Memories From Our 2026 Around the World Summer Cooking Camp

At Passion For Spices™ this year, our 16th annual Around the World Kids & Teens Cooking Camp was a great success again. We are thrilled to provide a platform for our young generation to learn about food and culture, and provide a true culinary experience. Our team at Passion for Spices™ were so happy to see the eagerness of our young chefs and their enthusiasm in learning new skill sets. We had a great group of happy campers. Please see the details below.

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Foods of the World I — American Road Trip

July 6 – 10

Southern California: Where the campers prepared Chicken Street Tacos and Tangy Slaw, and Black Bean Soup, and made Burritos with Tortillas from Scratch during the workshop

Pennsylvania Dutch: Where the campers prepared Individual Chicken Pot Pies and Apple Cider Donuts, and Cottage Pie in a Muffin Tin during the workshop

Louisiana Creole: Where the campers prepared Gumbo, Red Beans, and Dirty Rice, and New Orleans Bread Pudding during the workshop

Southeast: Where the campers prepared Pulled Chicken with Tangy Cole Slaw and Corn Muffins, and Sweet Potato Pie during the workshop

Midwest: Where the campers prepared American Chop Suey/Goulash and Pickle Canoes, and a Broccoli Chicken Casserole during the workshop

Foods of the World II — Around the World

July 13 – 17

Mexico: Where the campers prepared Fresh Corn Tortillas, Chicken Taco Bar, Fresh Salsa, and Guacamole, and Mexican Hot Chocolate and Churros during the workshop

Italy: Where the campers prepared Fresh Homemade Pasta and Sauce, and Focaccia during the workshop

France: Where the campers prepared Ratatouille and Crepes, and Classic French Pastries during the workshop

China: Where the campers prepared Classic Dumplings and Dipping Sauce, and Stir Fry Chicken with Fried Rice and Szechuan Noodles during the workshop

India: Where the campers prepared Butter Chicken and Classic Naan, and Mango Lassi, and Homemade Samosas and Chutneys during the workshop

Arts & Science

July 20 – 24

Art of Baking: Where the campers prepared Classic Homemade Bread, Apple and Cheese Scones, and a Dutch Baby with Berries during the workshop

Pickles and Canning: Where the campers prepared Sour/Kosher Pickles and Ham Sandwiches, and Seasonal Homemade Jam/Preserves during the workshop

Art of Pies: Where the campers prepared Chicken Pot Pie and Apple Dumplings, and a Mocha Banana Cream Pie during the workshop

All About Cheese: Where the campers prepared Fondue and Classic Mac and Cheese, and Cheesy Garlic Pull-Apart Bread and Salad during the workshop

Pasta Day: Where the campers prepared Colorful Beetroot and Spinach Raviolis with Tomato Sauce, and Pici Pasta with Classic Sauce during the workshop

Farm to Table

July 27 – 31

All About Corn: Where the campers prepared Mexican Style Grilled Corn with Chicken and a Three Bean Salad, and Corn Pudding during the workshop

All About Allium Family: Where the campers prepared a Scallion Pancake and French Onion Soup, and a Leek and Gruyere Tart during the workshop

All About Tomatoes: Where the campers prepared Caprese Salad, Roasted Tomato Soup, and a Tomato Tart, and made Tomato Jam and Ketchup during the workshop

All About Potatoes: Where the campers prepared a Shepherd’s Pie and Sweet Potato Parsnip & Fennel Au Gratin, and Duchess Potatoes during the workshop

All About Berries: Where the campers prepared a Mixed Berry Palette and Strawberry Smoothie Bowl with Homemade Granola, and a Berry Sorbet/Ice Cream with Homemade Cones during the workshop

Culinary Teen Competition

Basics of Soups, Broths, and Knife Skills

Our teens and young adults kicked off Week 5 with the fundamentals — coming along to make some classic soups while building the knife skills that carry through the rest of the week.

