Chef Sprouts 2/1/11 Baked Snowballs

Love these!  Slices of pound cake in the bottom of a ramekin; vanilla frozen yogurt on top, topped with a blanket of meringue snow, baked in a 500 degree oven for a few minutes.  Drizzled with a bit of chocolate syrup.....mmmmm! 

Chef Sprouts 1/27/2011 Chocolate Chip Cookies

Nothing like warm, gooey chocolate from freshly-baked cookies!

Chef Sprouts 1/14/11 Snowman French Toast

Note to self:  remember to tell them NOT to eat the bread UNTIL we have cooked it on the griddle!  I wish I had a picture of Hailey's face after she dipped her snowman in the egg mixture and then took a bite.  :) Though she said it was good. 

Growing Gourmets 1/31/11 Citrus Yogurt Mini-Cupcakes

We had very mixed reviews on these.  Veda and Kaylee loved them. Tanner liked them.  The rest of my family, not so much.  I would make them again....but use more lemon and lime zest, and more juice. (I have had a hard time with my zester, and am looking to replace it with a microplane.)  They were a little bland.  I would also try to find a somewhat-healthy frosting, or just figure that the cupcakes are healthy so go all out on the frosting. I'm not a fan of powdered sugar glaze.  The girls were surprised when they heard we were making 36. They took some home with them; a few stuck and we left them in the pan, but by the end of the night, there were 5 left!

Growing Gourmets 1/24/11 Crispy Chicken Nuggets

So...Kaylee wanted to know what we were going to make besides chicken nuggets, because "it doesn't take that long for chicken nuggets to bake".  What she didn't know was that our nuggets were not coming from the freezer!  We breaded and baked them, but also pan-fried some as well, because they don't take as long that way.  They didn't have to cut up the chicken....to tell the truth, I am not fond of cutting meat.  The recipe called for the chicken to be marinated in a buttermilk marinade for a couple of hours, so they were all ready to go when the students arrived.  We also made our own barbecue sauce and honey-mustard for dipping.

March/April Class Schedule

The next schedule is partially complete.  I need to wait for some sports schedules before I schedule April evenings.   There are a couple of exciting classes in the works:  Simple Meals with Dad was a suggestion from a friend.  If you know of any dads who would like to cook with their kids, but don't know where to begin, this is the class for them.  I also have a friend who decorates cakes, so we are looking at doing a basic decorating class.  Watch for dates to come!     Budding Chefs Class Schedule (click the link)

Growing Gourmets 1/10/2011 Corn Quesadillas

1 small red onion                                  
1/2 red or orange pepper                         1 T Balsamic Vinegar
7 oz canned corn                                     1 T honey
1 cup cheddar cheese                             4-5 Flour or corn tortillas
1 T  olive oil                                              1/4 cup salsa

Chop up the red onion and the pepper and drain the canned corn.Heat oil in a pan and stir-fry onion and pepper for 3 minutes. Add corn and cook for 2 minutes until the onion and pepper are soft. Add vinegar and honey -- after 1 minute remove from heat.

Spread the mixture. Spread half of each tortilla with heaped tbsp of salsa. Then add some corn mixture.

Sprinkle the cheese. Scatter a little cheese over the salsa and corn mixture. Make sure you don't use too much since you will need some cheese to put on top of each tortilla. 
Pre-heat the broiler to high.

Roll and cook. Roll the tortillas up and put on a cookie sheet. Scatter over the rest of the cheese. Broil the quesadillas for 1-2 minutes until the filling is hot and the cheese topping is lightly golden

 Recipe from http://family.go.com/food/recipe-ak-802325-corn-quesadillas-t/  (from one of my favorite cookbook authors, Annabel Karmel)

Yes, I'm wearing Zach's favorite accessory.  He calls it  "THE Hat"

These were absolutely delicious!
Made them for the family after class, and Scott must have had 5 or 6!

Small, Medium & Large

I found a book that I absolutely love....it's called Small Medium & Large by Jane Monroe Donovan.  I picked it up at Butterfly Books today to add to my picture book collection, and I'm looking forward to sharing it tomorrow and Wednesday in class when we make Snowman French Toast.