and helped dish up all of the kids who came through with their little dishes. We read the “creed.” They have to eat a little of everything and if they like it they can come back for more if there is any. I saw all the kids eating and some came back for seconds. I chatted with some of the kids and they told me they wanted to try some of the recipes at home. Another successful afternoon in the kitchen!

Common Threads volunteer: Week 2 in the kitchen

I drove around Englewood and saw this broken down old building.
It says on the top “South Side Masonic Temple.” So sad to see it in this state.
This is NOT affiliated with Kennedy-King College, which is a stunning facility
that is basically brand-new. But this huge, sad building is within sight of campus…

I arrived at the door of the kitchen and before I could wash my hands one of the kitchen managers gave me an order to lift something and put it somewhere. I want to say “thank you,” because I like being told what to do instead of trying to figure things out by myself. The last week I was assigned to the bigger side, which included four large kitchen stations bordered by massive stove tops, a bank of ovens, and big refrigerators. This time I was informed that I’d be on the smaller side with two kitchen stations and only one set of stove tops. It seemed like the kids were bigger at my new assignment. I was a little bummed to be working with a different set of students and missing out on talking with “Joe” again.

I was working with a different chef and again everyone was friendly and welcoming to me. I don’t know if I’ve watched too much “H*ll’s Kitchen,” but I was happy to find that the chefs working here were happy and welcoming. People thanked me for volunteering, which was not necessary considering the meager offering of my time. I was the one who should be thanking them for allowing me to participate! The chef started ordering me around and I told her, “I take direction well,” (which is code for “do please tell me what I need to be doing”). I love order.

During the first week of camp, Common Threads over-enrolls to compensate for children who drop out because they are unable to attend the camp. I noticed that there was more elbow room on both sides of the kitchen today in comparison to the first week. Looking around I noticed that “Lou” wasn’t back. I’ll never know why he wasn’t able to stay for the whole camp experience. This week things were more organized as the kitchen staff had perfected a routine of movement. I liked the harmonized bustle of the kitchen and enjoyed observing the kids navigating their own routes around the stations, knowing their spots and roles. A part of me relaxed watching this dance and I started to enjoy myself.

My main job duty continued to be “don’t let kids cut themselves with knives” and then a new role was added at the stove “don’t let kids burn themselves.” Readers, remember when I blogged about how kids this age shouldn’t have knives? All together let’s laugh with me! Man, did I get schooled! Today’s menu was from Brazil and included Lorco de Habas “Fava bean soup,” corn cakes, and fish kabobs. Both stations made the soup, but our station also made the corn cakes while the other station made the skewers.

Kids were asking for jobs and they were handed out by the camp counselor, “You’re going to chop onions, you’re chopping tomatoes, you’re chopping cilantro, you’re chopping garlic.”

“But I don’t want to chop garlic,” a student rebutted. So that student started chopping potatoes.

I hovered around the cutting boards and started correcting a kid who was chopping onions without the bear claw. “Bear claw,” I reminded and things were corrected. Kids want to go fast through tasks so one student had to be reminded to slow down. When kitchen is your classroom, your lesson is slow food.

Kids finished chopping quickly so then corn was shucked and sliced off the cob. I didn’t jump in to do something for a student, but instead I stopped them when they started to cut a wobbly cob. “Let’s put that one in the garbage bowl because there’s not very much corn left on that one.” Code for “don’t cut yourself for a few kernels of corn.”

The dress code for volunteers is closed-toe shoes, no short sleeves and no shorts. The kitchen was comfortable as it is air conditioned, but when I moved to work at the stove top to make the soup, that’s when things got warmer.

Making the soup was a breeze. The experience reminded me that soup making is not a big deal. The most time-consuming part is the prep. We started with some type of oil, chopped onions and garlic, and then start adding veggies and later the stock. A tall, shy girl became the stirrer (many girls this age are quiet). She stood happily and kept moving everything around on the bottom of the pan. We discussed what “translucent” meant in regards to onions. It’s amazing to see how the onions slowly change color as they give it up to the heat.

