Week 5 of our 2022 Culinary Camp series revealed our ~true colors~ in cooking!
This week our week for campers who are 5-7 years old got to attend culinary camp to learn about the basics of cooking and foods. The recipes that all the campers created this week included homemade macaroni and cheese, mixed berry smoothie, reveal the rainbow fruit salad, white bean chocolate chip cookies, rainbow veggie pizzas, and baked flautas!
In the Garden
Our Master Gardener, Marilyn, got to lead our garden sessions where she was able educate the campers on how to plant specific seeds and seedlings, what tools to use for what job, which insects that are found in the garden are welcomed and which ones are not welcomed, and much more!
Monday included: Rules & Tools – the campers were taught what it means to be an organic gardener and how to make sure what is being used in the garden is organic. The campers also got to prepare their own garden beds where they weeded out the beds and prepared for them to be planted with seeds and seedlings. Some of the foods they planted were banana peppers, pumpkins, spaghetti squash, and cucumbers. They finished up their gardening session for the day by watering all of their seeds so they are able to grow throughout the next weeks!
Wednesday Included: Harvest Day – the kids got to harvest some of the fruits and vegetables that have been growing in the garden for the past months to send out to Fresh Gatherings, our campus restaurant. Some of the things they harvested were Peaches, Tomatoes, and Carrots!
Thursday Included: Weed & Feed and Friends & Foes of the Garden – Marilyn taught the campers which insects and animals are friends/foes of the garden, and how to handle them when they are found on one of our plants. They were given the task to go all around the garden and try to catch some insects in jars so we all try to identify them! Campers also fertilized plants with fish emulsion and helped with pest management by hunting bugs with jars to identify them.
Friday Included: Herb Day – the campers got a tour of our herb garden and was able to see and taste each herb! Then, they collected some of their favorite herbs to make Lemonade (lavender, mint, basil, etc.) as well as mix some of the herbs with butter to try with bread. They all were so surprised how different and delicious each type of lemonade and herb butter tasted!
Field Trip to Rolling Lawns
The kids traveled to Greenville, IL to learn about the process of how milk is made and where it comes from. They got to learn about a cow’s anatomy, how they are able to produce milk, and also got to take a tour around how Rolling Lawn’s makes milk safe to drink. The kids even got to try some yummy samples of Chocolate and Strawberry Milk and delicious ice-cream!
Nutrition Education, Campus Kitchen & More
This weeks nutrition education was focused whole foods vs processed foods, what vitamins and minerals are, how to “eat the rainbow” through different foods, and how they make delicious easy foods! The campers also prepared and packaged food for Campus Kitchen, and they learned about Campus Kitchen’s mission. In their free time, they played all kinds of fun games, as well as celebrated a week of hard work and fun cooking with the Appetizer Party. They all did such an amazing job at learning how to properly cut foods and help prepare for the appetizer party! We are so proud of them.
Gardens to Tables Culinary Camp 