Quebec city

We visited the market today in the old port. These photos are for all you foodies, the colors were unbelievable! Of course, we had to buy something, so we found an olive loaf, some local triple creme brie, cherry tomatoes and raspberries for our lunch. It was delish!




Artisanal french bakery

Cherries, redcurrants, blueberries, raspberries

In case you didn't know, Quebec is celebrating their 400th Anniversary this year. Here are some sailors dressed in historic uniform

Quebec city

Walls of the old town

rue de petit champlain

Hotel Frontenac

Cold and windy!

Bridge over Montmonercy Falls

We're having a nice time in Quebec city, the weather was rainy and windy yesterday while we visited the old town. Lots of walking up, down and around. Just as well because I found a french bakery and ate a chocolate eclair! Yummy!! Then we had dinner at a french restaurant, I had moules and frites, Rick had a very nice lamb dinner.

Finally we had a day when it didn't rain! We drove to see the Montmonercy waterfall and drove across to an small island called I'lle d'Orleans where we found an icecream shop where they dip them in thick chocolate. Hope you like the photos!

Jambalaya and Profiteroles

Our state today was Louisiana - and of course, we had to make Jambalaya. Once all the ingredients were measured (mise en place), then the actual cooking time was less than one hour. This recipe uses boneless chicken breast and low fat polish sausage, I also, decided to add frozen peas for extra veggies. You can add shrimp if you like.

The hardest thing for the kids was to leave the rice alone during cooking. Even though my large skillet had a glass lid, they wanted to lift the lid and stir! Now they know that rice cooks much better when covered and not stirred. As you can see the dish looked amazing and the kids loved it.

We also had a lesson making choux pastry - once they saw me demonstrate the technique, they saw how easy it was to make. They loved piping little mounds of the paste with a disposeable piping bag, and were so surprised to see the hollow in the little buns when they were cooked - a perfect little space for the whipped cream! I bought the new Cool Whip in a can and found that it doesn't deflate like the regular whipped cream in a can. Profiteroles are a fun and easy dessert.

Boston Cream Pie

Today's state was "New England", which I know is not really a state. However, I chose Boston Cream Pie and Clam Chowder from Mass., then the Sticky Maple glazed chicken drumsticks from Vermont, so it's a mix. As you can see the cake was a big success and the cake recipe is an all-in-one version, which is really easy for kids to make. Just make sure that the butter is soft so it mixes easily.

The kids couldn't believe how easy the drumsticks were to prepare. The glaze has an Asian flair because of the rice wine vinegar , garlic and fresh ginger. They were really finger licken good...

Next time you have a craving for Clam chowder and I mean REAL chowda, instead of paying mucho dollars at Legal Seafood, please try my recipe. The kid's ate every drop of the that soup for their lunch and declared it was the best they'd ever eaten. You can add real clams if you must, but the canned variety passed the test.

My camera was not working too well today, so I didn't take many photos. Tomorrow, I'll borrow my husband's fancy SLR, so hopefully I'll be posting lots of pics of the rest of the week. Here's a picture of tonight's dinner, using the other camera - Ratatouille. I learned to make this dish when I was working as a private chef in Provence during the 80's. We actually used herbs d'provence which gave it a unique flavor. July and august is always the best time to make it, when the veggies are at their best and most abundant, fresh tomatoes should only be used if they are really ripe and sweet. Hope you like the photo!

Meatball Chili and Dessert Nachos

This week our Teen class is really going well. Yesterday, our Black and white cookies were unbelievable! They looked just like the photo (from epicurious) and they were delicious. I've never had an authentic black and white, but they were a cross between a cookie and cake. If you've ever had an English Jaffa cake, you'll know what I mean.

Today, we made Texas chili with meatballs. I decided on meatballs because we have a vegetarian in our class. This worked out really well, because we made the 3 bean chili recipe and the baked turkey meatballs separately. I added the meatballs to the chili once I'd taken a bowl out for our veggie teenager. The cornbread muffins completed the meal.

I can't remember where I got the Dessert nacho recipe from, but it's been one of our most popular dishes. Using ripe, sweet summertime fruits for the fruit salsa makes it even more delicious and older kids can practise their knife skills. The cinnamon tortilla chips are amazing and so easy to make. I hope you try it.

Summer Fruits

Summertime has come at last! Hot, steamy, sunny days cry out for the cool, delicious taste of summer fruits.

