Tuna fish, new to some, turns out to be a hit

The biggest surprise hit was the children's interest in raw vegetables and herbs! While the food was in the oven, we encourage the children to taste the raw veggies. Fresh basil was another star. DeAndre Wiley wandered around the room gingerly handling the basil like a treasure as he sniffed it. All agreed that the addition of basil in the tuna was delicious. While everyone loved the tuna melts, the zucchini fries got mixed reviews. Some felt they were OK. Cyniah Drew described them as "a rainbow bursting inside your mouth." Kayah Cooper summed up the cooking energy of the class best when she said: "It made me feel really proud of myself."

  - Greta Haebel, Ilene Miller

When we unpacked the groceries and took out the zucchini, Renee Howard said, "I like cucumbers." While it looks like a cucumber, zucchini is a lot different, we told her. It's part of the squash family, like pumpkins! We bought green and yellow squash to show the students you can use either. The zucchini fries were a big hit. Zora Jackson said she never tasted tuna, and was fearful, as she didn't like the smell. After she bravely took a bite we asked her to rate it 1 to 10. Her eyes lit up: "A 10. Tuna's really good." After a few moments, Zora changed her mind: "I loved it so much, it's infinity!!!" We loved it, too.

  - Lisa Krader,
Linda Todorow
 

Our first class was quite a success. One student, Janasia White, heard what we were cooking (tuna melts and zucchini fries), but when we unpacked the ingredients she asked, "Where are the potatoes for the fries?" Turns out she had never seen or eaten a zucchini before. When we served our meal, she was thrilled and said, "These taste WAY better than fries!"

  - Joan Jablonski,
Rebecca Bryan

We had six excited children ready to learn how to cook on our first day. It started out a little chaotic, but once we had all the jobs figured out, the chopping, dicing, and shredding began. We had a couple minor cuts on the finger, but hopefully we got them over with our first class! Kayla Hernandez was excited to learn how to separate an egg to get just the egg white. The children all enjoyed their meal and felt they could make it at home - without cutting their fingers! They were surprised that tuna could be made without mayonnaise and still taste delicious! They devoured the zucchini fries too! The little bit of leftovers we had, we sent home to their families. A great first day.

- Maureen Barrett,
Mariann Owens

Our new chefs entered the kitchen with nervous excitement and curiosity. I have to admit, we felt the same way. After our introductions, we talked about our experiences in the kitchen. Christopher told us he makes scrambled eggs at home. Heaven helps her parents measure ingredients. With so much to learn and do, we knew we had to watch our timing. The time sped by and before we knew it, we were sitting at the table, passing the plates of tuna melts and zucchini fries. After all the hard work, the students were hungry and helped themselves to two servings. When asked what they liked about today, they agreed that they had enjoyed everything they had done today, except no one mentioned cleaning up. Tamika added her least favorite was that it was time to go.

- Frank Petrillo, Beth Stack

At Sacred Heart we soon learned that several students had never eaten tuna, Harold Veliz being one of them. He felt very reticent when he heard tuna was on the menu. We agreed that taking a bite would be a good idea. Before that first bite he muttered, "This is the moment of truth!" and then crossed himself. The result? The bite turned into Harold eating half the tuna melt.

As we were gathered around the table, I heard in the background chatter: "This feels like a family." And yes, dear students, it does feel like a family.

- Sylvia Wilson,
Ruth Biemer

The little chefs were anxiously waiting to cook all day long. When the bell rang and school was dismissed, they gathered at a table outside the kitchen to skim through their brand-new cookbooks! Ryann Sotomayor exclaimed, "Our very own cookbooks!"

"Can we keep them in our book bags so that we can make the recipes at home, too?" Maimouna Sy asked.

As we reviewed the recipe, Maimouna asked, "Why do they call them English muffins?"

Quickly, Antonio DeJesus-Quinones responded with wit, "Because they speak English!"

- Nicole Molino,
Nicole Jackson