Chefs Move to Schools, my time at the White House abbreviated

When I was young every night at the dinner table my mom would say, "Would you behave that way at the White House?"She was referring to our manners, it's like we were groomed to sit at a long fancy table with the president and all the dignitaries. We never took her seriously but maybe we should have. Of the three kids I was voted least likely to be invited to the White House, artist, free spirit, and I live in California to boot! My brothers are the "professionals" the doctor, the historian and then there is me, artist/chef. Well I did get invited, my culinary group IACP was invited and I jumped at the chance. I never got to sit at the long table with the president, which is a good thing because my manners are surly not up to par. I did get to be very close to the First Lady though, just close enough to see her beautiful skin.

So a plan was hatched, go to DC, take the family and make a vacation out of it. Life did get in the way, we had a family tragedy, so we diverted to LA and then to DC. This is why I am so behind on my blogging, I have not read any other posts or done much of anything but the everyday regular stuff. I'm going to tell you about DC in an abbreviated form, so forgive the lack of details. If I don't just write something now I never will. I am not going to explain the politics, or how we are supposed to go about this huge task because you can read all of that here .

The Let's Move Initiative was set in motion by Michelle Obama when she planted the White House Garden last year.

This is how it went:

On Friday morning, Sam Kass, White House assistant chef and and Education Secretary Arne Duncan told about 600 of us how we can make a difference in schools at a Share Our Strength breakfast.

After breakfast we all walked over to the White House to pass through, not one, not two but three security screenings. We all had to be pre-screened prior to getting there, I guess they were just checking up on us one more time for good measure.

Once on the lawn we had free regine to walk down to the garden and take photos.

There were photo ops with big cooking celebs like, Cat Cora, Ellie Krieger, Aaron McCargo, Jr. and Anne Burrell, Tom Colicchio, Marcus Samuelsson, and Lidia Bastianich. I think Rachel Ray was there although I did not see her. I was lucky enough to get a photo with Jose Andre

and Tom Coliccho, Carla Hall just to name a few.

Let me set the stage, it's 95 degrees, about 100% humidity, close to 1000 chefs, in whites are bouncing with excitement. Cute as a button the First Lady steps on to the South Lawn and we stand an cheer, soggy as we were! The call to action has been heard and we are motivating, like a small army, different backgrounds, different skill levels but all for the same cause, the kids. Help us get our kids back on track, healthy eating, playing outdoors and the main goal changing school lunches!!

I love this photo of the first lady, she looks like a warrior, the queen of fennel!

(Photo by Marvin Joseph /The Washington Post)

If you are a chef or culinary educator and want to get involved go here and sign up.

For a creative look at Washington seen through the eyes of Renegade Kitchen click here.

Dirt Made My Lunch

Dirt made my lunch,
Dirt made my lunch.
Thank you Dirt, thanks a bunch,
For my salad, my sandwich
My milk and my munch 'cause
Dirt, you made my lunch.

Dirt is a word that we often use,
When we're talkin' about the earth beneath our shoes.
It's a place where plants can sink their toes;
In a little while a garden grows.

A farmer's plow will tickle the ground,
You know the earth has laughed when wheat is found.
The grain is taken and flour is ground,
For making a sandwich to munch on down.


A stubby green beard grows upon the land,
Out of the soil the grass will stand.
But under hoof it must bow,
For making milk by way of a cow.

I learned this song last summer at our Dirt To Dine Summer Camp. Before the kids went onto the farm they sang this song with the farm educators and they loved it. Well, we are getting ready for camp again, this summer we are doing three one week sessions in Napa. We have a new web page describing how it all works right here.

A few weeks ago My partners and I held a one day Dirt to Dine event at Frogs Leap Winery. Here is how it went: The kids got to tour the garden, get fresh eggs, study bees and chickens. They chopped, whipped, squeezed, emulsified, baked and sauteed

while and working with Michael Chiarello and myself in the kitchen. We wound up with a Spanish torta, granola, honey lemonade, herbed homemade mayonnaise and the kids served a huge feast for all the parents.

They also left with fresh eggs, granola and a jar of mayonnaise each.

It was perfect.

Dirt to Dine Camp - 28 kids, 2 locations, a lot of happy campers!

I never would have thought that in one week 28 kids could learn as much as they did.  This camp took the kids from farm straight to table every day, and they got it, they really got it. Lucky for me, my connection with Eileen Gorden and her great idea and great people, has made this has a reality. She came to me with an idea to start a camp where the kids could spend time on a working farm and then translate the knowledge in to cooking class. Marie Sayles was the brains behind the

 farm side and I acted as the chef and coordinator of the cooking part. Eileen worked tirelessly to put all our ideas together, working to secure beautiful locations for the week.  It worked out beautifully!