Day 1 — Basics of Soups, Broths, and Knife Skills: Come along and make some classic soups

Day 2 — Starters & Salads: Great ways to start great meals

Day 3 — Sides: Accompaniments that add extra appeal to any meal

Day 4 — Main Courses: Both vegetarian & non-vegetarian

Mystery Market Basket Competition

On the last day it was time for the cooking competition, where our teens and young adults cooked a four-course meal and presented it to their parents and friends. Below are a few highlights from the big day.

Day 5 — Mystery Market Basket Competition: Teens/young adults cook a four course meal and present to parents

On the first day, we went back to basics with knife skills and stock-building, then put them straight to work. We made a bright Golden Carrot Ginger Soup, sautéed and simmered before blending it silky-smooth and finishing it with a caramelized corn and poblano garnish. Right alongside it, we blended up a chilled Gazpacho Andaluz — tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and a little bread, all whizzed together and served with crunchy accompaniments. We wrapped up the day with a big wok of fried rice, and learned the classic trick that day-old chilled rice fries up far better than anything fresh off the stove.

On the second day, we moved into starters and salads. We learned to hand-fold and pleat gyoza — four pleats, every time — filling them with pork, cabbage, and garlic chives before pan-frying them to a crisp golden bottom and steaming them the rest of the way. We also built a hearty Rosemary Orange Barley Salad with fresh orange zest, olives, and feta, and finished with Smashed Yukon Golds, learning how boiling and smashing the potatoes before roasting gets you that perfect crispy edge.

On the third day, we learned how to make a super flavorful and simple grilled zucchini with fresh herbs, garlic, and a bright cherry tomato sauce spooned right on top. This was also the day we tackled spatchcocking a chicken — it looks intimidating, but it's a genuinely important skill that opens up a much cheaper, faster way to cook a whole bird evenly. We used that technique to make a marinated, char-grilled Tandoori Style Chicken, and paired the whole plate with impossibly silky mashed potatoes folded with garlic confit.

On the fourth day, our spatchcocking skills went right back to work on a sweet-and-spicy Korean Style Roasted Chicken, glazed in a gochujang marinade. We also built a classic layered Baked Lasagna — turkey and sausage ragù, ricotta, and mozzarella (with a mushroom swap for our vegetarian campers). Dessert was a warm Peach Cobbler with a surprise twist of garam masala tucked into both the filling and the biscuit topping.

And finally, Day 5 was Competition Day. Each team pulled from a mystery market basket stocked with flavors from across the whole week — carrots and ginger for soup, watermelon for chilled gazpacho shots, wonton wrappers for dumplings, soba noodles for a cold salad, gochujang-glazed chicken lollipops, fresh pasta with a charred mushroom sauce, and pineapple with black pepper for a crumble — and had to build their own four-course meal from scratch. Parents and friends gathered to taste the results, and the pride in the room said it all.

Congratulations to all our Week 5 campers on a fantastic week of cooking!

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Memories From Our 2024 Around the World Summer Cooking Camp

At Passion For Spices™ this year, our 15th annual Summer Around the World Cooking Camp was a great success again. We are thrilled to provide a platform for our young generation to learn about food and culture, and provide a true culinary experience. Our team at Passion for Spices™ were so happy to see the eagerness of our young chefs and their enthusiasm in learning new skill sets. We had a great group of happy campers. Please see the details below.

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American Road Trip

Cajun: Where the campers prepared gumbo, red beans, and dirty rice, and Roux and Beignets during the workshop

Southern BBQ: Where the campers prepared Pulled Chicken, Cornbread, and Cole Slaw and BBQ Sauce From Scratch with Chicken during the workshop

New York: Where the campers prepared New York Style Pizza and Chili Dogs, and Pretzels with Mustard during the workshop

New England: Where the campers prepared Johnny Cake and Baked Beans, and Pumpkin Whoopie Pie during the workshop

Midwest: Where the campers prepared Juicy Lucy and Runza, and Michigan Pasty during the workshop

Around the World

Italy: Where the campers prepared Homemade Ravioli, tomato sauce, and Garlic bread, and Biscotti during the workshop

