Wednesdays = Cooking Class!

"No one who cooks, cooks alone. Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, the wisdom of cookbook writers." - Laurie Colwin

"Always start out with a larger pot than what you think you need." - Julia Child

Carrying on from previous volunteers, to keep continuity, and because we thought it was a great idea and the kids love it; we do cooking classes on Wednesdays.  We cook a variety of dishes and sometimes the kids are unsure of the ingredients to start with.  With pesto pasta they smelled the jar of pesto and thought it was horrible, but once they cooked and tried it they all loved it! It was good to introduce them to new ingredients.  

We write a recipe with ingredients and a method out for them and they all have to copy it which is a long process in itself!  Some of them struggle so much just copying the letters and words I feel sorry for them as I can see how difficult they find it, but how hard they are trying.  With the kids who find it most difficult and who are always last to finish we have to sit next to them and help with the letters.  A couple of them seem almost dyslexic mixing d's and b's and still doing it even when you correct them.  I have since highlighted to the directors children who I feel need eye tests. 

After the (boring) writing of the recipe comes the fun part... COOKING! 

Below is a list of the things we made each week.  Some of the ingredients like honey or chocolate we had to buy in Phnom Penh city, but most ingredients could be bought cheap at the local market.

1. Pesto pasta
2. Spanish omelette
3. Chocolate cornflake nests
4. Fruit salad with yogurt and honey
5. Tomato pasta
6. Thai green curry
7. Pancakes

All set up for cooking prep

Chopping the onion - requires concentration!

They work in pairs and take it in turns to chop!

Helping in the kitchen...

Writing the recipe...

Working hard!

The best part... EATING! 

Fruit salad day

Dragon Fruit is a new one for me, but so sweet and tasty!

Pineapple telephone!

Yum!

Eating is a messy business!

"Smile!"

Eating the finished fruit salad

On my last week at the orphanage we compiled all the kids' recipes and made their very own recipe books - they each designed their own front cover.  It was a success although they all wanted to be cooking again!