Last week I had the best of intentions. I tried to make healthy foods look as appealing to the eye as a bag of trick or treat candy. I found brightly colored veggies in every color of the rainbow and delicious meats. I arranged them beautifully and allowed the Sprout Chefs to pick their favorites for their own personal healthy pies. I bombed. I should have known, you can't fool a kid when it comes to sweets. There is no substitute for M&Ms and Nerds. I never saw so many disappointed faces as when I announced that we would be making Anti-Sugar Pies to counteract the evils of candy. No one laughed or even indulged me with a polite smile. I might as well have announced that we were going to the doctor for shots. Now I know, Halloween candy is sacred to a kid and should be taken seriously.

This week I made up for my misguided mistake with ice cream sundaes. They learned about the history of ice cream and made their our own individual ice cream in a Ziploc bag. It was fun to watch the milky liquid turn into a solid, after lots of exhaustive shaking. Sometimes they do not always turn out so well, so there was a carton of store bought vanilla ice cream ready to counteract disappointment.

With their ice cream (self created or store bought) they invented their own sundaes, using the condiments from the class sundae bar, which consisted of cut up fruit, left over Halloween candy, nuts and of course whipped cream and cherries. The recipe follows. It is more fun and educational than tasty.

Ice Cream Made in a Bag

INGREDIENTS:

• ½ cup milk

• ½ cup heavy cream

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Lots of ice

• 6 tablespoons kosher or rock salt

• one gallon sized freezer bag

• one sandwich-sized freezer bag

Directions:

1. In a small Ziploc bag, combine cream, milk, sugar and vanilla. Remove as much air as possible from bag, before tightly sealing it.

2. Fill the larger bag halfway with ice. Add salt over the ice. Mix the bag to help distribute the salt.

3. Place the bag of ice cream mixture inside and seal the larger bag well. Shake the bag continuously for about 10-15 minutes, or until the mixture become firmer. Use a kitchen towel or oven mitts to protect your hands from the cold.

4. Remove the ice cream filled bag from the ice, wipe the bag clean from salt, and scoop out the ice cream to serve. Be careful to keep the salty ice out of the ice cream.

The Stone Soup and Cooking with Chef Lisa classes got to enjoy sundaes after they created a favorite Southwestern meal. We read the Texas version of Stone Soup called Fandango Stew by David Davis and made Fandango Stew. Recipe follows:

Fandango Stew

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground beef

• 1 chopped up red onion

• 6 sliced up mini orange, yellow and red sweet peppers (can be found in a sealed bag in many grocery stores)

• 1 can kidney beans

• 3/4 water

• 1 small can of corn

• 1 can of diced tomatoes

• 1 pack of taco seasoning

• Cilantro, chopped up

• Optional garnishes, cheese, sour cream, sliced avocado, tortilla chips and/or limes.

Directions:

1. Brown the ground beef.

2. Once the meat is no longer pink, drain the grease.

3. Add the chopped red onion and sweet peppers to the meat and cook until soft.

4. Add the water, taco seasoning and undrained cans of beans, corn and tomatoes.

5. Heat through and serve in bowls with chopped up cilantro on top.

6. Optional garnishes can be cheese, sour cream, sliced avocado, crushed up tortilla chips and/or a lime.

With adult supervision, the electric wok can be a good cooking device for children. It is what I use in our Stone Soup classes. I find it safer than a stove burner. I bought mine through Target online.