China: Where the campers prepared General Tso’s Chicken, fried rice, and Dumplings during the workshop

Mediterranean: Where the campers prepared Muhamara, Hummus, Pita Bread, and Shakshuka during the workshop

France: Where the campers prepared Split Pea Soup, Croque Monsieur and French Apple Tart during the workshop

India: Where the campers prepared Butter Chicken, Raita, Naan Bread, and Sweet and Savory Parathas during the workshop

Arts and Science

Breads: Where the campers prepared Chocolate Zucchini Bread, Savory Cheese Puffs and scones during the workshop

Pickles and Canning: Where the campers prepared Quick Pickles, Jams and Canned Peaches during the workshop

Dumpling Day: Where the campers prepared Gyoza, Samosa, and Dumpling Soup during the workshop

All About Cheese: Where the campers prepared Cheese Fondue, Fresh Homemade Ricotta, and Ricotta Pancake during the workshop

Art of Pies: Where the campers prepared Chicken Pot Pie, Seasonal Fruit Cobbler, and Seasonal Fruit Galatte during the workshop

Farm to Table

Corn: Where the campers prepared Corn Chowder, Corn Muffins, and Popcorns with Various Toppings during the workshop

Squash: Where the campers prepared Butternut Squash & Lentil Curry with Rice, Seasonal Squash Muffin, and Pumpkin Bread during the workshop

Eggs: Where the campers prepared Curried Deviled Eggs, Classic Quiche, and Madelines during the workshop

Tomatoes: Where the campers prepared Tomato Soup, Baked Fries, Ketchup from Scratch, and Tomato Tart during the workshop

Stone Fruits: Where the campers prepared Peach Chutney and Chicken Kebab, Strawberry Ice Cream, and Seasonal Fruit Cobbler during the workshop

Culinary Teen Competition

One of our students, Miles LoPrete, wrote an account of his experiences during our Week 5 cooking camp:

This is my second year at Passion For Spices Culinary Teen Competition Summer Camp. Passion For Spices is an amazing highest-rated cooking school in the Summit area that helps you learn a bunch of new skills and techniques in cooking. The chefs and all the staff at Passion for Spices are more than happy to help you if you need help with learning something. Below I wrote my day-to-day experience and everything we learned!

On the first day of the camp, we learned how to make rice, soups, and knife skills. First, we made a soup, which was a super flavorful corn chowder that used the corn cobs in the broth to make the soup extra delicious. Next, we made traditional fried rice with eggs, vegetables, and spices. For our knife skills, we learned how to cut things that are a little trickier to learn such as ginger, and herbs.

On the second day, we learned how to make a super flavorful and simple grilled zucchini with fresh herbs, shallots, garlic, and topped with fresh tomato sauce. This day we also learned how to spatchcock a chicken and cut a chicken into 8 pieces. Spatchcocking is hard but it’s super important to learn ways of cooking a chicken. Most people don't know how to do this skill but it is super important to learn for a cheaper option for chicken. With this, we made two types of chicken, Super delicious and flavorful tandoori chicken, and a simple yet super good herb-grilled chicken. We also made an amazing garlic confit mashed potato. In the end, we all enjoyed this delicious meal.

On the third day, we learned how to make pasta two ways. First was an egg pasta dough used for the ravioli we were making, which we filled with a ricotta spinach filling that turned out great. We then used a cutting tool to get the pasta into a square shape. This was served with a homemade basil pesto sauce. Next, we learned how to make Semolina Pasta for the Orecchiette, which is a pasta with a similar size of gnocchi rolled over a fork or a tool with lines to get its iconic look. We served this pasta with an amazing homemade tomato sauce.

On the fourth day, we learned how to make 4 different types of desserts. The first one was a Peach Crisp which had a bunch of delicious fresh peaches, lots of warm spices, brown sugar, and topped with a homemade biscuit for the top. The second dessert we made was a Plum Cobbler Tart which was filled with fresh plums, an apple, and a bunch of warm spices along with a crisp crumbly top! Next, we made a Vanilla and Chocolate Pudding. It was super good and not overly sweet which I thought made it better than any other pudding I have had before. Last we made meringues which was for the next day because they had to sit for hours out to set. These where made with egg whites and sugar. At the end of ghe day we topped everything with ice cream!

