Knife Skills 101

On Thursday, February 12th, guest chef Tim Andrews of Henry and Marty visited the Chefs of Woolwich to demonstrate and teach professional knife skills.

He began by introducing us to various knives, from a butcher knife, to zesters (they are considered knives!), to bread knives and paring knives. Then, Tim showed us the difference between dicing, zesting, chopping, julienning and mincing. Armed with new skills (and hands on help) we began to prepare a vegetable stir fry.

The stir fry featured local shitake mushrooms, local carrots, peppers, and onions, as well as broccoli and zucchini. We cooked our veggies on high heat, then Tim added a sauce that he prepared ahead of time, and we enjoyed the snack over white sushi rice.

Tim is an excellent teacher, and we all left eager to continue practicing our knife skills. Homemade fresh pasta is one of his fortes- check it out at Henry and Marty, or learn to make it yourself in a cooking class Tim is hosting at Now You're Cooking. Thank you Tim and Aaron of Henry and Marty!

"I love that squash stuff- it's my new favorite snack!"

This is one of my favorite student quotes from our recent school-wide snack and taste test. Parents Susan Dyer and Michele Rhines, alongside volunteer Karen Kleinkopf, chopped up almost 70 pounds of butternut squash and 35 pounds of parsnips. (see them chopping below) Then, they handed them off to classroom representatives to distribute to the classrooms throughout the school.

Though their wrists and hands were a little sore, all pain was forgotten when the student comments began to pour in. One student said, "I never thought I would like vegetables as much as I do!" Others said the snack was "awesome," and many middle schoolers delighted when the leftovers were put on the salad bar.

Here's to many more taste tests! Don't forget- the recipe is posted in the previous post if you would like to make the vegetables at home.

The Results Are In...

This past Friday Mrs. Keefe's 3rd grade class also sampled roasted butternut squash and parnips from Goranson's Farm in Dresden. Many asked for seconds, (and thirds!) and the results were clear- the roasted vegetables tossed lightly with olive oil and sprinkled with salt were the class favorite. Many thanks to Mrs. Keefe's and Mrs. Pols's classes for sampling the veggies and determining the winning topping. We'll celebrate the results by sampling roasted butternut squash and parsnips as a school on Tuesday.

Here's a recap of our recent taste test in Mrs. Keefe's classroom:

We had some excellent choppers. (including Mrs. Rhines, a parent volunteer, and Karen Kleinkopf, of FARMS)

After all that chopping, we took a break and sampled a raw piece of squash and parsnip. We were pleasantly suprised with the taste, especially of the raw parsnip. Many found it similar to carrot, and admired the sweet smell. All of the students were eager to try the raw veggies- kudos to them for their adventurous spirit!

Then, we tossed the vegetables with olive oil...

divided them onto pans, and topped them with maple syrup, honey, or a dash of salt.

While they were roasting, Karen told us about Goranson Farm, and how the vegetables were grown.

Then Mrs. Keefe tied the taste test to what we had been learning in health class- nutrients, fats, carbohydrates, minerals, and other elements of food. We brainstormed what might be in the vegetables, then examined the actual nutritional information. We were suprised at all the vitamin C in butternut squash, and amazed that according to our information, it didn't have fiber. Parsnips had plenty of fiber, and a suprising amount of B6.

Finally- the veggies were done! We sampled the 3 batches, and even had seconds. Everyone tried it- and many of us loved it!

Try it at home...

Roasted Butternut Squash and Parsnips

Ingredients:

- butternut squash

- parsnips

-olive oil

- salt, or honey, or maple syrup (or try all 3!)

Peel the squash if desired, and chop all vegetables. (The smaller the chop, the faster it cooks, we used about a 1/2 inch chop size) Toss all the vegetables with some olive oil, enough to coat.

Spread the vegetables on a baking sheet. Sprinkle some salt, or drizzle maple syrup or honey over the top. Roast at 425 for about 20-40 minutes, depending on the size of your chopped vegetables.

Enjoy!

Pass the parsnips!

Check out the Times Record article about our first taste test of the year:
http://www.timesrecord.com/website/main.nsf/news.nsf/0/F16F85C73B8F1BD28525755200742827?Opendocument

Our first classroom taste test of 2009!

On Friday, January 30th, Mrs. Pols's second graders sampled delicious roasted butternut squash and parsnips. We purchased the vegetables from Goranson's Farm with money from our Flannel Shirt Fund grant. First, they chopped up the veggies in the morning.



























Then, they fed the scraps to their classroom worms.




























We stored the vegetables in the kitchen refrigerator, until it was time for our guests to arrive and the taste tests to begin. Karen Kleinkopf of FARMS carries the vegetables back to the classroom to be mixed with their roasting toppings.




We divided the vegetables into 3 pans, then topped them each with a different flavor. One pan's vegetables were coated in olive oil and a dash of salt, another had a drizzle of Goranson's maple syrup, and a third had a splash of honey sprinkled on the top.




While the veggies roasted in the oven, the second graders interviewed Jan Goranson about her life as a farmer.

They asked many questions, from what she feeds her animals, to how she takes care of the entire farm, to the size of her farm. The young authors will be compiling the interview results into a book about what it's like to be a farmer.

After about 20 minutes, our vegetables were finished roasting. We tasted butternut squash and parsnips, and were overall delighted at the results. Haiden Dunning even proclaimed himself a "parsnips guy!" The classroom voted for olive oil and salt as the favorite topping. Stay tuned for next week to find out the results of the next taste test in Mrs. Keefe's classroom.