Frying the corn cakes proved to be more challenging as hot oil is a danger. The kids were the most excited about the corn cakes and so four kids crowded around wanting to help scoop out the batter and plop it in the pan. We struggled to take turns as one boy and one girl continued to monopolize the stove. I tried my best to make sure that all the kids who wanted to pour corn batter into the pan and flip the corn cakes could do it a couple times.

POP! A drop of oil jumped out of the pan and hit a couple students and me. The chef came over and noticed that little remnants of corn cake in the pan were getting hotter and hotter, which caused them to pop and spray us. I was mortified and worried that the students would have burns. Ice packs were located for the students. The chef cleared out the little burnt bits, informed me to watch out for those and cooking resumed.

A few minutes went by and the injured students returned to the stove continue flipping corn cakes. I was relieved that they healed fast and wanted to return to their jobs at the stove!

The soup was finished first, but the corn cakes soon followed. Everything was plated while the students left the kitchen for a lesson with their camp counselors. The chef and I sampled the soup. She had amended the recipe because the first round of students had complained that it was spicy. She thought it was still a bit spicy. I love watching a chef tweak a dish to make sure it tastes right. I think that’s a special skill honed over time. I have a low tolerance for spice so I am only a good judge of the presence of spice, not the degree of heat. I tried it and commented that the spice came on later and didn’t seem too potent. She made some adjustments and we started filling the small bowls.

The kids came back in, the creed was read, and then everyone ate. The corn cakes were a huge hit with the kids and they also ate the soup and the kabobs. Another great afternoon in the kitchen!

Common Threads volunteer: Week 1 in the kitchen

The smallest side of the kitchen with just two stations.
On the other side of the range, the kitchen goes on and on and on…
My journey started with a lengthy drive to Englewood, a part of Chicago which has one of the highest murder rates in the country…not a place I normally visit. I parked and walked into a large campus building part of Kennedy-King College. An attendant directed me down a hallway. I could hear little kids.
I came in right when the volunteer coordinator walked in too and we sat down in the cafeteria side with a terrific view of the kitchen through long, large windows. The kids were loud and happy moving smoothly through two very large commercial kitchen areas. Most were wearing matching shirts with Common Threads written on them.
I chatted with the volunteer coordinator about the program and I received an apron and a badge (with my real first name on it). The volunteer coordinator is a former teacher and a Southerner. What is it about a Southern accent to make a person feel welcome? She explained how the camp experience is focused on teaching basic cooking skills while making recipes from other cultures. Every day the campers spend two hours in the kitchen cooking. Another hour is spent in the garden growing vegetables they later incorporate into meals they prepare themselves (for example, Swiss chard). The remaining hour is a cultural lesson related to the region’s cuisine they will be preparing. They learn a cultural dance and/or craft depending on what is appropriate for the culture they ar studying. For the Southeast Asian week, the students did an hour of yoga. Finally each Friday they have a field trip. One Friday the students went to a farm (the Heritage Prairie Farm to be specific) — oh how I wish I could have come along! There would be campers that had never laid eyes on a farm. In fact, the cuisine that the students cooked up every day could be totally new to them as well.

We finished my orientation and I found myself feeling a little nervous about entering in the kitchen. The volunteer coordinator told me I was assigned to a group of the older kids (5th and 6th graders).

The first group of younger kids had finished preparing their meals and eating them and had moved into the cafeteria area for a group lesson with their camp counselors. There are two large groups that alternate — while one group cooks for two hours, the other group is either in the garden or receiving a cultural lesson. Then they switch. So the kitchen is always hopping.

I met the chef and the kitchen staff and at least for this shift I would be the only volunteer on half of the kitchen. On the menu: Eygptian food! Falafel with toasted pita bread, Dukkah encrusted salmon, Kushari (rice and lentils with veggies), and Amba (mango condiment). The kids have a lesson on a part of the world they may not have thought about before and then they cook that region’s food — and eat it!