On the last day, it was time for the cooking competition which was where we made a big meal for all of our families. We arrived 3 hours early to start our big meal. We started with prepping everything for a buffet-style meal. We also had to prep the dining room with tablecloths, silverware, plates, and napkins. We got assigned what to do in the kitchen and we tried our hardest to make the food super good in big batches. We also were assigned roles when the parents started coming in working as hosts and greeting people, as well as helping people to their seats. Once the parents started rolling in at 6 pm we started to bring out our food we worked super hard on. For this meal we had, garlic bread, fruit plates, smashed potatoes, Grilled zucchini with fresh tomatoes, Spinach Tahiri Rice, We also made Grilled chicken, and tandoori chicken as well as some ricotta-filled ravioli with a choice of tomato or pesto sauce. For dessert, we made peach cobbler topped with a scoop of fresh vanilla ice cream and meringues we prepped yesterday! It was really fun to feed the parents and our siblings and see them enjoying the food we worked hard on.

Overall the Passion-for-spices teen culinary camp was an incredible experience where I learned so much with making food from different cultures. I'm happy I did this camp a second year and overall truly enjoyed this class.

Soups, Salads, Broths: Our campers made a very well liked soups and starters, Corn Chowder and Spinach Tahiri for this event, as well as Grilled Zuchini. The Teens also built their skills like knife skills and basic stock making.

Starters, Homemade Pastas, and Sauces: in the spirit of the name, campers prepared a full complement of starters, with a Dumpling Assortment, Chicken Satay, and Semolina Pasta.

Sides and Desserts: Campers produced French Style Potatoes and Mediterranean Couscous with Rice to accompany any main course

Main Course: Our campers prepared the savory Roasted Spatchcocked Chicken with Classic Style Ratatouille, fit for a king. The final day, we had our annual cook off, where the camper’s parents came to sample everything that the campers had made.

Mystery Market Basket Competition: The Campers cooked a three course meal to present to friends and family.

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Memories From Our 2023 Around the World Summer Cooking Camp

At Passion For Spices™ this year, our 14th annual Summer Around the World Cooking Camp was a great success again. We are thrilled to provide a platform for our young generation to learn about food and culture, and provide a true culinary experience. Our team at Passion for Spices™ were so happy to see the eagerness of our young chefs and their enthusiasm in learning new skill sets. We had a great group of happy campers. Please see the details below.

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American Road Trip

SouthEast: Where the kids learned how to make pulled chicken, and hand pies during our workshop.

Midwest: The Children learned how to make classic Midwestern dishes like Corn Runzas, and frozen custard pies

SouthWest: where the campers learned how to how to prepare chicken burritos and salsa & chips, as well as flour tortillas during our workshop

Appalachia: Where the campers prepared Appalachian delicacies, like turkey sausage, buttermilk biscuits, and fried apples

Louisiana Creole: Where the campers prepared gumbo, red beans, and dirty rice, and Roux and Beignets during the workshop

Around the World

Italy: Where the campers made egg based pastas and Biscotti for the workshop

Morocco/North African: Where our campers prepared Shakshuka and authentic Pita and Mezze

Thailand: Where our Campers made chicken curry and some vegetable pad thai, and some Khamon Tom for the Workshop

France: Where our Campers made Ratatouille and French Pastries

India: Where our campers made Malai Kebab and parathas for our workshop

Arts and Science

Breads: Where our Campers indulged in the science of baking, by making some classic Irish Soda bread, and Mini Cinnamon Truffles, as well as Pizza from Scratch during our workshop.

Dumplings From Around the World: Our campers educated themselves in the application of dumplings, with Mongolian Buz and Periogi, as well as baking some Samosas and Chutney during our workshop.

