Mardi Michels

The members of my boys' cooking club LOVE making dumplings - it's such a great activity to get kids in the kitchen - lots of things to chop and then assembling the dumplings keeps little hands busy too. When the boys make dumplings, they are so engaged - it takes great concentration to get the wonton wrappers "just right"! They were so proud of these pork and Chinese cabbage dumplings we made this week and one boy even made them with his brothers the next day!

My aspiration this week is a bit of a lofty one: Bring Back Home Ec!  It's something I have thought for a long time, and something I have been trying to do in my own small way, through my boys cooking clubs twice a week.

I truly believe that kids can cook most anything, from any cookbook, given  proper instruction and modelling.  Over the past year I have been working with 7 and 8 year old boys (The "Cooking Basics" Club) though a series of Jamie Oliver recipes  from his Home Cooking Skills website – an invaluable resource – and also from the Food Revolution Cookbook. Recipes that are dumbed-down for kids are not that interesting for them - honestly, believe me when I say they really can do anything if you guide and help them, as I prove week after week with my Petits Chefs cooking club, where boys aged 10-12 meet each week to explore all sorts of different cuisines with chefs and food enthusiasts from around Toronto (and me!).

My inspiration? Jamie Oliver.

In November 2009, I heard Jamie Oliver speak in Toronto (I wrote about it here), mainly about his Food Revolution and “Pass it On” campaign.  Throughout that talk I kept on thinking how irresponsible it would be of me to NOT take part (even in a tiny, drop-in-the-ocean kind of way) in Jamie’s Revolution and a few short weeks later, Les Petits Chefs was born.  I mean, I am not the world’s greatest or most knowledgeable cook but I do know my way around a kitchen (or in this case, a science lab/kitchen!).  Why not pass on some basic skills to the students I have to offer a club to anyway?  It’s been the greatest thing – very often, the highlight of my teaching week (and certainly a bonus for the boys’ parents who look forward to tasting our creations each week!) and a wonderful way for the boys to get to know me outside the classroom, doing something I love (which can only be a good thing!).

Since then, the club has grown in leaps and bounds, it's one of the most popular clubs in the school and we've participated in not one but TWO Food Revolution Days in 2012 and 2013.  Through my work with the both of these clubs, I see the boys learning life skills (math, ingredient and nutrient knowledge), basic kitchen techniques and knife skills. Parents are pleased to see their boys trying new foods (food is always so much more appetizing when you have a hand in preparing it!) and I have been thrilled to watch the boys undertake complex recipes the “can do” attitude only kids have.

Here's what I have learned from working with kids in the kitchen: you don’t need fancy equipment or ingredients or a lot of time to make a healthy, from scratch meal. Now, shouldn't that be a part of every child's education?

Some articles you might enjoy:

Food Revolution Day 2013

Food Revolution Day 2012

I’m on Team Strawberry this week and made a soft strawberry and Pimm’s jam for Neil to enjoy for breakfasts after I head off to Paris tomorrow for the month. The Pimm’s made it a bit browner than I am used to for a strawberry jam but I loved the unusual flavour of this.

I also made strawberries and cream macarons for a friend who has just had a baby girl. Freeze dried strawberry powder lends an intense strawberry taste to the delicate shells and goes really well with a cream cheese filling.

Go Team Strawberry!

I’m happy to be participating in Gastropost - finally! - and was thrilled to see that my first challenge would be grilling!  Not being from Canada originally, I am not one to stand out in the cold weather grilling food.  Much as I love grilled food, it’s just not in my blood (heck we don’t even have snow where I come from!).  So I do look forward to grilling season - for the food and for the fact that I can cook without heating up my kitchen unnecessarily.  This weekend, I have been celebrating the end of the school year so by the time it came to Sunday night, I wanted something easy and tasty and that I didn’t have to heat up the oven for.  Actually, what I wanted was these - the ultimate baked potatoes.  Perfect comfort food, and a family favourite.  I’ve made these countless times in the oven but never on the barbecue so I figured I might as well give it a whirl…

These were every bit as good as when I made them in the oven! Better because my house remained cool as they cooked! I’d highly recommend these as either a light lunch or a side for dinner. Plus, you can be creative with what you fill them with… Doesn’t a personalised baked potato bar sound fun? Everyone can stuff theirs with the fillings of their choice. Kid friendly, adult friendly, vegetarian and carnivore friendly - a crowd pleaser for sure!