Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden 

Sonia Nista 

Kitchen Specialist

It’s been a jam-packed term 2 so far, filled with learning new skills, cooking new dishes and of course tasting new flavours!

After a bumper harvest of potatoes and apples, the students created one of our tastiest menus this year making Potato Rostis, Mini Apple pies and a salad of the imagination. 

At the start of the year, I asked our year 4, 5 and 6 classes what their kitchen/garden goals were for this year. We wrote them down on sticky notes and put them up in the kitchen as a reminder as we progress through the year. A few of our students wanted to learn more about baking, in particular pastries/pies. With this in mind we used muffin trays to create mini apple pies. 

Another student goal was to use the stoves more, so with the help of our amazing volunteers, the students used the frying pans to create the crunchiest Potato Rostis ever! We also made some vibrant salads of the imagination, getting creative and garnishing with some beautiful Autumn edible flowers. 

As the weather gets colder, so does our garden and with a gap between major harvests, we have been whipping up some delicious breakfast menus. We have been talking about the importance of breakfast and made some tasty and easy things to eat on the go or prepare ahead on weekends. Our students enjoyed toasted muesli served with honey yoghurt and fruit salad muffins. This week we made banana pikelets served with apple compote and a delicious fruit smoothie. We had a change of pace with these two menus, giving the students the opportunity to be more mindful and strive for accuracy both in the kitchen and in the set up for our service. 

Here are just some of the students’ thoughts this week:

3H - Katherine, Harper, Charli, Daniel, and Amanda

The muesli was crispy and crumbly. The yogurt was a little sour and delicious Greek yogurt with honey. The cranberries in the muesli were warm and tasty. It was a little difficult to scoop into our bowls because it was crumbly, but still yummy.

We loved the muffins, except ours had an orange that was bitter. Otherwise, it was delicious. Cutting up the fruit was satisfying and we liked how the top of the muffin was crunchy. The muffin was soft and warm. Our knife skills have improved and we feel more comfortable in the kitchen. WE LOVED IT!