Pies: Our Pie making class involved us making a pie dough, Shepherd’s pie, and apple dumplings, whilst putting together fruit hand pies.

Cheese: The Campers cheese class was mainly using ricotta, pancakes, with fruits and bacon bits. The accompanying workshop included ravioli with ricotta cheese.

Noodles: Our Camper applied themselves in making noodles, from fettucini noodles and Chicken Yaki Soba noodles. The workshop included pici pasta with garlic sauce.

Farm to Table

Corn: Our campers tried themselves at making corn in Corn chowder and Corn Muffins, while our workshop goers tired their hand at making various flavored popcorns.

Squash: Our campers made various configurations of squash in delectable ways, like a buttermilk squash with lentil curry and roasted zucchini. Our workshop was about the creation of zucchini chocolate cake.

Eggs: our day about eggs had our campers prepare curried deviled eggs, quiche, and madeleines. The workshop as well had other egg dishes, like meringues/Pavlova with fruit

Tomatoes: Our camper prepared NJ’s favorite vegetable, both a tomato tart, and Caprese salad. During our workshop, the campers also made sauces.

Fruits: The Seasonal fruits classes included grilled chicken with peaches, as well as a peach cobbler. The workshop as well included a peach crisp and a blueberry sorbet

Culinary Teen Competition

One of our students, Miles LoPrete, wrote an account of his experiences during our Week 5 cooking camp:

Passion For Spices has been an incredible experience for me. I have made new friends and can't recommend Passion for Spices enough! For those who might not be familiar with Passion-For-Spices, they are a Farm-To-Table Culinary school that believes in using fresh ingredients. The chefs at Passion For Spices help with personalized guidance whenever necessary, Which makes learning new recipes easy! Passion For Spices has amazing spices that you can purchase online and a cookbook and a bunch of free recipes! This class really shows people how easy it is to cook!

On the first day of the week we focused on knife skills. Chef Thomas taught us how to chop, cut, slice, and mince lots of vegetables and other ingredients such as Onions, Peppers, Garlic, tomatoes, and so much more. After cutting all the vegetables we cut chicken for the Chicken Vegetable stir fry we made, which was super delicious! The next thing we learned to make was a Corn chowder With a corn cob broth we made earlier. Overall the first day was super fun!

On the Second day of the camp we made amazing dumplings which chef Thomas taught us how to wrap the dumplings in multiple ways. With the dumplings, we made a super easy and delicious dipping sauce! The second thing we made on day 2 was two types of homemade pasta with super fresh eggs. The first type of pasta is an Egg pasta dough, which we flattened out and we made fettuccine sized noodles with it. The second type of pasta we made was semolina flour and water pasta, Which we made Orecchiette with. After all that, we made a super simple tomato sauce and everything was amazing!

On the third day of camp we started right away making Potato Gratin which is a super delicious french dish with lots of potatoes, Cream, and cheese. With this dish we learned how to use a mandolin, Overall the potato gratin was super tasty and fun to make! The second thing we made was Zucchini ratatouille with tomatoes which was delicious, And for dessert we made a fresh berry pie which tasted super good. Overall day 3 was super fun and I learned a lot!

On day four of camp we learned how to make Herb Grilled Chicken with a delicious marinate. The second thing we learned on the 4th day was how to make a super tasty Moroccan Couscous that was super flavorful with the keralan curry that May (The founder of Passion-For-Spices) sells! We also made grilled zucchini which was super delicious. Over all day 4 was some hard work but was worth it because everything was delicious!

