Story Cooks: Pizza Party

Today was the day!  A long-time idea finally came to fruition.  

Basically, Story Cooks came about because I thought Windsor and other kids would like it and because I think we have a need for quality, children's programming right here in our town (area). I combined 3 things that I love- children, books, and baking- and took off with the idea.  Honestly, I didn't know if anyone would sign-up, but I had decided I would hold the classes no matter what.  

I am happy to say that lots signed up and that we had the best day ever!  

Story Cooks is a one day cooking class centered around literature.  Children attend and sharpen their skills in many areas including math, science, reading.

 

We began by reading Curious George and the Pizza.

We talked about planning healthy meals and learned that our meals should include components from the major food groups.

We made a plan and set right to work.  First we washed our most important tools, our hands.

Then we washed and prepped our vegetables. 

 We learned knife skills and diced peppers and mushrooms.

Now it was time to mix our pizza dough.

We worked with partners and took turns adding each ingredient.

I have rarely seen such excellent turn taking and sharing of materials.

Once the dough was mixed, we set it aside to let the yeast do its thing.  We really leaned a lot about yeast, what it likes, and how it makes bread rise.  While it rose, we watched Pete's a Pizza come to life on the big screen.

Time to roll the dough and press it into the pan.  We were introduced to our first new tool to add to our kit- our very own rolling pin.

Next we added the sauce.

And sprinkled the toppings. Time for the oven!

While the baked, we painted aprons with different vegetables.  They turned out so neat!

We learned how to set the table correctly, worked together to accomplish the task, and got to work making our dessert- fruit kabobs.

Blueberries and strawberries might seem boring in a pile on your plate, but when you get to make your own kabob with them, well, that is entirely different!

Finally, the pizzas were done.  We leaned to use a pizza cutter safely and promised to not use it without an adult.

Time to eat!

It was SO yummy!  Event he grown-ups thought so.  We added our last tool to our kit, the pizza cutter/scooper and headed for home.  

Next week's class will be making spaghetti, it is full, but we are planning at least one more class for August.  Let us know if you would like more information.