Teaching Teens to Cook + DIY Drapes
Life is hard; food doesn't have to be #163 [vol5, 2.4]
Pre-pandemic I taught cooking classes in my kitchen. Today I’m hosting a team building time for my 13yo's volleyball team. I’m feeling nervous and excited to host ten teenagers giggling at my counter.
Building the menu I wanted:
real life cooking skills
nourishing foods they would recreate at home
fun, team building experience
Recipes for Teen Team Building
My teaching style is fast paced (some would say I’ve planned too much for 2 hours.) We’ll start with knife safety and skills. Sexy? No. But I start almost every meal with an onion. (And think you should, too!) We will begin with celery, move to carrots then cut an onion.
[Two other moms are joining. They will help oversee the following recipes, simultaneously.]
With this pile of veggies, we will jump into creamy golden chicken soup. It’s nourishing, yum and not hard. Also at the stovetop will be a béchamel demonstration - turned into Alfredo for the pasta.
At the same time in the dining room I’ve set up 2 InstantPots that will operate like hot plates. The gals will make this crowd pleaser, easy meat and cheese dip (but without Velveeta!)
With certainty, the favorite will be making pasta — because it’s fun and most Americans haven’t made it at home.
In 2019 I spent 10 days in Italy (a week at a cooking school + travel.) It was a lovely experience but by no means made me an expert in pasta making. Life has its way and it has been at least 2 years since I’ve dusted off the pasta machine.
Making Pasta
Before teaching any class I always practice the recipes. The pasta recipe I’d used before wasn’t performing to my expectations. Pasta is one of those foods that mistakes potentially compound exponentially.
The longer I cook the more I love using a scale. It takes out guess work and reduces dishes. Tried this new to me pasta recipe; it used ingredients by weight (not volume). The writer boasts of working in an Italian kitchen, that the recipe is scalable. I liked it better than the one I’d used before.
Another Recipe I Made This Week
Are you following
? Hands down my fav food follow. She makes simple, seasonal recipes that are sensible! I tried this rad na thai noodle recipe, which is similar to pad thai. It came together quickly and I added rotisserie chicken. Crowd pleaser.DIY Lined Drapes
Know that feeling when you finish something looming on your to-do list for months? Gah! Love it! Last week I finished colorful drapes for my all white kitchen with the encouragement of Krista West on YouTube. She expertly makes a panel in 30 minutes (it’s a raw, no edit video.) If you can sew in a straight line you can make these drapes with her tutorial. And then feel like a million bucks because you finally used the fabric bought months ago.
I love the look of the pins but they lifted the fabric too high off the ground. I could lower the rod or let out the 4” hem. But for now they will stay short. Myquillen Smith (The Nester) says, “It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.” I agree.
Life is hard; food doesn’t have to be.
Julie
Thank you, Julie :) Love the pins!