These kids now know how to milk a cow or goat and make fresh cheese within hours. They know that the animals have to be taken care of, fed, and cleaned. They know how to grind wheat from the stalk into flour for dough. They know how important bees are to our world and how to extract honey from a hive. They did things I have never even done!

They know carrots come from the dirt not from a plastic bag, and how much work it is to pull sunflower seeds from the flower. They know that a farm fresh egg tastes so much better than one stamped with a date from a store. They have the knowledge to make informed choices at a young age!

Here is a sample of one of our days:

• Day 3: Chickens & Eggs
• Animal care, farm chores, chicken diet, harvesting fresh eggs from chickens
• Making chicken stock with whole chicken
• Make fresh egg pasta noodles
• Make chicken noodle and Italian egg drop soup
• Make savory french toast with Parmesan 
• Compare raw eggs for color; conventional versus farm fresh free range 
• Taste test: fast food nuggets versus free range chicken breast
• Feast on the food they made, discuss and recap the day.

 

DIRT TO DINE ADVENTURE CAMP
FOR BUDDING YOUNG CHEFS

At Connolly Ranch in collaboration with Chef Michael Chiarello & Bottega Restaurant 

Dirt To Dine is week-long summer camp bridging farming, gardening and cooking experiences in a dynamic, hands-on, youth-driven environment. The camp brings your young epicurean’s enthusiasm for all things cooking back to the source of the ingredient’s: land, soil, seeds, animals, plants and more.

Dirt To Dine is set in two locations: the epicurean center of the Napa Valley, Yountville; and Connolly Ranch, Napa County’s only family farm dedicated to education. Visit the website for bios of the "Dirt to Dine" team, click on camps.

 I would also like to thank our volunteer teachers Greer Westerink and Kim Kendall-Stubbe who worked so hard to make this camp a success. 

How Does Your Garden Grow?

As a kid we always had a small garden, it started out as just a few tomatoes and eventually we had about 6 rows of corn. Being small I always thought the "corn field" was endless, I spent lots of time in there, weeding with my mom. Even though we lived in the suburbs, as a kid I was aware of the farms just a few miles away cultivating delicious veggies (none of which I'd eat as a kid). Growing up in upstate New York there were lots of apple orchards and corn fields to play in we took it for granted.

I have never thought of myself as a gardener although I have have had a few in my time. Matthew suggested we grow food instead of just watering all that grass. So we decided to rip out some of the lawn, it makes sense, how many times have I been caught with out parsley or thyme or an onion, why not expand out little growing area? Now we are older and wiser and have moved the garden to triple the growing space. We have three planting areas other than the main veggie patch, one for herbs, one for squashes and beans and one for tomatoes.

As my daughters tastes grow so does our garden, it all goes hand in hand, the more she tastes the more she likes. Last year we had a nice garden, I let kidlet plant, pick and generally abuse the garden in her own cute way.

Last September I showed you some of our beans and flowers from our small garden.

I think we will have so much food this year, melons, squash, greens, berries, onions, herbs, if we do we can put it in our red wagon and take it to the neighbors. The first photo here is before the rain and the second is after a few days of rain, the garden exploded!

Kidlet loves helping in the garden, sneaking sweet peas and strawberries, and pointing out the good and bad bugs. She has already eaten 5 ripe sweet strawberries, I don't think we will be making a pie!!

You don't need a large patch to grow veggies, even a window box will do. Just grow something for your kids to explore, taste and care for, it gives them such a sense of accomplishment.

You could make a pizza garden by growing herbs and tomatoes for making their very own pizza!

Now when I am stressed I go out to the garden and water, weed or just admire the strength of the emerging plants, maybe that is what my mom was doing in our little garden when I was a kid and just playing in the corn?

Magic Garden

We have a garden, it is the kind of garden that I let my 4 year old do pretty much whatever she wants in.
I let her plant seeds at the wrong time of year. I let her water whenever she wants to, and I let her pick and eat
any edible plants. You would think the garden would be a mess but actually it is quite nice. We have huge parsley plants, English peas and massive amounts of Broccoli.
We planted some broccoli seeds on a whim in the dead of winter. We do live near Wine Country in Northern California so the winter weather is mild. So, I let her plant the seeds and I never thought that we would have broccoli growing in our somewhat neglected garden. I think I am as excited about it as she is, I ran out for the camera and here is a photo of of our first harvest.
We steamed it and ate it bright green with olive oil and salt, it is delicious. I can't wait until our magic garden sprouts more delicious vegetables.