Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden

Kitchen Update

This fortnight we haven’t spent a lot of time in the kitchen due to the recent restrictions .

The grade 3/4  students  made spanakopita with a difference. Traditionally it is layers of flaky pastry encasing  spinach and feta cheese flavoured with herbs.

Using the flavours we stirred our mixture through Risoni (a type of pasta) with delicious results. We served it with a simple garlic pizza.  This recipe was a real hit, especially the garlic pizza!  Great and easy to try at home.

The students in Mr Smith’s class made Jam Drops as a special treat.

The children had great fun making these family favourites. They learned a variety of skills making these cookies.  They discovered how hard it can be to incorporate dry and wet ingredients together by hand to form a stiff dough. One of the trickier parts was to try and keep our cookies about the same size. 

During this time Mrs Biscan and I have looked at what we can plant for the coming season that will introduce the children to some new and different foods.  We have also talked about perhaps establishing a small Native/ Indigenous garden so we can explore foods and flavours that are unique. We are really excited about this possibility.

We still have a selection of pickles, chutneys and preserves available for purchase through the school office.

I also have some Passionfruit Curd, Zucchini Marmalade and Pickled Cucumber, Quince Paste and  Fig and Pear Paste available. These items are kept in the refrigerator so please let me know if you would like any of these.

So until next time keep exploring new flavours in your kitchen and ask the children to share some of their recipes with the family.

Sue O’Mealley

Kitchen Specialist

Garden Update

Across the last few weeks, the 3/4 students have been productive in the garden. They have been working together to mulch the garden beds, harvest the figs, plant new seedlings, and shovel a trailer load of manure care of Bev. 

Our garden is looking spic and span after Mitchell and Murphy were a weeding force.  The 3/4’s determination to work as a team to care for the garden has been really wonderful. During one of the sessions Isla washed and prepared all the produce for the share table. Isla and Bridget then had the responsibility of running the table at the end of the day, encouraging students and parents to enjoy the fresh produce at home. 

The following week Kieran worked hard within the session to prepare the soil for peas and broads beans, he then took care of the share table at the end of the day. A big thank you to Angus and Jake for helping on Wednesday to tidy up around the garden shed during lockdown. The quiet time at school has allowed us to get stuck into some general maintenance and installation of two new hose reels that will be a wonderful addition to the garden.  

A reminder to please bring in your Woolworths seeds if you do not want them and we will use them in the garden.