Insanewiches

As the title of the book "Insanewiches: 101 ways to think outside the lunchbox" by Adrian Fiorino suggest this book is insane! I cannot wait to do a teen or kids program around this book. This book is 222 pages of sheer joy. From sandwiches that look like severed hands to painting pallets there is a sandwich for everyone in here. Similar to the book "Hello, Cupcake" many of these designs are not practical for everyday lunch boxes but boy oh boy will your kid be the coolest in school if he/she whips one of these out at lunchtime!

Travel to China

As part of the One World Many Stories summer reading theme this program will bring kids to China through crafts, cooking, and folktales.

The recipe we will make:

Cold Sesame Noodles (p.14 from the book Recipe and Craft Guide to China by Joanne Mattern)

1 pound thin spaghetti or lo mein noodles
3 tablespoons sesame oil
1/2 cup tahini (can use peanut butter but why not spend an extra few dollars and give kids and authentic experience)
1/2 cup vegetable broth
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup chopped peanuts or chopped green onions

1. Fill saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Cook noodles about 8-10 minutes or until just soft. Drain and add 1 tablespoon sesame oil, mix and set aside to refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Place Tahiti, broth, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugr in a jar with a lid. Cover and shake well. Place in fridge about 1 hour.
3. Place the cold noodles on a serving dish. Top with Tahini mixture and mix well.
4. Garnish with chopped peanuts or chopped green onions if you want to. Serves 4 people.

Bubble Tea

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chilled, cooked large tapioca pearls (if substituting smaller tapioca, use 1/3 cup, can be purchased in Asian food market)*
1 cup crushed ice
1 cup very strong chilled black tea (or orange pekoe tea or Lichee tea, try and go for decaf for kids sake!)
1 cup milk, or to taste
Honey or sugar to taste

Directions:
Place the pearls in a large clear glass. Combine all remaining ingredients in a cocktail shaker (or cans with lids so the kids can help out), and shake vigorously until the mixture is frothy.
Pour into the glass, and serve with extra-thick straws.

How To Cook Tapioca Pearls:

6 to 8 cups water (the ration is a minimum 7:1 water to tapioca pearls)
1 cup tapioca pearls
In a large pot (Make sure the pot is big enough so boiling tapioca water will not spill over) over high heat, add water and bring to a boil.
Slowly stir in the tapioca pearls so that they do not stick together (after 1 minute, the tapioca pearls should float). Reduce heat to medium and let boil, covered, for approximately 15 minutes; turn the heat off and let the tapioca pearls site, covered, for an additional 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove from heat, rinse the tapioca pearls in cold water, and drain.

NOTE: The cooking time above is a general guideline. If you shorten the cooking time, you will get chewier tapioca balls. Cook longer and you will get less elastic tapioca balls.


Crafts:

Paper Cutouts (p.37 from the book Recipe and Craft Guide to China by Joanne Mattern)
Chinese people often use paper cutouts to decorate their homes. They cut out pictures of animals, flowers, or decorative designs and tape them to windows or doors.

Materials
-Construction paper in 2 different contrasting colors
-Pencil
-Scissors
-Glue

Trace template and cut out. Glue the cutout design to a darker piece of construction paper.

Paper Tangrams

Book:
Tiki Tiki Tembo by Arlene Mosel

Teen Iron Chef

As part of our teen summer reading program I am trying out a Teen Iron Chef Competition. The teens will work in pairs to create a dessert using the ingredients I give them. Because of the international theme this summer I will include ingredients from other countries to introduce teens to some new foods. I had them make one dessert and an accompanying drink. Each team gets one fancy plastic plate to display their dessert on and a fancy glass too in addition to their prep plates and utensils. Steer clear of any nuts or peanut butter in case any participants have allergies.

Food Shopping List:

• Marshmallow Fluff
• Sprinkles
• Interesting things from the Asian, Indian, British or other import markets
  
• Colorful Icing
• Chocolate Chips
• Chocolate Syrup
• Cream Cheese
• Milk
• Ice
• Lemonade
• Ice-Tea
  
• Canned Fruit
• Jelly
  
• Pudding
  

A local chef, a teachers, and our executive director will score each dessert/drink team using a ruberic. The teams will need to present their creations to the judges and give their dessert a name.

The judges will score from 1-5 on the following categories:

• Creativity
• Presentation
• Taste

Teams may choose at least 3 ingredients and have 30 minutes to complete their creations. The winning team both get a copy of the book "Eat Fresh Food: Awesome Recipes for Teen Chefs."

Here is how I ran the program:

Before the event Volunteens help put out all the supplies on the ingredients table. We created a seperate table for drinks with the blenders and ice. When the teens arrived (I had about 25) they broke into teams of two and went to their table to choose a name for their group (some memorable ones such as "Team Sheen", and "The Winners"). They had 5 minutes to look at ingredients and plan their dish.