As a volunteer my duties were to float around the four stations (two falafel, one salmon, one stew) and make sure that no one cut themselves. The chef commanded the Amba and salmon areas with a couple camp counselors and so I ended up basically parking myself at one of the falafel and Kushari stations where there were fewer adults.

Another reason I joined that group was that I noticed one of the more interesting students “Joe” was assigned to make falafel. I noticed him during the group lesson as the most outspoken and loud and I saw that he needed some redirection to pay attention to the lesson. That’s not to say he was not intelligent because he knew the answers to the questions posed by the chef. In fact, I noticed that when the chef asked questions about the previous day’s lessons, most kids knew the answers and I was encouraged to think they had retained that information (sometimes kids don’t remember things the next day). My personality and skill set often pushes me towards kids traditionally labeled as “troubled,” so I definitely wanted to be a support to the student if he needed someone.

The chef did a lesson on chopping an onion and using the “bear claw.” For the kids this was day two using this technique so when actually chopping they needed just a couple reminders. The kids also learned “the bridge” technique and later how to “plank” an onion. I never went to cooking school or had any chef training and so this was new information to me! I’ll never chop an onion the same way again.

I felt much older than the camp counselors…and I was. Most of the camp counselors are young, college-aged. The kitchen felt vibrant and alive with all the young people. I stayed focused on my main duty of making sure no one cut themselves by sticking close to the cutting board. There was a taller girl chopping an onion and she seemed shy, cautiously looking around. She was very good with the knife, but initially needed reminder to use the “bear claw.” I told her she had great knife skills. She beamed.

The kitchen was busy. Camp counselors were moving quickly around the station, gathering ingredients, and looking at the recipe sheets, which at first glance do look daunting (maybe not the falafel, but how often have you tackled Kushari in your kitchen?). These kids didn’t need a lot of help identifying ingredients and moved quickly making falafel after chopping the onions. The great thing about kids is that they just get in there and go; there isn’t any adult-like hesitation.

I started cleaning up an area and took a knife to the back sink where two girl members of the kitchen staff were washing the sharp objects. The large commercial sinks were crowded by kids washing prep bowls, garbage bowls, and spatulas. WHAM — the smell of the area immediate brought me back to college about 15 years ago when I washed dishes in the hot, dank basement of my college dorm. I wore a hairnut and sweated profusely for a year as I stood in the spray of the commericial dishwasher. I couldn’t help it; I had to back away from the dishwashing area. The flashback was too vivid.

I retreated to the falafel station and saw the kids waiting to use the food processor to grind up our chickpeas, onions, and spices. I moved to work with the students placing triangles of pita bread on massive sheet pans. They spread generous amounts of olive oil on them using a brush. It was my first chance to chat with two of the students including “Joe.” “Joe” and the other student “Lou” answered my questions about their schools and before I knew it they started talking about the violence in their community. “Lou” told me about a relative who got shot and he was really sad about it. “Joe” also told me about hearing gunshots outside his home. What does one say to a child when they tell you this information? Are there words? I only could muster, “Wow, I’m really sorry to hear that happened.” I felt that my response was inadequate, but I felt honored that they felt comfortable telling me something so personal and traumatic.

And then we just finished our task and the bustle of a kitchen took over. “Lou” carried the tray of pita bread to the oven and my eyes got wide as I worried he would drop it. Of course he did fine and even put it in the oven himself. “Lou” and I started chatting about his life and I asked if he had any brothers or sisters. He told me that he was an only child. “Lou” was a quiet, sweet boy with very large eyes who didn’t smile that much but when he told me that his mother was expecting and how excited he was to be a big brother, he smiled widely.

The rest of the session was clean up while we waited for everything to bake (salmon), to cook (Kushari) or to fry (falafel). The Amba just needed to be stirred. The camp counselors worked with small groups of kids by the stove (there wasn’t space for nosy volunteers). The kids did a great job putting everything where it needed to be, wiping surfaces, and dropping cutting boards into soapy water.

