Summer Cooking Camps are Back!

Join us for a week-long course, for elementary-age kids, designed with a unique and exciting theme that offers hands-on participation, detailed cooking instruction and their very own notebook full of recipes to take home!  Plus, every day the kids get to eat what they create!  The camps will run Monday through Thursday during the months of June and July at my home in Fairfield.  Your kids are invited to join the fun as I look forward to teaching them the art of cooking!

 

 

Cooks and Books Returns

June 8-11           $65

Mon.-Thurs.   10 am-12 pm           K-6^th grade

                   2- 4 pm                  K-6^th grade*

 All new books and all new recipes will make this a favorite class for children of all ages. 

Think “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”!!  Kids will look at stories a whole new way, as they create recipes inspired from some of their favorite books.  Classic children’s stories like “Stone Soup” and new favorites like “If You Give A Pig A Pancake” offer plenty of inspiration for growing gourmets.  We will bake bread like the little red hen, eat like the hungry caterpillar and perhaps reprise our favorite “Green Eggs and Ham.”  Come hungry for good books and good food.

  

Around the World in 4 Days

June 15-18                   $65

Mon.-Thurs.   10 a.m.-12 p.m.       K-6^th grade **morning class only

Kids will be transported around the world as they learn the customs, culture, language and food specialties of countries different from their own.  Campers will learn that trying new foods can be fun, especially as they are enveloped in the culture of a foreign land.  We will “visit” Japan, Greece, Italy and France as we travel around the world, learning how to prepare exotic food for friends and family.  What a fun way to learn to cook…especially when chopsticks are included!

 

*** I will be traveling to Europe between these classes…from London to Brussels, Amsterdam and Paris…looking for yummy recipes to bring back to the children for the next class.

  

Manners Matter: Traveling in Style

July 13-16           $65

Mon.-Thurs.   10 am-12 pm           K-6^th grade

                   2- 4 pm                  K-6^th grade*

Having good manners are important every day, not just when we sit down to dine at a fancy restaurant.  This four-week session will focus on etiquette, setting the table and good table manners as we cook recipes that test even the neatest and most polite child!  Please don’t think this is a “stuffy, boring” class…for we will use our etiquette expertise to “travel” to exotic lands and have…high tea in England…pastries on the sidewalk cafes of Paris…fondue on the long voyage aboard the Orient Express from Paris, Vienna, Amsterdam to Turkey…and a fine dining experience at the Plaza in New York.   

  

Camp-Out Cuisine

July 20-23           $65

Mon.-Thurs.   10 am-12 pm           K-6^th grade

                   2- 4 pm                  K-6^th grade*

You don’t have to be a master chef to prepare camping foods, but if you use the culinary skills of one, you are sure to elevate these simple and fun recipes to an art form.  In this class, we will learn how to prepare food in foil over a campfire, learn what foods to take on the trail, create dinner on a stick and how to safely use the outdoor grill.  We can’t forget the classic s’more…but we will try it with our own homemade marshmallows.  Yum!

 

*Two classes will be offered as long as there is enough participation. 

Overnight French Toast with Praline Sauce

So you missed my "Mother's Day Brunch" class but now you are scrambling (no pun intended) to think of something to make for Mom.  With only a few days left to plan, shop and cook, I decided to send out one of the recipes from the class.  This is one of the favorite breakfast treats  I make when we have company.  Don't you want to come visit?  

It is similar to a bread pudding (but that's for another post) and has all the ingredients of French Toast without the hassle of making it while everyone is standing around with their plates waiting on you. Make it the night before and bake it in the morning.  Now... go, cook and celebrate all the "mothers" in your life!

Overnight French Toast Casserole with Praline Sauce

1 loaf of French bread 6 eggs

1 1/2 cups half and half 1 1/2 cups whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Topping:

1 stick softened butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 Tablespoons corn syrup

1 cup chopped pecans

Cut French bread into 1 inch cubes.  You should have about 10-12 cups of cubes.  Place the cubes in baking dish.  In a separate bowl, crack the eggs and whisk until smooth.  Add the half and half, milk, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg and whisk until well blended.  Pour the egg mixture evenly over the cubed bread.  Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.  

In the morning, remove the foil from the French toast casserole.  Mix together the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and nuts in a small bowl. Drop the mixture in little spoonfuls over the French toast.  Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.  Serve with praline sauce.

Praline Sauce

1 sticks butter 1/2 bag of light brown sugar

1 cups water 1/2 can sweetened condensed milk

In a sauce pan, melt the butter, sugar, water and condensed milk.  Bring mixture to boil and then reduce to medium heat. Cook about 5 minutes until the sugar is dissolved and it is ready to be spooned over the baked French toast.