My students and I made quite a bit of food in 2017! Between classes at 21 Acres, PCC and here at The Tiny, students & I rolled pounds of pasta, scooped scores of squash, formed crackers and cookies, hand pies and sushi; we’ve made Tagines & cheesecakes, donuts & soups. We’ve cracked countless eggs, cried over onions, and shared many laughs.

The highlights for me were seeing what my young students created during our Independence Kitchen classes: I provided ingredients and guidelines and they made what they wanted.  Of the end results, some were delicious, some were curious, and some really didn’t work at all. I loved being able to make pizza in the wood-fired oven on the 21 Acres farm with the Cultivating Cooks 301 crew. The perfect summer sunshine, the farm-to-table, the table-on the farm, and the very fun group of  people combined with delicious fired-in-seconds pizza was something I was lucky to participate in. Making pasta with a group of co-workers was a blast, as was last-minute substituting for a European New Year’s Eve Feast class. Working with sourdough and a small group of  breadmakers in a 2-day workshop gave many teachable moments, like how quickly a room can cool down, putting the brakes on fermentation! I loved introducing kids & their grownups to Pommes Dauphinois, open-faced fruit tarts, and pumpkin cheesecake. There are things tried that I won’t repeat; the standout: attempting pie dough with 8-16 year olds, on a 90+ degree day, in a work space without air conditioning.  As one student put it, “My dough is like frosting!” Yeah, that’s not good.

Working with both kids & adults lets me see people as people. Humans young & old have confidence or hesitancy to try new tasks. People are outgoing or shy, talkative or not. Often, kids are the most open, most hilarious, most insightful people I meet. I love meeting them all.

For all of you who have taken classes this year: thank you! I look forward to 2018, to new classes, new faces, new groups, but to you returning friends as well. Wishing you all the best!