Another part of my job as a volunteer is to eat what we make. During my earlier training the volunteer coordinator told me that I had to eat everything even if I didn’t like something because the kids would notice if I didn’t eat something and might not want to eat it too. Well, I’ve got 101 school lunches under my belt so I didn’t think the food would be a problem for me! By the way, the kids have to try a mouthful of every item.

When everything was ready, we all gathered around and “The Creed” was read. Essentially the creed is a chant or poem read before the kids eat. It goes as follows:

Today we learned how people in another country live, and what they eat!
Today we tasted healthy foods and practiced eating well to keep us strong.
People all over the world–and even in this room–are different!

But we all have things in common:
We can work together, share together,
Learn together, cook together and then…

Together we can EAT!

I’m a sap and I got a little choked up when the group recited it. Then the kids, the chef, the camp counselors, and myself started serving everyone up. It took awhile but everyone got some. And the kids ate it and so did I: it was delicious. The spices and flavors were perfect. I made a point of asking “Joe” what he thought and he said he didn’t like the salmon, but I saw him try it and eat the other food.

Volunteering with Common Threads

I wanted to do something with my time this summer that related to kids and food. I kicked around the idea of being a lunch lady, but as I mentioned in a previous blog post I didn’t think becoming a temporary employee was the best for me with daycare expenses and the desire to take a vacation. When a reader suggested that I volunteer, it sounded perfect.

After the guest blog post for Common Threads, I fell in love with what they are doing for kids. And it’s not just any kids, it’s the kids who need it the most. So I contacted them about volunteering. They have programs set up throughout the school year on a semester basis, but over the summer they do it differently and run two three-week camps. The volunteer coordinator explained to me that the summer is a great time for someone to become involved with their organization because there is flexible scheduling with no minimum or maximum amount of time required. I chose one afternoon per week over both of the camps. I had to miss one session so I ended up volunteering for a total five afternoons. It was very small gift of my time, but for me it was transformative.

The summer camp is held not in their usual locations around Chicago, but in the kitchens of Washburne Culinary Institute of Kennedy-King College, which is one of the city colleges of Chicago. How amazing for groups of ten-year-olds to flood in and occupy the space of an actual culinary school for six weeks! It also happened to be located in Englewood, one of the most troubled areas of Chicago. The kids are from the south side of Chicago, though not necessarily from Englewood, and they sign up through their local schools (Chicago Public Schools). Common Threads establishes long-standing relationships with specific schools and there is a lengthy waiting list of schools hoping for a chance to send their students. Vacancies are few as one of the goals of the program is to make change over time in needy schools.

I volunteered as my real self and received no compensation. They didn’t know I am “Mrs. Q.” What will follow over the next week will be my honest account of volunteering (hint: it might be pretty darn positive). I’m going to devote a post per day this week to detail my experiences. Am I worried about my anonymity? Well, there might be a couple employees who make the connection, but I trust them. I think it’s important that the message gets out about Common Threads. Feel free to ask questions in the comments as they occur or wait and see if I answer them during the week. Join me as I write about what happened in the kitchen this summer with Common Threads!

Open thread: Summer snacks

This summer we are eating a lot of watermelon, but are sticking to our usual favorites of cheese, dried fruit like raisins and cranberries, and nuts like pistachios and walnuts. Yogurt (baby yogurt for him, Fage for me), apples, oranges and peanut butter on crackers. We go out for ice cream about twice a month during the summer. There’s a local place that we love. What are your favorite summer snacks?

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Starting tomorrow I will present a weeklong series written by me. Don’t forget to tune in! I’m sharing another side of myself.

