By Katie Hurley
Cedar Plank Salmon with Fresh Herbs. Razor Clam Fritters. Grilled Summer Vegetables with Lemon and Garlic. Sounds like a restaurant menu, doesn’t it? What would you say if these three courses could be prepared by kids? These are just a few of the dishes Sue Tower will be teaching kids to make this summer at Bayview School of Cooking’s Kids Culinary Program Summer Camp.
Tower started cooking at age ten and has worked in the food and beverage industry since she was sixteen. She will be teaching summer camps for kids ages 5-8 and 9-13. Bayview School of Cooking’s long-running summer camp program teaches kids the basics such as knife safety, how to follow a recipe and how to measure correctly. Campers have the opportunity to expand their horizons by working with foods they might not have seen or tasted before and learning techniques their parents might not even know.
Tower will teach kids how to select produce and read food labels, and plans to cover the nutrition component as well. “I really want to focus on all the elements of cooking, including sitting down and eating together,” says Tower. Campers will get hands-on experience preparing the recipes from start to finish, and then will sit down and enjoy the food they’ve made.
The Campground Cooking camp for ages 5-8 is offered twice; the mornings of July 7 and 8 and the mornings of August 4 and 5. Tower wants to inspire kids to get away from the usual hamburger and hotdog camping meals, so they’ll be learning to make two menus. The first day they’ll make Cedar Plank Salmon, Firecracker Cole Slaw, Grilled Bananas Foster and Berry-Mint Lemonade. On the second day they will create Homemade Corndogs, Smoky Baked Beans, Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler and Blueberry-Basil Slushies. Campers get to keep their aprons and recipe books.
The Regions of Washington camp for ages 9-13 is offered 3 times – July 21-24, July 28-31 and August 18-21. Campers will take a “tour” of the different regions of Washington State, focusing on a different region each day. Guest chefs and local food producers will be on hand to provide samples and demonstrate recipes. Monday’s theme, Grains from the Columbia Plateau, will feature grain salads, sprouted grain cookies and seed sprouting in mini greenhouses. On Tuesday campers will learn about seafood and produce from the Pacific Coastal area, including salmon, razor clams and summer vegetables. Wednesday’s camp will focus on beef and dairy from the Cascade Mountain region and will feature delicacies like Painted Hills Beef and Fresh Ricotta Cannoli. Thursday’s menu will emphasize fruit from the Okanagan region, including Stone Fruit Salsa, Strawberry Peach Freezer Jam and Berry-Apple Gallettes.
While menus like these might seem ambitious for children to make, the step-by-step recipes and instruction they receive at camp will prepare them for cooking the recipes and provide encouragement to try new recipes at home.
As for the experience they get meeting local food producers and learning about the regions of Washington, “It gives them a greater understand of where their food comes from,” says Tower. “I have a passion for supporting local farmers and getting kids to eat healthy.”
Bayview School of Cooking classes are held upstairs at Bayview Thriftway. Registration is now open for 2014 summer camps. To register for camp, call 360-754-1448.
Bayview School of Cooking
www.bayviewschoolofcooking.com
360-754-1448
