Saturday, August 3, 2013

Cooking up a Summer Camp from Dirt to Dinner

Our Dirt to Dinner Campers--2013
How does dinner come from dirt? After a week of cooking delicious meals in the IslandWood garden, our summer campers can definitely answer that question.

Making fresh tomato sauce in the outdoor kitchen

Our 5th and 6th graders donned both chef hats and garden gloves this week as they explored the idea of "dirt to dinner".  Working with the IslandWood chefs, they chopped, stirred, mashed and whisked garden ingredients into gourmet meals.  They also helped to take care of the IslandWood garden.  They watered and weeded our garden--the source of much of their food for the week--and they also planted new seeds so we can continue to produce food through the fall and into the winter.


Chocolate-mint canolli--yum!
Since we harvested many ingredients from the garden, it was easy to see that good meals can come from dirt!

Campers relaxing in the shade of the Sunflower allee!

Our menu for the week was based on the theme of meals from "Around the World":

Monday:  Italy --Pizza with fresh garden sauce, Caprese salad and Cannoli for dessert
Tuesday:  Japan-- Sushi, Yakisoba noodles with veggies, Cucumber salad and Green Tea ice cream
Wednesday: Greek-- Roasted Chicken Gyros with fresh tzatziki sauce, Greek Salad, Tabbouleh salad and roasted plums with yoghurt and mint for dessert
Thursday: Bainbridge Farm -- Egg and Veggie Frittata, Garden Salad with homemade ranch dressing and Fresh Fruit Crisp for dessert
Friday: Mexico -- Shredded Chicken Burritos with Rice and Beans, Homemade Salsa and Tres de Leche for dessert


Beautiful homemade sushi
Learning how to whisk ingredients together

Having fun with Chef Morgan
Cheers to a delicious week of homemade, garden-grown dinners from around the world!!



2 comments:

  1. my name is Ziare Black I came with Northgate Elementary on 11/4-11/7 it was sooo fun we got to cook a potato pumpkin dish ps thanks Jenny :D

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    1. Hi Ziare - It was great to have you in the garden and the kitchen last week! Do you remember how to cook the pumpkins and potatoes? I hope to post the recipe some time soon. Did you plant the chive seeds? If you have a space in the soil or in a pot, you can plant a pinch of seeds and they might grow, even in the the winter. If it doesn't work, you can try again in the spring. I hope you'll keep on growing and cooking good food! Take care, Jen the Gardener

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