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The blog will be migrating to a new domain and undergoing a redesign over the next couple weeks. Stay with me even if we encounter some bumps along the way. Please email me if you have trouble with something (fedupwithlunchATgmailDOTcom)

Guest blogger: Cooking with Remmi

I am Remmi from Cook Time with Remmi which is a healthy-based cooking show for kids. In April 2009 we launched our website and pilot show. Within a month we were picked up by the Tulsa Public School systems cable channel and they have aired the show multiple times a week ever since. Concerned about the childhood obesity epidemic, my show’s objective is to link the skill of cooking to improved nutrition. In my show I prepare healthy meals consisting of main dish, side dish, and salad. My show has now received a lot of attention at the national level so we are now in preproduction of our second series. Our plan is to roll out the series in three markets in the fall and air the show on conventional TV. We hope to continue to distribute the show to other cities so we can have a wider distribution and help kids get excited about cooking and improving their health. In addition to my show, I just recently landed a monthly column for the award winning Tulsa Kids Magazine.
To tell you a little bit about me……..I am 10 years old and I started cooking when I was 4 years old. I started with washing vegetables and assembling salads with my mom. Within the last year and a half I started cooking even more and now I am able to prepare entire meals. There really isn’t a day that doesn’t go by that I don’t cook something. I am able to do most everything in the kitchen and the only thing I am not allowed to do by myself is drain the pasta (not allowed to carry boiling water)! I love basketball and gymnastics and I love spelling bees.
My goal is to go to culinary school soon as I am ready to learn more about cooking and nutrition. I am lucky that I enjoy fruits and vegetables more than any other foods so eating healthy is not a problem for me. I really think kids would think about eating healthier if they had the opportunity to learn to cook. Cooking can be so much fun and food can be very interesting as well. I love food history so I read about the ingredients and dishes I am fixing. Did you know General Grant loved cucumbers so much, he ate them everyday with his cup of coffee? Not sure about that combination but I do so much love cucumbers! And about Mrs. Q,s blog………I am honored to be a guest here and I would also like to say I am concerned about what kids are getting in their school lunches. I wonder why salads and fruits are the smallest portions on the plate, or even, non existent. I wonder why the food is not displayed more attractively so kids will want to eat it. And, this is a big one….I wonder why can’t we serve a salad without it always being ranch dressing. Ok, so since I got stuck on salads………….here is one of my favorites…………Let’s get cooking! For a simple summer dinner, we have Eggs Benedict (low fat sauce-I promise) and Gazpacho Salad with Italian Dressing.
Eggs Benedict (serves 4)

Ingredients:
4 English muffins
8 eggs
1 lb asparagus (trimmed/with peeler remove outer layer on 2 inches of bottom of stalk)
1 quart of water
1 T white wine vinegar
Hollandaise sauce (recipe below)
Fresh parsley (chopped)

Directions:
Boil water and place asparagus spears in the water for 5 to 7 minutes until crisp tender. Drain on paper towels. Toast English muffins. Prepare Hollandaise sauce. Reheat water used with the asparagus. Add vinegar and bring to boil. Break each egg into small bowl and slide into the boiling water. Cook only 3 eggs at a time. Boil just until the whites are cooked. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining eggs. To assemble, place 2 muffin halves on each plate. Split the asparagus among the 4 plates and on top of the muffins. Place an egg on each muffin and spoon 2 T sauce on each egg. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve immediately.
Remmi’s Notes- Alton Brown of the Food Network has a great video on how to poach eggs.

Hollandaise Sauce

Ingredients:
1 ½ T cornstarch
2/3 C milk (2%)
1 t unsalted butter
2 ½ T lemon juice
1 egg yolk
¼ t salt

Directions:
In a small pan on low medium heat, place the cornstarch and milk, and heat until thickened stirring constantly. Add butter and blend. Add lemon juice and salt and blend. Stir in egg yolk. Remove from heat. This can be made ahead and reheated.

Gazpacho salad with Italian Dressing

Ingredients (salad):
2 C Romaine lettuces (sliced in 1” strips)
½ C Cucumbers (seeds removed/medium dice)
½ C Cherry tomatoes (sliced in half)
½ C Red bell peppers (large dice)
½ C Green grapes (sliced in half)
¼ C Green onions (sliced/medium)
¼ C Celery (sliced/medium)
¼ C Fresh parsley
2 T Almonds (toasted)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 C Croutons (directions below)
Ingredients (dressing):
¼ C Oil (canola or light oil)
2 T Red wine vinegar
¼ t Garlic powder
¼ t Dry mustard
½ t Sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Prepare all ingredients as directed. Place lettuce on platter. In medium bowl, mix cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, grapes, green onion and celery. In small bowl, mix the dressing ingredients and then mix with the vegetable mixture. Place the vegetables on top of the lettuce. Sprinkle parsley and almonds on top. Serve prepared croutons on the side so they do not get soggy.

