Pies, Cakes, Cookie and More

This week, Royle's Monday class made the cookies listed on last week's blog. They are a week behind, due to Martin Luther King Day. Royle will make the lemonade pie next Monday.

Holmes's Tuesday and Tokeneke's Wednesday classes made lemonade pie.

For this week's class, the SproutChefs had to measure and follow a simple recipe without adult intervention. This lesson was created to give them the confidence to follow a recipe on their own. The pie should chill in the refrigerator for several hours before serving.

The directions were kept simple in order to make for a positive experience. In case your SproutChef came home with a not so perfect pie, it is okay. Discuss what might have gone wrong, and maybe let them try it again at home. This is a sweet way to learn how to follow directions and the rewards are tasty. Even if their pie came home with all the the right components, consider letting them make a larger version for the family, unassisted.

The recipe is below:

Lemonade Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk.

• 3/4 cup frozen lemonade concentrate, partially thawed.

• 8 ounces frozen whipped topping, thawed.

• 1 8" graham cracker crust

• Lemon slices and zest for decoration

Directions:

1. Whisk together lemonade concentrate and sweetened condensed milk, until they are well blended.

2. Gently fold in Cool Whip. Do not over mix.

3. Pour mixture into prepared graham cracker crust.

4. Put a lemon slice and some zest of lemon on top, for decoration.

5. Refrigerate 3-4 hours before serving.

Tokeneke's Thursday and Royle's Friday Cooking with Chef Lisa classes made:

Bee-Bin-Bop

(Rice topped with vegetables and meat)

There are as many versions of bee-bin bop as there are families who cook it. A couple of my Korean American SproutChefs from last year told me about this wonderful recipe. Since then, I have made it many times, especially for company. Although the recipe looks complicated, it is actually quite simple. Recipe follows:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups rice

Marinade:

• 2 cloves garlic, chopped fine

• 2 green onions, sliced

• 5 tablespoons soy sauce

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

• 2 tablespoons sesame oil

• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Meat:

• 1 lb tender, lean beef, such as sirloin tip

Vegetables:

• 2 carrots

• 1 package fresh spinach

• 1 lb of fresh bean sprouts

Other ingredients:

• 4 eggs

• salt and pepper

• vegetable oil for frying

Optional: Serve with kimchee and hot pepper paste (found in many grocery stores).

Directions:

1. Prepare 2 cups of rice according to the package's directions.

2. Mince garlic and chop the green onions.

3. Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a big bowl and add to the chopped garlic and sliced green onions.

4. Slice the beef into bite sized pieces and put in the marinade, while you prepare the rest of the food.

5. Peel the carrots and cut them in small strips.

6. In a wok, or large pan on the stove, stir fry each vegetable, rice and meat separately and put in separate bowls.

7. Fry the eggs, cut in strips and set in a bowl.

To Serve, put the bowls of rice, egg strips, vegetables and meat where everyone can reach them. Each person puts a pile of rice in the middle of a soup bowl or plate and some meat and vegetables on top, as well as spoonfuls of meat juice on the rice. Top with egg ribbons. If you like, add kimchee and hot pepper paste to the mix.