PJ was absent today

Lucas did an excellent job designing the marinade. He was already somewhat familiar with the concept of marinading meat, but this was a great opportunity to talk in more detail about the science behind it and the effects different ingredients have when applied to a protein. The dish came out delicious and Lucas was excited to bring some home to share with his family.

PJ was absent today

Lucas really seemed to enjoy this meal! He had only recently tried baked ziti for the first time at a restaurant and was less than impressed, so he was excited to learn about the process and make the dish to his liking. He did a great job preparing the vegetables using good knife technique and achieving uniform cuts. Everything was seasoned well and came out absolutely delicious.

Teddy did a great job and had a lot of fun making pies. He asked great questions throughout the process and was very curious about how Libby made her batch of pies and if his were at all different. He was pleased to hear that they were exactly the same. He enjoyed counting out the cut up pieces of dough and came up with a good system for keeping the dough organized when filling the muffin tins. He wanted to add some extra cinnamon to the filling and it turned out delicious.

Libby had a lot of fun and did a great job making pies. She was attentive and asked great questions throughout the process, and really seemed to enjoy rolling out and cutting the dough. So much in fact that while the pies cooked she entertained herself with the remaining dough scraps on the counter. She did a great job flavoring the apples with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon and they came out delicious.

PJ did an excellent job today. He remembered just about everything we had discussed/researched on Monday and made great use of his knife skills when prepping ingredients. He was intentional and precise when breading the pork/handling raw meat and did an excellent job seasoning and cooking the various elements of the dish.

Lucas did an excellent job balancing the various components of this dish. We had a lot of different elements and each one came out delicious. His understanding of flavor and ingredients has noticeably improved which he demonstrated while preparing the marinade for the steak and seasoning the guac.

PJ shared with me that he was feeling very hungry this morning so at the start of class we decided to make a cheese and vegetable quesadilla with leftover ingredients. PJ did a great job chopping the vegetables and seasoning the quesadilla and really seemed to enjoy the end result. After that we discussed what PJ would like to make for his Wednesday cooking class. He mentioned pork chops so we researched a variety of recipes and preparations eventually settling on southern style pork chops with mashed potatoes.

Nico did an excellent job balancing the various tasks and flavors involved in this dish. He listened well and seemed to enjoy learning about the process and the various reasons behind the techniques used. The steak and rice came out delicious and was perfectly cooked.

*additional 15 minutes for washing dishes after Nico left*