Posts Tagged With: holiday

A last minute school holiday idea – 2 places left!

Posted on September 27, 2012 by melhm

We’ve got two places left for our school holiday program next week! One spot each day on Tuesday 2nd October and Wednesday 3rd October next week – jump to it if you haven’t arranged anything yet!

What could be better for your child than a day spent in the kitchen garden, learning all about spring vegetables, throwing dough, teamwork, cooking, eating, planting and chook care?!

Get in quick before somebody else does! Call me today on 0414 978 957

ourkitchengarden.net

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Spring School Holiday Programs for 4 years and up!

Posted on August 11, 2012 by melhm

Do you have a kid as-keen-as-a-bean in the garden and kitchen? Send them to us in the holidays to participate in a ‘Day in the Life’ of a Kitchen Garden School Program! We are offering a full-day program for 7 to 12 year-olds and also now a half-day mini-program for 4 to 6 year-olds!

Check out the School Holiday page on this site for more info… and take a look at my recent posts on this site with photos of the wonderful kids on our last school holiday program where we harvested, chooked, chopped, stirred, set and ate over the course of a full day… We’ve just announced some new dates so lock in a reservation for your Year 2 to Year 6 mini-Heston or Costa Georgiadis straight away!

And due to  overwhelming demand, I will be offering a half-day session on Friday for the little ones – so if you have a keen 4, 5 or 6 year-old wee wannabe cook who would like to feed the chooks, help me in the garden, and then cook up a storm for  morning tea and lunch – book them in ASAP!

Message me below if you have any questions!

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Spinach, feta and pumpkin frittate

Posted on August 10, 2012 by melhm

Fresh from the garden: eggs, spinach, pumpkin, marjoram, thyme

Recipe source: adapted from a recipe by Gordon Ramsay ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

The original recipe calls for sweet potato instead of pumpkin: I think either works well. Gordon also suggests cooking in one big pan over heat and then finishing under the grill, but we pour ours into muffin pans to oven-bake… we also add some of our lovely Bondi herbs for an aromatic twist.

Equipment:

  • Metal spoon
  • Chopping board & knives
  • Paper towel
  • Large frying pan
  • Wooden spoon
  • Large bowl
  • Tongs, whisk
  • Cupcake tins: 1 x 12-hole large or 1 x 24-hole mini
 Ingredients:

  • 300g pumpkin
  • A large handful of spinach
  • Small handful marjoram and thyme sprigs
  • 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
  • Flaked salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 200g sheep’s feta
  • 20g parmesan
  • 10 large eggs

What to do:

  • Preheat the oven to 180C.
  • Wash the pumpkin & scrape out the seeds, reserving for the chooks.
  • Wash the spinach and shake dry. Cut off the stalks and chop the leaves into 1cm strips, to yield about 150g cut strips.
  • Wash the herbs and pat dry with paper towel. Strip the leaves from the stalks & reserve.
  • Carefully cut the peel from the pumpkin if needed, and then chop flesh evenly into 1cm cubes.
  • Heat the frying pan with the oil and toss in the pumpkin. Season well with salt and pepper. Cook, turning occasionally, for about 4 minutes over medium heat until the potatoes are just tender and lightly golden at the sides.
  • Meanwhile, cut the feta into small cubes and grate the parmesan.
  • Stir the spinach into the pumpkin and cook for 2 minutes until wilted.
  • Then add the cubed feta and gently stir to mix in.
  • In the large bowl, lightly beat the eggs with the herbs, parmesan, a pinch of salt and a grind of pepper.
  • Divide the pumpkin mixture evenly into the cupcake holes, spoon the egg mixture over and bake in the oven: 15 minutes for the mini frittate and 20 minutes for the large.

Notes: Why is the name of this recipe frittate, ending in e? What other vegetables could you use in the recipe? What other animal’s milk makes feta?

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Linguine with cavolo nero and herb sauce

Posted on August 10, 2012 by melhm

LINGUINE WITH CAVOLO NERO AND HERB SAUCE

Fresh from the garden: cavolo nero, coriander, thyme, marjoram, oregano

Recipe source: Melissa ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

This is a delicious accompaniment to our freshly-rolled pasta! We use the prehistoric-looking cavolo nero (also known as Tuscan kale) but you can also use silverbeet or spinach just as well…

Equipment:

  • Large stockpot with draining insert
  • Chopping board
  • Large & small knife
  • Salad spinner
  • Wooden spoon
  • 2 large bowls
  • Scales
  • Medium saucepan
  • Tongs
  • Serving bowls
 Ingredients:

  • 500g linguine
  • 225g unsalted butter
  • 8 garlic cloves
  • A large handful of cavolo nero leaves
  • A small bunch of coriander
  • 4 sprigs of thyme
  • 4 sprigs marjoram
  • 4 sprigs oregano
  • Small bunch parsley
  • Flaked salt & black pepper

What to do:

  • Fill the large stockpot with water and heat on high.
  • Wash the cavolo nero leaves and shake dry. Strip off the leaves, discarding the stems, and cut into ribbons 1cm wide.
  • Wash & spin dry the herbs, then pick the leaves if needed, discarding the woody stems.
  • Finely chop the herbs.
  • Finely chop the garlic.
  • Chop up the butter into cubes and melt the in the saucepan over a medium heat.
  • Stir in the garlic and cook gently for a couple of minutes.
  • Stir in the herbs.
  • When the water in the large stockpot is boiling add the pasta & cooking salt, stir, put the lid back on and when boiling again cook for 2 or 3 minutes until ‘al dente’.
  • Drain the pasta and transfer to back into the stockpot.
  • Add the butter mixture to the stockpot and toss carefully.
  • Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve into bowls.

Notes: What does al dente mean? Why do we pick the leaves from the herbs? What does cavolo nero actually mean?