On the last day of camp we did the Teen Cooking Competition where we served all of our parents and siblings food we made. With this competition we used all of the skills we learned over the week to make a 4 course meal! We came at 3pm to start cooking, which gave us around 3 hours to make all the food before our families came over for dinner. After we all gave each other roles for what to do in the kitchen we saw the mystery ingredients they gave us, we had decided what to make almost right away. We decided to do an all around the world theme for our courses! After lots of cooking in big batches we were all tired but super excited for the families to come and try out our food! As 6pm struck all the parents arrived. For the first course we made chicken, carrot, garlic and ginger dumplings with a super good dipping sauce. After course 1 all the food was gone because it was so good. For Course 2 we did a pasta course where we made fettuccine pasta and an amazing meat tomato sauce. Once we were done with course 2 we went straight to course 3 which consisted of Potato Gratin, Ratatouille, and a bunch of herb grilled chicken. After this course everyone was super full from all the great food we made. For the last course we did a peach crumble topped with vanilla ice cream. The teen cooking competition was super fun and it was my favorite part of the week, and I would do it again!

Overall The Teen Cooking Competition week was super fun, It was super hands on, meaning you cook a lot. I also learned a lot from Passion-For-Spices and it was super great to eat all the stuff we made. From this camp you learn new flavors, new skills and so much more, I couldn't recommend Passion-For-Spices more!

Soups, Salads, Broths: Our campers made a very well liked soups, Corn Chowder and Galangal soup for this event, as well as Cold Soba Noodle Salad. The Teens also built their skills like knife skills and basic stock making.

Starters, Homemade Pastas, and Sauces: in the spirit of the name, campers prepared a full complement of starters, with a Dumpling Assortment, Chicken Satay, and Semolina Pasta.

Sides and Desserts: Campers produced French Style Potatoes and Mediterranean Couscous with Rice to accompany any main course

Main Course: Our campers prepared the savory Roasted Spatchcocked Chicken with Classic Style Ratatouille, fit for a king. The final day, we had our annual cook off, where the camper’s parents came to sample everything that the campers had made.

Mystery Market Basket Competition: The Campers cooked a three course meal to present to friends and family.

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Memories From Our 2022 Around the World Summer Cooking Camp

During these pandemic times, we are so happy that we could hold our 13th Annual Around the World Cooking Camp. We had the opportunity to do it outdoors as well as virtually, where all the kids learned and enjoyed the culinary journey. We are thrilled to provide a platform for our young generation to learn about food and culture, and provide a true culinary experience. As always, we were so happy to receive farm fresh and organic ingredients from our local vendors to be incorporated in our cooking camp.

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Around the World

Italian: Where the kids learned how to make handmade pasta, and Focaccia bread during our workshop.

Mexico: The Children learned how to make classic Mexican dishes like Corn Tortillas for, tacos, along with fresh guacamole and salsa

China: where the campers learned how to how to prepare, General Tso’s chicken and fried rice, as well as Scallion pancakes during our workshop

France: Where the campers prepared French Pastries, like Crepes Normandy, Madeleines, and Pate Au Choux

India: Where the campers prepared Naan Bread, Spiced Turkey Meatballs, and a classic Cucumber Raita, and Samosa and Parathas during the workshop

Arts and Science

Breads: Where our Campers indulged in the science of baking, by making some classic cornbread, old fashioned scones, and some fruit jam accompaniments, as well as Foccacia bread and buttermilk biscuits during our workshop.

Pickles: Our campers educated themselves in the application of pickling, with bread and butter pickles and pickle red onions, as well as canning some peaches during our workshop.

Pies: Our Pie making class involved us making a pie dough, chicken pot pie, and apple dumplings, whilst putting together a peach gallate and a banana cream pie.

Cheese: The Campers cheese class was mainly using fondue, one cheese and another chocolate with fruits. The accompanying workshop included Pasta with ricotta cheese.

Noodles: Our Camper applied themselves in making noodles, from Oricherttie noodles and Chicken Yaki Soba noodles. The workshop included pici pasta with garlic sauce.

Farm to Table

Onions: Our campers tried themselves at making onions in French Onion south and Scallion Pancakes, while our workshop goers tired their hand at making a potato leek tart and a caramelized scallion dip.

Squash: Our campers made various configurations of squash in delectable ways, like a buttermilk squash salad and stuffed squash. Our workshop was about the creation of zucchini chocolate bread and mini pumpkin pie.

