ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 23, 1996 TAG: 9610230021
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ALMENA HUGHES FOOD EDITOR
Cooks don't come much younger than those participating in the Young Chefs Club at Penn Forest Elementary School. The six girls are the first group in a new Roanoke County Department of Parks and Recreation Youth Enrichment Program.
Assistant supervisor of youth programs Belinda Berry said that unlike the After-School for Kids programs, which are more of a baby-sitting type arrangement, the enrichment classes aim to instruct and include subjects such as karate and piano. The six-week Young Chefs course costs $32. Either program is open to kindergarten through grade 5 students from any school.
The young chefs meet for an hour on Thursdays at 3 p.m. So far, the get togethers have been a learning experience for students and teacher alike.
"You have to keep them busy all the time," Chef Lee Wright, owner of Be Our Guest Catering, observed after his first week teaching the exuberant group. "Kids this age don't have real long attention spans, so it's easy to lose them. But they can learn, especially if you make it fun."
At their first meeting on Oct. 3, the group got acquainted and had fun making shake-up ice cream in sealable plastic bags. A reporter and photographer visited during the second meeting, when the girls drove an imaginary van to an imaginary market to pick up some real fruit.
The inventive troop used its pretty straw baskets as steering wheels, hats, shoes and holders for the fruits the girls eventually chose. Back in the imaginary kitchen - actually two adjacent tables in Penn Forest's cafeteria - one chef displayed her basket of fresh strawberries, while Wright explained that berries are usually sold in pints or quarts.
"You should look for bruises," a student cautioned.
"And don't put them on the bottom of the bag or they'll get smushed," another added, seemingly from personal experience.
Apples, pears, grapes, bananas and raisins each received similar discussion as to how they are measured; precautions to take when buying; whether or not to refrigerate them and should you eat their skins.
There are many things to be said for fruit, the chefs agreed, including that it's healthy, has a lot of fiber, it's juicy, tastes good and won't rot your teeth.
"They're fruits, in the first place, because, technically, they started from flowers," Wright said.
He told the chefs, "You need to wash the fruit in cold water without soap to remove any possible insects or sprays."
Then, sending the girls scurrying off to the restroom, he noted that it's important to make sure that young ones wash their hands, too.
"Let's have a little ambience," Wright suggested to the now fresh-scrubbed cooks as he whipped out two red-checked tableclothes.
"OK," they eagerly agreed, then paused. "What is it?"
While he explained that ambience is a nice atmosphere created with little touches such as flowers, candles, pretty bowls and tablecloths, Wright passed out plastic utensils. The students then sampled and compared raw apple to apple cooked without sugar or other added flavorings; raw pear to canned pear in sweetened syrup; and fresh grapes to raisins.
They loaded and turned an apple-peeling device and tasted canned pineapple, fresh strawberries and bananas, dipped in vanilla yogurt or caramel, if desired.
"Go ahead and try it," Wright repeatedly told the future cooks. "You don't have to finish it if you don't like it."
Wright, like most nutrition experts, said that children should be encouraged but not be forced to eat. Too much food can overwhelm them, perhaps turning them against a food or causing them to overeat and gain weight. Beverly Mills, co-author of the syndicated Desperation Dinners column, says that a child's appropriate portion size is actually only one tablespoon per year of age. However, left to their own devices, the six young chefs ate heartily, especially of the grapes, apples and yogurt.
"I've learned that in this age group, you have to supervise them or they'll eat way too much of things they like," Wright observed.
He's also learned to make sure that young munchers have ample napkins or they'll wipe their sticky hands on the tablecloth, their own clothes, his clothes or each other.
When the session ended, crumpled napkins and bits of fruit lay on the checked table covers like foresaken gameboard pieces and speckled the formerly spotless floor. Appetites sated, the chefs were eager to leave, but not before asking what would they do next. They cheered when told that their next project would be a microwave cake, perhaps followed by quesadillas and pizza in later weeks.
Wright said he'd keep the cooking simple and try to teach the chefs a little about nutrition, safety and sanitation.
"The main thing I want to do is pique their interest and appreciation of food," Wright said. "The pleasure and socializing that used to go with cooking are dying out because people are so busy, they just throw something together real quick. I want to get them to think about what they're tasting and compare it to other foods; to think about food and its origins and where you get it - at the market or from the farm," Wright said.
New Roanoke County class brochures, including listings for the next session of Young Chefs Club, will be available in late December and registration will begin in January. For information, call 857-5035.
A new video, "Fresh from the Family Farm," takes kids, ages 3 through 10, on a lively, entertaining, often musical journey from farm to market. Proceeds from the 30-minute tapes, which are being sold at Wal-Mart stores, benefit Farm Aid, the nonprofit group organized in 1985 by Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp to support America's family farmers. For more information, call (617) 354-2922.
"How to Pack and Snack the Pyramid," a free kid-friendly poster of games and activities to help use the USDA food guide pyramid, is available by calling the Quaker hot line at (800) I SNACK 2.
"Ready to Go Dough," a booklet including kid-pleasing recipes such as chocolate peanut butter logs and sunflower coffee cake, is available free by calling Rhodes' bake line at (800) 876-7333.
To receive "Food Favorites for Kids from Kids," which includes the following recipe for a burger with a surprise inside, send a self-addressed, stamped business-size envelope to the DHM Group, P. O. Box 767, Holmdel, N.J. 07733.
"Food, Family & Fun - A Seasonal Guide to Healthy Eating" is a recently released guide from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Team Nutrition. It includes 50 tested recipes, tips on nutrition, shopping on a budget, cooking with children and gardening. It is available for borrowing at most elementary schools' libraries.
Recipes for:
MAKE-AND-EAT PLAY DOUGH
GREAT PUMPKIN SANDWICH
FRESH FRUIT KABOBS WITH CHOCOLATE SAUCE
GREEN-EYED MONSTER BURGERS
BEANUTTY SANDWICHES
LENGTH: Long : 128 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: NHAT MEYER/Staff. 1. For Halloween, kid chefs will enjoyby CNBeating a Great Pumpkin Sandwich. The recipe is on Page 5. 2.
Learning the safest way to peel an apple are Young Chefs (above,
from left) Haley Earls, Amanda Towers, Paige Earls, Jennifer Brugman
and Erin Brugman. 3. Below, the chefs try apple slices with
yogurt and caramel. 4. Chef Lee Wright. color.