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Basic linguine recipe

Posted on August 10, 2012 by melhm

BASIC LINGUINE RECIPE

Fresh from the garden: eggs

Recipe source: adapted from a recipe by Stephanie Alexander in ‘Kitchen Garden Cooking With Kids’

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Our Kitchen Garden students love making pasta! This recipe is just for the dough mixture and you can add whatever sauce you want…

Equipment:

  • Pasta machine
  • Scales
  • Measures – teaspoon, ½ teaspoon
  • Food processor
  • Plastic film
  • Large knife
  • Pastry brush
 Ingredients:For the dough:

  • 500g ‘00’ plain flour
  • 5 free-range eggs
  • Cooking salt

What to do:

  • Weigh the flour, then combine it with 1½ teaspoons of salt in the bowl of the food processor. With the motor running, add the eggs. Process for a few minutes until the dough clings together and feels quite springy.
  • Tip the dough onto a clean, dry workbench. Knead the dough for a few minutes, then wrap it in plastic film and let it rest for at least 1 hour at room temperature.

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  • Get an adult to help fix the pasta machine to a suitable bench. Screw the clamp very tightly.
  • Set up your pasta hanging poles, ideally between 2 chairs.
  • Clear a large space on the workbench alongside the pasta machine. All surfaces must be clean and dry. Press the dough into a rectangle about 8 cm wide.
  • Set the rollers on the pasta machine to the widest setting and pass the dough through. The dough will probably look quite ragged at this stage. Fold it in 3, turn it 90 degrees and roll it through again. Go to the next-thickest setting and pass the dough through 3-4 times.
  • Continue in this manner (changing the settings and passing the dough through) until the dough has passed through the second thinnest setting. Don’t use the very thinnest setting, as the dough gets too fine and is hard to manage. If the dough gets too long to handle comfortably, cut it into 2-3 pieces using the large knife, and roll each piece separately.
  • Fix the cutter attachment to the machine and carefully roll the pasta strips into the larger strips for linguine, gently catching them as the come through.
  • Drape the linguine over the hanging poles to dry while you make your sauce.
  • Clean the pasta machine by brushing it down with a dry pastry brush and clear and clean the table.

Notes: Never wash the pasta machine – it will rust! Just brush down with a strong brush to remove the leftover dough.

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School holiday program July 2012

Posted on August 10, 2012 by melhm

We  all had such a fab time in this first kitchen garden school holiday program! The children were so keen, so well-behaved, and SO helpful!

SCHOOL HOLIDAY PROGRAM MENU

Introduction – Knife Licences – Chook care

MORNING TEA

Pumpkin, spinach & feta frittate – Rhubarb & mint muffins – Lemongrass tisane

 Garden walk – Harvesting

 LUNCH

Linguine with cavolo nero and herb sauce – Pizza with rocket, bocconcini and garden herbs – Our winter salad

Seeds – Composting – Sustainability

Watch & Grow Project

And these are some of the things they did during the day-long program:

  • Earned their knife licences by displaying ‘bear paw’ & ‘spider crab’ hand positions and understanding how to behave around knives, and also how to carry, hold and clean them;
  • Followed recipes from beginning to end and understood all the procedures;
  • Made pizza and pasta dough from scratch;
  • Tended to the chooks;
  • Explored their five senses with the garden walk-around and herb identification;
  • Pounded the mortar & pestle, whizzed the stand mixer, sliced the mezzaluna, wheeled the pizza cutter;
  • Sautéed, boiled, fried, baked, stirred, tossed, spooned, grated, melted, brushed, rolled, proved, weighed, measured, chopped, sliced, diced, beat, whisked, juiced, folded, and more;
  • Cleared as they went, washed up, dried up, set the cutlery, the glasses, the water jugs… and ate! And then cleared the tables and swept up;
  • Reinforced the belief to live sustainable lives: that is to try and remember to re-use, recycle or renew when possible;
  • Learnt about compost ‘lasagne’;
  • Understood the importance of seasonal and local produce;
  • And worked fabulously as a team, displaying focus and willingness to help!

We hope to see all the children again,and to welcome heaps more in the next holidays… and look out for all the recipes in the next few posts!

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Kitchen Garden program for littlies?

Posted on June 19, 2012 by melhm

Whilst on the campaign trail for these school holidays, I’ve had more than a few requests for the 5 to 8 years age group… so I’m thinking now that I might start planning a couple of half-day sessions for the holidays after next – so between Terms 3 & 4… what do you think?

We would definitely focus on a more tactile, hands-on affair, with lots of kneading and rolling and tearing and smelling rather than chopping and boiling!

Our Kitchen Garden

I think it would make a lovely little morning! Hunting for chook eggs, looking for slugs, squishing up herbs, doing a bit of craft – focussing on the seasons, hand-rolling bigoli pasta…

Let me know if you’re interested & I’ll pop you on the mailing list!

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School Holiday Program 2012

Posted on May 23, 2012 by melhm

How exciting! We’ve just announced our inaugural School Holiday Program for 2012… Head on over to the School Holiday Program page to see the deets but I can also say we’ll be cooking (and digging!) up a storm!

These are some of the fab activites we’ll be doing:

Rolling hand-made pasta and throwing pizza dough for lunch –

Earning your own Our Kitchen Garden knife licence as we chop, slice and dice the organic herbs and veggies we’ve harvested from the garden –

Meeting and feeding the chooks –

Planting seeds for a take home ‘watch & grow’ project so bring your own plastic bottle destined for recycling or landfill –

Creating your own seasonal, local and organic morning tea and lunch while learning some amazing life skills in the kitchen and garden –

And of course, having fun!

LIMITED SPACES ONLY!

DOWNLOAD Our Kitchen Garden booking form HERE!

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