GRAINS



Chef Corr demonstrates how the German monks held their arms in prayer and used the design for their pretzels.

 The children are really becoming chefs (look at that mise en place!)
and enjoying all the new and fun activities.

Michael Jackson on the wii. at the Lab School!

Today the campers learned all about grains, the foundation food.  There are many kinds of grains--wheat, corn, rye, barley, oats, buckwheat--and some are whole and some are refined.  The whole ones are better for you and whole means having at least 3 grams of fiber per serving.  The campers tried three kinds of supermarket bread--white bread, white wheat, and brown whole wheat--and were surprised to learn that the white wheat had more whole grain fiber--4 grams--than the brown whole wheat--2 grams--and many liked the taste better.  Read those labels! And don't' trust what they say on the front without looking at the nutrition label.  3 grams of fiber per serving is best.

Next there was a demonstration about how to make homemade bread--it was not hard at all!  The temperature of the water is most important for the yeast.  The yeast likes to be nice and warm, like between 90 and 115 degrees.  Yeast must love Louisiana summers!  When the yeast is foamy you add the rest of the liquids (they can't be too hot or the yeast will die and the bread won't rise.  We saw that today.) and then mix that into the flour and salt.  The dough had to rise, then be shaped and then proof in the pans (rise again!) before baking.  Homemade bread is not fast food!

Then the campers learned how to shape the bread and also how to take some of the dough and roll it into a long snake and twist it into a pretzel.  Monks in Germany invented pretzels and they shaped them like they looked when they said their prayers. 

We made many loaves of bread and many grain based dishes, including whole wheat penne with mirliton and pecans, grits with kale and Cajun shrimp, oatmeal cookies, and two snack mixes--Mexican and Puppy Chow.  The campers enjoyed sampling all the grain dishes and barely had time to clean up before it was time to leave.  March on, campers!