After they knew what they wanted to make they had to come up to dish out their ingredients onto their prep plates. They had a total of 45 minutes (could be shorted with a smaller group) to make their dish. After they were done we had the judging which took about 30 minutes due to the volume of dishes.

Each judge had a score sheet (click here for the sheet) where they scored the F (food) and the D (drink.) The three judges included a local chef, English teacher, and our Executive Director. They were such good sports about it and I gave them each a gift for volunteering their time (and stomachs).

All in all the kids had a blast and that made this one of our most successful teen programs ever!

Great Book for Summer Reading Cooking Programs

 

The Around the World Cookbook, 2008, DK Publishing by Abigail Johnson Dodge is a really fun book to inspire cooking programs in the library.  With easy recipes and  great colorful pictures this cookbook is wonderful for all ages.  Pair up a recipe from a region with a book from your collection.  Read the book aloud  and work with the group to cook an appropriate recipe.  For example read the Russian folktale "The Turnip" then cook the recipe for Roasted Beets (close enough!) You could even go one step further and incorporate a little food/garden lesson on how root vegetables are grown.  

I am planning on a potluck family dinner this summer as part of the summer reading theme "One World, Many Stories."  This cookbook could be used by patrons to help choose a dish to make and bring to the dinner. 

Kids Cook A Book Program

This is a great program to get kids to interact with stories they know and love.  So often we use books to inspire craft projects, why not cooking projects.  I got this idea form a summer reading program in NY that took place in the nineties when I was a kid.  I remember going to the library and cooking recipes the librarians created from picture books.  When the summer was over I got a little cookbook of the recipes we made which I still have!  I would love to know if anyone knows the official name of that summer reading program or if they have any of the materials left from that summer.  A far stretch I know.

Some other great books you can cook from are:
Goldilocks and the Three Bears - Porridge
Pinkalicious- Cupcake decorating
Wemberly's Ice Cream Star- Ice Cream Soup
Stone Soup-Soup with a few nice stones in it
Dirty Harry- Dog Biscuits
The Very Hungary Caterpillar- Fruit Salad
The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and the Hungry Bear-Strawberry Shortcake
The Pumpkin- No bake Pumpkin Pie
The Carrot Seed- Carrot Seed Dip
Hello Pizza Man!- English Muffin Pizzas
Seven Silly Eaters- Silly Surprise
The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming by Lemony Snicket- Latkes or Potato Pancakes

Read the short story "Cookies" from the book Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel When you have finished reading work with children to prepare the No Bake Cookie Recipe.

No Bake Cookies

2 c. sugar
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. cocoa
1/2 c. butter
Dash of salt
3 c. quick oats
1/2 c. peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix first 5 ingredients together in heavy saucepan. Boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Add oatmeal, peanut butter, and vanilla. Drop quickly onto slightly greased cookie sheet or waxed paper. Cool.

Have the child write their name with Sharpie Marker on a piece of wax paper and place the cookies they formed on it.  Place wax paper squares on cookie sheet trays and place in fridge or freezer (dependent on time) for about 30 minutes.  While they are cooling and firming up into cookies now you can do another story.

The Bun by Marcia Brown.  In this folk tale from Russia a crafty bun escapes all sorts of characters in the woods until he meets up with the even craftier Fox.

Baking Powder Biscuits
From the Fannie Farmer Junior Cookbook by Joan Scobey, 1993
Makes 12-15 2 inch biscuits
2 c flour
4 t baking powder
1 t salt
4 T (1/2 stick) butter
3/4 c milk

1. Preheat oven to 450.
2. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into the mixing bowl.
3. Add the butter and cut it into the flour with the pastry blender or 2 dull knives until the granules are about the size of peas.
4. Add the milk a little at a time, mixing with the fork until the dough is soft but not sticky and forms a ball. You may not need all the milk.
5. Sprinkle the pastry board lightly with flour and turn the ball of dough out in the center of it.  Lightly flour the rolling pin and roll the dough out in short quick strokes in every direction, taking care not to press down heavily, until it's about 1/2 inch thick all over.
6. With the 2 inch cookie cutter or the glass cut out rounds from the dough and place them on the cookie sheets.  Press scraps of dough together, roll out again, and cut out more biscuits as before.
7. Bake about 12 to 15 minutes, or until tops are golden.
8. Wearing oven mitts, remove the biscuits from the oven, serve immediately.

A quicker easier recipe for biscuits is to use the recipe on the side of a Bisquick box.  Kids can then use pieces of dried fruit to make a face on their bun before it goes in the oven.  Quick, cute, delicious and easy!