Preparing for Camp
Now that cooking camp is over, I have time to write about it!
Every year, my workplace hosts both spring break and summer camps. Not surprisingly, these are geared towards elementary-aged students. However, we usually have a “Teen Studio Week” that offers ceramics classes and sometimes painting classes.
I feel for the teens, because it seems like fun opportunities get less and less as one ages. So last year, I proposed a new teen camp, one that I would lead: teen cooking camp. Historical cooking.
Something I love about my workplace is that the higher ups are willing to try anything once. So the education coordinator said yes, and I began planning. I created a menu that traveled both time and space, starting with Sumeria and ending somewhere around 1950s American suburbia. I was nervous as registration was slow. But by the time camp started in August 2024, I had eleven students, ranging from age 12 - 16.
We had a blast. The teens started a corn cult, complete with prayers and chants. They delighted in making things in the microwave. They liked the Parthian Chicken recipe from Tasting History the best. They had fun trying different versions of chai tea and disliked switchel, an old fashioned drink made from apple cider vinegar.
But I was wiped out at the end. I am old, fat, and out of shape. I arrived an hour before camp to set up, then taught for two hours (which also included basic cooking skills), then spent an hour cleaning up. And I still worked my usual afternoon shift at the front desk.
I spoke to the education coordinator. I wanted to do it again this year (2025), but either it’d need to be a three day camp or I’d need an assistant. I was offered an assistant, who I will call Jessica, who is an amazing person. She teaches a lot of classes for us, and was already hired for camp. She’s a natural with kids and has a sixth sense for jumping in to help.
I didn’t want to repeat the recipes from the year before, so I got to work again. Researching is my favorite part, anyway. Last year, the teens had really liked making an older version of fried rice, so I thought: let’s do the original, or at least older, versions of modern foods. Additionally, I simplified the menus from the year before (from making four items to three each day), and added a microwave component. Additionally, I planned the menus so that the most complicated was on Monday, when I had the most energy, and Friday the least complicated.
My menus meant I had to visit three different stores, but that’s part of the fun, too: Uwajimaya, a Japanese/pan-Asian grocery store; H-Mart, a Korean/pan-Asian grocery store; and New Seasons, which is similar to Whole Foods. Four stores, actually, I had to go to Fred Meyer, too (similar to Target). Oh and then Safeway later in the week. Jeez.
The day before camp, I went into work to drop off ingredients and pull out the cooking equipment. Our Culinary Center is actually a “catering kitchen”: we have a fridge, dishwasher, sink, and outlets for hotplates/microwaves/toaster ovens. We don’t have stoves or regular ovens. Indeed, that was one of the challenges in designing a menu: could it be cooked on a hot plate, microwave, or toaster oven? Would it stay cool enough in the fridge since we didn’t have a freezer? (Don’t ask about the frozen berries from the year before.)
The shift report from the day before had mentioned the dishwasher was leaking but had been mopped up. It leaks sometimes, no big deal. To my horror, there was a pond when I walked into the Culinary Center. I mopped up a bit, but there wasn’t much I could do. Future Natasha would have to deal with it (though I made sure to respond to the shift report and note it was still an issue).
I finished getting set up and went home to prepare myself.