Strawberries and raspberries are in season right now, so why not take your kids to a farm and pick your own fruit. What a great way to spend a day with your kids learning about how local produce is grown. Look in your local phone book or go to www.pickyourown.org

Looking for another field trip to do with your kids this summer? Search out your local Farmer’s Market. Once a week, farmers bring their produce to sell and what could be better than fruits that are fresh and ripe, as they usually picked that same day. The kids will love the free samples given out freely by the vendors, so it’s a great way to taste new foods. If you don’t have a Farmer’s market near you, then a field trip to your local supermarket will be just as educational.

Talk with your kids about the summer fruits you see: yellow and white peaches and nectarines, plums, apricots, melons and cherries. Look out for the variety of berries, such as blackberries, raspberries and blueberries - local berries can be picked later in the summer. Don’t forget to watch out for the unusual summer fruits such as greengages, rhubarb, kiwi, figs, star fruit, mangoes and papaya.

Have a geography lesson and let your kids guess where the different fruits are grown. Explain why some of the fruits are available all year round, for example, pineapples from Hawaii.

Carefully, pick up the fruits and compare their colors, shapes and sizes. Smell and feel them. For example, compare the fuzzy, soft skin of a peach or the prickly skin of a pineapple to the smooth, shiny skin of a nectarine or plum. Teach your kids how to choose unblemished fruits; ripe fruits will smell sweet and yield to gentle pressure but hard summer fruits can be bought and stored in a brown paper bag until ripe. Older kids might like to know that fruit in a paper bag will give off ethylene gas and hasten the ripening process.

When cooking with fresh summer fruits, have your kids taste them first to determine their sweetness. If they are sweet and ripe, less or no sugar can be added to the recipe. Try to be gentle when stirring summer fruits, ripe berries will break down very quickly and it’s much nicer to see the whole fruit in the finished dish. There are many recipes for fruit cobblers, pies and shortcake that kids love, but if you’ve gone to all the trouble of picking your own fruit, then choose a recipe where the fruit is the star of the show.

If you are looking for kid friendly recipes, you will find many kid tested recipes on my website www.letsallcook.com

Crispy Candy Sushi Snacks

On friday, our beginner's classes made Crispy Candy Sushi Snacks to represent California. I found this recipe on the Family Fun website and it has been a big hit with everyone. Why not try it one rainy afternoon, it's a lot of fun to make and eat!

Here's the recipe:
Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
4 cups mini marshmallows
6 cups crispy rice cereal
20 to 25 gummy worms
1 to 2 boxes fruit leather


Directions:

1. Grease a 12- by 17-inch baking sheet. Line with parchment paper or foil, leaving a small overhang at top and bottom ends.
2. Melt butter in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat.
3. Add the marshmallows and stir until smooth.
4. Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the rice cereal until it's evenly coated.
5. Then press the marshmallow mixture onto the baking sheet, distributing it evenly.
6. Starting at one side an inch up from the lower edge, place gummy worms atop the mixture end to end in a horizontal line.
7. Gently roll the lower edge of the marshmallow mixture over the gummy worms. Then stop and cut the log away from the rest of the mixture. Use the same method to form 4 more logs.
8. Slice each log into 1-inch-thick "sushi" rolls and wrap them individually with a strip of fruit leather.
   

Beginners 1 summer camp

Welcome to my blog

Hi everyone!

I'm so excited because I have actually started my own blog site. So you get to see pictures of the kids at camp and comment on all the recipes that they're making and baking. I'd also love to hear from kids who love to cook, especially if you have any questions or comments.

We have just finished our second week of summer camp (Beginners 2 - grades 4 to 6) and we all had a lot of fun. My theme this year was "Taste of America", so I chose age appropriate recipes from 5 different states. Monday was New York, tuesday was Texas, wednesday was New England (of course), thursday was Louisiana and we ended the week on friday with California.

The kids seem to love everything, well maybe the Gazpacho was a little sophisticated, but it's such an easy and healthy recipe - perfect the summer! The winning dish by far was the Classic chicken pot pie, followed by the Apple muffins. They loved learning about yeast and we watched the pizza dough rise in the trunk of my minivan (it was too cold in the classroom and the van was hot and steamy = perfect for a quick rise.)

All the recipes we made at our summer camp and recipes from past cooking classes are posted on my website www.letsallcook.com Now that the kids are on summer vacation, have fun together cooking and at the same time learn math through measuring, geography with recipes from around the world, science with baking bread and cakes and gardening - grow your own vegetables, herbs and fruits.

Tomorrow, my cooking camp has 10 teenagers registered. Who says teens don't like to cook?
We will be making different and more difficult recipes from states around America - Black and white cookies from New York and California rolls. Check back during the week, when I'll be posting more photos. Happy Cooking!