Lesson Plan for Week of Jan.7th-Jan.11th

Hope the kiddos enjoyed their first week in Cooking/Baking class as much as we did. Below is a picture of the Cranberry Orange Scone we made. Hope they enjoyed their first lesson and the scones. We also gave the kids some ideas of what else they could use to make a different type of scone.

The first thing the kids were taught was "Mise en place", Pronounced (MEEZ ahn plahs). This technique is IMPORTANT and one that's hardest to get even novice cooks to stick with. It's a French term for having all your ingredients prepped and ready to go before you start cooking. That means everything is cleaned, peeled, chopped, diced, measured out, whatever's necessary to get the ingredients ready prior to preparing your dish. Many of us, me included, start cooking and prepping at the same time. A big NO NO. Try to get into the habit of mis en place. We told the kids to always read a recipe before making it. Sometimes some of the ingredients are needed at room temperature and you need to make sure you have the items in your pantry before starting.

The children were taught which type of measuring cup needs to be used to accurately measure dry vs. liquid ingredients. They learned and used a pastry blender and microplane zester. They learned different baking techniques called for in recipes. The first method was the difference between mixing, stirring, folding and finally kneading.

They were also introduced to a French baking/cooking non-stick silcone mat called a Silpat and the French Roulpat which is a great silicone mat used for rolling, kneading doughs, working with fondants etc. It makes a great non-stick and non-slip workstation.