Cooking Camp Day 5
Once again, I found myself at the grocery store, grabbing milk, onions, tomatoes, and cheesecloth. When I finally tallied up my receipts, I found I’d spent $600 on ingredients and sundries.
Jessica was already in the Culinary Center when I arrived, a stack of fresh tortillas next to her. I grabbed the remaining pizzas from the fridge so they could warm up a bit before cooking. I set out the tools for our first two recipes of the day: cheese and coffee.
Cheese
In my original conception for this camp, I had wanted to start with “the basics” on Day 1: butter, milk, bread, all from scratch. The education manager suggested something a little more complicated, something that would make the teens want to return. It was certainly funny to me, then, to return to my original-original plan.
For this recipe, we used the “Homemade Cheese” recipe from All Recipes. We heated milk, added vinegar and let stand. We used binder clips to stretch cheesecloth over a bowl and let the curds and whey separate.
I don’t think the milk cooked for long enough, as we had very little curds and a ton of whey. It didn’t really have a taste; a slight sharp aftertaste from the vinegar. I don’t know if the teens were tired or what, but after a week of devouring cheese, they were not interested in this at all. Few participated in its making (most worked with Jessica at a different station) and few ate it.
Curds and whey
Cheese!
Coffee, c. 1700
Originally, Day 5 was going to be breakfast foods: the pancakes we made the day before, porridge, and bacon and eggs in the microwave. Coffee seemed like the perfect accompaniment. I had actually found a really cool recipe roughly a thousand years old, but it requires actual coffee cherries, which are impossible to find, except I did actually find some during my various shopping trips. Another time.
I was worried that parents would be upset about giving their kids coffee, so I got decaf. (I was not worried about the beer, becaue my parents were from Wisconsin and caffeine was a bigger deal than alcohol.) I got a dark roast from Peet’s. The coffee I chose doesn’t perfectly resemble seventeenth century “coffee powder,” but the places that sold such online were all sold out. Is there a coffee holiday in July I don’t know about?
The teens were bitterly disappointed about the coffee being decaf. I had stashed a 64 oz bottle of tea in the fridge meant for me, personally. We still had some microwave boba, so I told them they could make bubble tea if they wanted. They drank all of my tea. :( Several still drank the coffee, mainly because they wanted milk and sugar.
Leftovers
The teens made eggs scrambled with cheese and jalapenos, and ate them with Jessica’s tortillas. They made the microwave bacon I had purchased, and ate it with the pancakes Jessica made from the leftover batter. We made more tomato sauce and baked the remaining pizzas in two batches. They finished up the cracklins I’d purchased for the burritos we didn’t get to make. And one teen zested the remaining oranges.
But that only took us to 11 AM, the halfway point of the class. The cheese was still separating, but otherwise there wasn’t really anything left we could make in the time remaining. So I turned to Jessica and said, “I think we should do it. We should play
Chopped.”
Once I explained what Chopped is, the teens were on board. I divided them into three teams of four (based on where they were sitting) and told them they could use any of the ingredients and tools in the kitchen.
Two teams took the challenge seriously, and one team just played around, all of which was fine with us. The teens were really creative and I enjoyed helping them cook their weird creations.
However, as we drew closer to the end of class, I whispered to Jessica, “How will we choose a winner? I don’t want to eat any of this.” “We’ll just have them present their food, don’t worry.”
Around 11:45, we declared TIME and asked the teams to present their food. One team made a beautiful rice dish with various sauces and veggies. One team made a bowl that they said would give the eater cancer (wow!). The third team made a fish taco out of pita, imitation crab, and mozzarella cheese. That team said, "You have to try it, tell us who won!" I was just like "Haha what?"
And that was that! Jessica very kindly told me she would take care of the washing up. Some of my other coworkers volunteered to put the tools away. Jessica had first dibs on leftover items. I put away perishables and threw out what couldn’t be saved. I changed my clothes and sat in the office until the start of my shift, trying not to die.
Chopped
Cooking Camp was a fun week! The teens were so funny and creative. I really enjoyed working with them. But I realized I couldn’t lead a week-long camp again. I’m just too out of shape. I wish I had the self-discipline to say “Well I’ll start working on my stamina and next year I’ll be strong enough to do it!” But I have the self reflection to know that won’t happen. Jessica literally did 99% of the physical labor. There’s no way to make the class easier on me.
But I hope we can find a way to continue. Maybe a shorter, three-day camp. Maybe workshops. Maybe I can do the research and someone else can teach the class (Jessica?????). Maybe I really find the inner resolve to completely change my lifestyle. Who can say?
Everything hurts and I’m dying
