Guest Chef for Prairie Farm Corps 2017

It was such an honor to guest chef with the Prairie Farm Corps team last week and help them set the farm crew's lunch table! It's my favorite food education location to teach and learn in Lake County!

Introducing this Summer's PFC Kitchen Lead, Chef Aleks Semova (there she is instructing with measuring cup in hand!) She taught us all how to make vegan mayo and a 6 ingredient quick bread. I cannot wait to make them for my home plates!!!

Stay tuned... Her recipes are coming soon:)

I taught the kitchen team how to make my "I Lime You Very Much Tuna Salad" and "Sriracha Egg Salad".  I decided not to bring in the recipes to look at and copy. We simply eyeballed, taste tested and followed our instincts. These two salads are pretty fun to free-wheel (I like to call it "gumption" cooking) and it was really fun to watch them taste, add more and make it their own!

Sriracha = YES PLEASE!

Aleks: "How in the world shall we cut this beautiful loaf!?"

We looked at each other and said almost simultaneously, "ANYWAY WE WANT!"

Before serving the guests and PFC crew, the kitchen team introduces the lunch. They take turns explaining the ingredients, fun facts about the food, how they prepped it all, and perhaps some tid bits on what they learned in the kitchen for that day. Each kitchen team spends two weeks in the kitchen over two months. The rest of the time is spent in the fields learning how to cultivate and grow food seed to farmer's market + plate!

A quick snap shot of my PFC lunch plate.

We also whipped up a simple Radish Butter recipe from Mardi Michel, one of our Food Revolution Super Ambassadors from Canada! A MUST TRY!

Needless to say, there was no bread or radish butter left. Just a little egg salad for leftovers the next day:)

After lunch, Jen and Jeff Miller, the owners and farmers of Prairie Wind Family Farm, presented to the PFC team about their journey into becoming organic farmers. I think I jumped up and down when I found out their team were our lunch guests!

Cheers to becoming a little more food savvy (inside + outside) every day! 

I love everything about you PFC! Thanks so much for having me for the third year running; Time sure flies when you're working hard and having fun. YOU GUYS ROCK!!!

It all starts at home plate!

To the Mullies we go...

xoxoL

Cooking up Summer with the Prairie Farm Corps

My family table is growing farm to table this Summer!

I begin teaching and cooking with the participants of the Prairie Farm corps tomorrow, the first "Food Revolution Wednesday" out of 15 glorious days. I cannot believe I get to be a part of this extraordinary program alongside Leslie Grill, the full time Prairie Farm Corps Kitchen Coordinator. She is a gift and boy do I love that red hat!

A year ago, I was invited as a Farm to Table lunch guest. I left inspired and began meeting with Eric Carlberg (Prairie Farm Corps Director + Educator) last Fall to become more involved with their food education programming. I am honored and so very grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the Prairie Farm Corps team and in doing so, connect them to one of my most treasured friends in the Food Revolution community:

Terri Salminen | Friend. Private Chef. Culinary Instructor. Food Stylist. Writer. JOFR Super Ambassador. Member of the Slow Food Chefs Alliance.

Ever since Terri and I found ourselves to be reading Michael Pollan's "Cooked" at the same time two years ago, our lives and dreams have become interwoven in a modern day penpal friendship. T minus four weeks and counting, we'll be moving from "on the line" into "real time".

"The Kitchen Notebook - A guide to cooking beautiful food with a storehouse of pantry ingredients" will serve as the kitchen methodology in our team effort. Terri is the driving genius of this collection of thoughts and recipes and I am having a ball contributing my passion and experience into our first food education collaboration... or should I say ignition.

• Read all about the innovative Prairie Farm Corps program HERE.

• Meet Terri while she's here! Come join us in July at the Bryon Colby Barn for two incredible evenings of cooking, learning and eating farm to table. RSVP today and learn all about our two Chef in Residence Cooking Classes (Wednesday evenings: July 15 + 22) HERE.             **FYI, Classes will be limited to 15 participants and we're almost full!**

• Learn more about our Liberty Prairie Foundation/Prairie Farm Corps collaboration in the Chicago Tribune HERE.

My dearest Terri, can you believe it?! The teleportation machine I ordered way back in 2013 has finally come off backorder!

xoxoL

finding inspiration for food education - prairie crossing charter school

i love field trips.  especially ones that help me bring fresh ideas to our school district's wellness committee meeting which will be held after the new year!  it's perfect timing to have a meeting in january as everyone is striving to make new year's resolutions and healthy changes for themselves and their families!

our committee's mission statement is" to promote healthy food choices and physical activity in order to improve the physical, academic and emotional well-being of the district 76 community."  as a district parent and food revolution ambassador, i have been asked to offer ideas on how to bring food education into the classroom and i am feeling so grateful to have made connections with the individuals and administrators at prairie crossing charter school.  it is located just a few miles from our school district.  my girlfriend catherine organized a group of "real foodies" to travel together and participate in prairie crossing's farm to table monthly luncheon back on november 20th.  we are all interested in finding ways to integrate food nutrition into our schools' classroom curriculum and bring.the.outside.in.

we all toted our own plate, bowl, utensils and cup.  the five of us ate with naomi hershiser, dean of environmental programs and integrated curriculum.  she generously gave up almost 3 hours of her time to answer our questions and serve as our tour guide of the school's grounds and facilities.  i also met and chatted with chef romie auguste, the lovely and energetic executive chef behind our amazing farm to table meal.  here is a very basic run down on how their farm to table celebration works:

• farm to table luncheons are held once a month and each is hosted by a grade level(s) who is in charge of growing and harvesting some of the luncheon's food components.  

• each grade level selects food to grow in the beginning of the year.  a chef collaborates with the students in the classroom in a variety ways depending on the age level of the students.  for example, for the older students, the chef will lead the class in hands on cooking demonstrations (funding for individual table top skillets was obtained through a grant) and then work together in developing recipes with their harvest ingredients for the luncheon menu. 

• small groups of students prepare and present 3 minute food presentation skits for the entire luncheon.  they also create table toppers based on their harvest theme.

• adult volunteers help the chef prepare, serve and clean for the celebratory luncheon. 

• anyone is welcome to join the farm to table celebration for $8.  diners must bring their own plate, bowl, napkin, utensils, and cup as they encourage no waste!  

it was truly inspirational to walk around the grounds with naomi and discover how each grade level designed their outdoor learning space.  students and teachers work together to decide how they want it to look and function as an outdoor learning classroom and discovery zone.  as you can see from the pictures i included, each space is unique to the developmental ages and needs of the students.  there are raised beds scattered around the grounds.  without a doubt, the most creative land they developed is the island in the middle of the parking lot - talk about using otherwise wasted space!  genius!  thank you from the bottom.of.my.heart for spending so much time with us naomi!  i'm looking forward to our next connection:)

it is so exciting to gather with educators who are doing.learning.sharing their farm-to-table-to-classroom educational model.  the common core changes are challenging and prairie crossing charter school is creatively meeting and exceeding the challenges head on.  since i began my real food journey over a year ago, programs like the edible schoolyard intrigued me and i wondered what it would look like in action.  i am simply bananas over the fact we have a living, breathing example right in our local.lake.county.back.yard.
 
what was my BIG take away?  that each school district has a unique footprint, facility, community and budget.  i'm so excited and energized to continue learning and gathering ideas that will fit our district's unique student demographic and facility capabilities so that we can reach for the stars together.

have a fab weekend everyone ...stay warm chicago!!

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

xoxo