Last Wednesday, in a hall decked out for the occasion, Kitchen All Stars participants all gathered together for our annual Holiday Celebration. Alongside friends, family, Weekly Classroom Assistants, special event volunteers, and Brainfood staffers, students celebrated ten weeks’ worth of accomplishments at Brainfood.
Just over two months ago, these same teens gathered in our Brainfood kitchens for the first time; they spent their first class learning how to measure wet and dry ingredients in order to make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Now they have whisked, diced, and simmered their way into creating a delicious, festive meal that served over 100 participants and enthusiastic supporters.
The menu, decided by a student vote, included a vegan three-bean chili, green bean casserole, cheddar biscuits (the crowd favorite), crustless quiche, apple crumble, and pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.
Students also baked a generous batch of holiday sugar cookies for guests to decorate and enjoy.
Additionally, Holiday Celebration was a great opportunity to showcase some amazing produce from our Youth Garden. Participants utilized peppers, green beans, collard greens, kale, swiss chard, parsley, welsh onions, and lemon balm in their completely made-from-scratch buffet.
The holiday season is a natural time to reflect on what’s behind us, and it’s important to recognize the tremendous progress our first-year Brainfood students have made this fall. It’s equally exciting to anticipate what’s ahead in the New Year with these youth, all of whom have an impressive capacity to bring energy and creativity to Brainfood, along with a healthy dose of confidence. Stay tuned to see what’s in store for 2016!