Jr. Chef School

Showing off her chopping techniques

Last week I was in charge of running Jr. Chef School for 4th-6th graders. I have to admit, that week was probably the most fun but hectic weeks of my life. Having 15 kids in one room with hot objects can make anyone a little nervous! I personally like to bake more than I like to cook so while I was teaching the youth different cooking techniques, they were also teaching me.

Jr. Chef School was five days long. On Monday we had breakfast, Tuesday we had lunch, Wednesday was dinner, Thursday was dessert, and Friday was the Cooking Challenge! From pancakes, to Baked Mac and Cheese, to fruit pizza, to a meal where the kids made up the recipe, we had a blast and survived! We really put the students to work on Friday. For the cooking challenge, there were three teams. One team was boys and the other two teams were girls. Let me tell you, the boys did NOT want to lose.

In the cooking challenge, we gave them one hour to create as many dishes as they liked to be judged by a couple ladies in the office. They had to use a little bit of each of the ingredients that we gave them. Some of the ingredients consisted of popcorn, tomato soup, chocolate chips, onions, green pepper, and etc.We had some very interesting meals come out of all this but yet, some of them were quite tasty! The girls ended winning which really upset a couple of the guys.

Winners of the Cooking Challenge!

 

Practicing their teamwork by playing Human Knots

The most rewarding part about my job is to hear the kids tell their parents they had a blast and want to do it again next year. As my internship comes to an end, I look back and think, "Wow, summer flew by way too fast." I could not have asked for a better internship with such great kids and coworkers. This internship has really opened my eyes to all the great opportunities that are out there with University of Illinois Extension. As I finish my final day in the office, I am very sad to be leaving but I am ready for all the great opportunities in front of me!