Croutons

Slice 1 cup of French bread into small cubes. Place on cookie sheet. Drizzle the olive oil on the bread. Add 1 teaspoon of diced garlic and a tablespoon of parsley. Bake in 325 degree oven.
Ok for some food history and fun food facts……………Did you know?……………………….

-Credit is given to Delmonico’s Restaurant as the creator of Eggs Benedict. This was the very first public restaurant. A customer did not like anything on the menu-so the chef created this dish.

-Grape growing is the largest food industry in the world.

-Did you know under ideal conditions-asparagus can grow 10 inches in 24 hours?

-There are 4 top super foods in this menu. They are tomatoes, almonds, greens, and eggs!

-The larger the diameter of asparagus-the better the quality.

-The first recipe published for “Gazpacho” was in Mary Randolf’’s book The Virginia Housewife published in 1824.

-“La Paella”(rice dish) and “El Gazpacho”(cold vegetable soup) are the most famous dishes from Spain.

-Although “hollandaise” means from Holland-the sauce really came from France and was originally called “Sauce Isigny.” During World War I, butter production came to a halt in France. At that time butter was imported from Holland so the name of the sauce changed to “Hollandaise” to indicate the origin of the butter, and the name was never changed back to “Sauce Isigny.”

Well…I want to thank you for reading this blog. I hope you enjoyed some of the fun food facts. Hope you will try the recipes……..they are delicious! You can get some more great recipes on my website at http://www.cooktimewithremmi.com/. Have a really happy day and don’t forget the second week of August is “smile” week……….so let’s do a lot of that! Remmi

Fishy

My husband and I went out for tacos a couple weeks ago. Dating is very rare with a small one at home. The restaurant was recommended due to their delicious fish tacos.

Before my husband ordered, he asked the waitress, “Where is the tilapia from?” She said she would ask the manager. I was a little embarrassed that he asked because I was sure that this restaurant had good food. She came back and said, “China.”

“Let me see,” my husband replied, “I need a few more minutes.”

***

Fish has never been on the school lunch menu at my school. I think it would be fantastic if my school started offering fish but my concern is that the fish would be sourced from Asia. If you have done any reading about the chemicals and pesticides used in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, etc., you would also be wary about consuming that kind of fish. They don’t have the same kind of rules and regulations that the US has and so chemicals and pesticides that we banned more than forty years ago are still being used. Known carcinogens. (See FDA Halts Imports of Farmed Fish from China and Wary diners ask: Is fish from China?)

Shrimp is something that I avoid completely because all those little shrimps you can purchase at the grocery store or at a restaurant come from China and they are loaded with chemicals (stuff we banned 40 years ago). You want the big Gulf shrimp — it pays to buy “made in the USA.”

Due to lots of contaminants in fish, we now only eat canned chunk light tuna (the albacore has more mercury), tilapia, salmon, canned sardines, anchovies and cod. I try to steer my husband away from the catfish because it is a bottom feeder (aka eats crap that may contain chemicals), but he loves it and can’t resist eating it.

I think fish are a great thing to eat because it’s low fat and full of great brain developing fatty acids. I just wish there wasn’t so much pollution in this world forcing me to ask questions every time we buy fish at a restaurant or at the grocery store. Luckily most fish is labeled with the country of origin. I encourage you to have a closer look at what you have in the fridge. And check out What Fish Should I Eat? for a list of resources with information about which fish are safe.

At the grocery store I questioned the butcher about the fish and he taught me something new. He said, “If it’s fresh, it most likely did not come from Asia. It’s the frozen stuff that you should worry about.”