Sunday Dinners

Okay - so no sense in having a blog if I'm not going to make good use of it! Today, as with nearly every Sunday, I spent the morning a the Certified California Farmers Market under the freeway in downtown Sacramento. I believe it's the longest running market in the city, and is definitely the largest! Fresh seafood, meats, eggs and cheeses. All the seasonal produce your heart desires. Beautiful flowers. Great coffee! Whatever I find turns into our Sunday night meal. Tonight, we're having Bruschetta w/Cherry Tomatoes, Yellow Bell Peppers Stuffed w/Lemon Herb Rice and Feta Cheese; Veggie Meatballs w/Sauteed Mushrooms & Leeks, Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinegar; and a Green Salad (the latter is from a bag from Trader Joe's - Sandra Dee would be proud of me!).

Here are the pics from my morning and I've detailed the steps to prep dinner. Total time: 2 hours. YUM! Let me know if you'd like my scribbled recipes for any of this...
Cheers!
KLM

Kids Culinary Convention

Our 2nd Annual Kids Culinary Convention was a HUGE success yesterday! Since last blog, have been busy getting ready. Need a fulltime writer to keep up with what we're doing!

Fearless!

As many of you know, I believe children are only limited by our imagination. The children in our lives are more often than not the recipients of our fears as well as our dreams and expectations. When we expect more they tend to give more. Give them wings, show them how to use them, let them know the consequences of misuse and lovingly let them fly. That's the instructional philosophy behind Jr. Chef Central and the approach I take to teaching every child.
Here are more pictures (courtesy of Agriculture in the Classroom) of the event in Costa Mesa at the end of June where Master Jr. Chefs Allison, Alyssa, Ben & Kevin stretched their wings and took to flight. At ages 11, 12, 13 & 14. Thought these put the magnitude of what they did in focus.


"Karla,
Thank you so much for your participation with Jr. Chef Central at our 2008 National Ag in the Classroom Conference in Orange County. Our attendees absolutely loved the presentation and we hope that you all enjoyed yourselves too! We look forward to working with you much more in the future!
Sincerely, Kelly
(Kelly Cormier, Communications Coordinator, California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom)

Reality Check

When I created this blog I imagined myself writing witty daily essays on the role food plays in my life. It quickly became apparent that I could either live life or document it! So, instead of the wonderful insights I'd love to share reality dictates that I keep it short, to the point and let our pictures tell a thousand words. Oh - and words from others I'll be sure to share, like this from Chef Pannell, Culinary Arts Director for Sacramento Job Corp, and Publisher of Cusine Noir magazine (www.cuisinenoir.com):

Thank you and your Jr. Chefs soooo much for coming and entertaining the troops(job corp Culinary Art program students) today. The did so well and the class was very impressed and proud. The salads were very tasty and colorful and seasoned very well. The trainees went back for seconds.

Please let the Jr. Chefs know that they did a great job and l like the fact that they are still are kids at heart.

Once again, thank you very much for coming and sharing,

Chef Pannell

P.S. Some of the trainees were even intimidated by the skills and by the Jr. Chefs not needing a lot of attention from you during their demos.

Catching Up

Okay - so I haven't been so good about posting. Hopefully, with this latest post you'll understand why! In the month of June we ran 4 Jr. Chef sessions in 3 weeks, 2 of them running concurrently. Then, it was off to Costa Mesa to do a demonstration at the National Conference of Agriculture in the Classroom. The next day, I flew out to Bermuda to prepare for 2 Jr. Chef sessions here on the Island. (Yes, I'm posting from the middle of the Atlantic Ocean!) Still another week to go, then it's back to California (where sessions are ongoing with lead instructor Chef Brenda), and full steam ahead in preparation for the Kids Culinary Convention '08. Enjoy the pics!
KLM

Bermuda Jr. Chef Camp - July
First a week of getting prepared: acclimating myself to the extremely high humidity, shopping for ingredients, 'taste testing'; then the first 3 days of the first session with 12 Bermudian youngsters. We're at International Imports aka 'The Chefs Shop' in the city of Hamilton.

Costa Mesa Demo
Master Jr. Chefs Allison, Alyssa, Ben & Kevin rocked the house!

Jr. Chef California - June Sessions
These pics are from two sessions...

Quick update with pictures to follow...
Just completed our 3rd week of Basic Jr. Chef Cooking Camps - just 6 more to go! Also held our Master's session last week which was an incredible experience for all involved. Led by our Lead Cooking Instructor Brenda Ruiz, 10 students from the Jr. Chef Elite program participated, kicking off the session on Sunday with a trip to the Library to discover the secrets to researching all things culinary. Their biggest surprise was microfiche - newspapers as sources of information are not the first place that come to the minds of young people these days!
During the week they spent time at a meat processing plant (it packages for Niman Ranch among others) and the Center for Land Based Learning in Davis; toured and tasted their way through a variety of ethnic markets; did morning apprenticeship stints at local restaurants including Esquire Grill and Ella's; heard from lobbyists on farm based issues at the State Capitol; and, on the last day, the team split for two very diverse but complimentary experiences. One group taught a cooking class for students in the summer program run by the Mustard Seed, an organization that ensure homeless students stay in school.
The other group traveled with me to Costa Mesa to do a demonstration at the National Conference for Agriculture in the Classroom.
By all accounts, everyone involved in both activities on Friday were blessed beyond measure. Again, pictures and (hopefully!) film to follow as soon as I can.
Am now in Bermuda preparing for 2 Basic Jr. Chef Camps which start next week, as well as putting things in place for rolling out a Jr. Chef Central After School program in the fall.
Cheers!

Summer Camp Starts!

Okay - now I hope to be providing pics and info on a more regular basis! Jr. Chef Camp has started and runs weekly until the end of August here in California. We're also running 2 camps in Bermuda in July. Yes, Bermuda. Here is a look at our first camp of the summer which just ended (hold your breath...) yesterday! So my posting is timely. These kids had a great week in the kitchen under the wonderful guidance of Lead Cooking Instructor Chef Brenda Ruiz, and the every capable Miss Leona. Elite Jr. Chef Ben was on hand to also lead by example. (He's taking the Master Jr. Chef program in 2 weeks.)