Herbs: our day about herbs had our campers prepare a whole roasted chicken with herbed potatoes. The workshop as well had other herbed dishes, like tabbouleh, mumahara, and hummus by the renowned Yotam Ottolenghi

Tomatoes: Our camper prepared NJ’s favorite vegetable, both a tomato tart, and Caprese salad. During our workshop, the campers also made sauces.

Fruits: The Seasonal fruits classes included a strawberry banana fruit smoothie, as well as Philadelphia style ice cream. The workshop as well included a peach crisp and a blueberry sorbet

Culinary Teen Competition

Soup: Our campers made a very well liked soup, Gazpacho for this event. The Teens also built their skills like knife skills and basic stock making.

Salads and Pita Bread: in the spirit of the name, campers prepared a full complement of starts, with pita bread, muhammara, and hummus.

Accompaniments: Campers produced Butternut Squash Ratatouille and Chicken Satay to accompany any main course

Main Course: Our campers prepared the savory Roasted Whole Chicken with Mashed Potatoes, fit for a king. The final day, we had our annual cook off, where the camper’s parents came to sample everything that the campers had made.

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Memories From Our 2021 Kids and Teens Fall After School Cooking Program

At Passion for Spices™, we had fun with our Kids and Teens After School Cooking Program, where kids and teens can come learn about classic cooking techniques, and foods of the world. It is perfect for weeknight meals, snacks, or any special occasions. This is a five session program where each session has its own theme. In our cooking classes, we emphasize on quality, seasonal, and farm-fresh ingredients, as well as hands-on learning practices which are taught by experienced culinary educators.

For the Fall Sessions, we had:

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Session 1: Soup-a-Rama

Minestrone
Chicken, Coconut, and Galangal Soup

Minestrone

Chicken, Coconut, and Galangal Soup

On the first day, we focused on teaching classic soups. The kids and teens learned the techniques of making classic soups from the regions of the Mediterranean and Thailand.

They learned many techniques including chopping ginger, garlic, and other herbs and spices which were incorporated into the soups. For the Thai soup, the chef showcased the lemongrass herb and how to prepare it.

The young chef enjoyed the Classic Soups on a cold winter night with Garlic Bread made from scratch. The kids enjoyed all the new flavors and it was a perfect meal made from scratch.

Session 2: Weeknight Meals Made Easy

Ratatouille Gratin
Cous Cous Pilaf

Ratatouille

Our After School Group

Cous Cous Pilaf

In the second session, the young chefs learned to make simple weeknight meals. The Ratatouille Gratin had multiple seasonal vegetables such as squash, eggplant, and leaks. For the Cous Cous Pilaf, the chef discussed how to prepare Cous Cous.

Session 3: Fall Pie Making Workshop

Chicken Pot Pie
Seasonal Fruit Pie/Galette

Chicken Pot Pie

Apple and Blueberry Gallate

In the third session, the young chefs learned how to bake classic dishes including Chicken Pot Pie and Gallate

They made individual Pot pie in a French cast iron pots. The crust was very flakey and delicious, with the recipe being adapted from a professional pie making chef, Kate McDermot

Session 4: Pasta Making Workshop

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Sage Butter Sauce
Pasta Primavera

In the fourth session, we taught the young chefs about how to make classic pasta from scratch. This included making the dough, using the food processor, and forming the pasta shapes.

For the Pasta Primavera, they added the spinach puree for the extra green color and filled the raviolis with fresh ricotta.

The Sweet Potato Gnocchi was made from scratch by adding the roasted sweet potato. Then they learned how to knead and incorporate the potato to make a soft dough. The chef added just some regular potato to make it easily moldable. The pasta was served with Sage Butter Sauce, where the sage was fresh from our garden.

Session 5: Halloween Special

Mac O Lantern
Spider Web Apple Pops
Frightful Cookies

In the final session, the young chefs learned how to make Mac O Lantern, Spider Web Pops, and absolutely Frightful Cookies.

The young chefs enjoyed the Fall After School Program, and it gave them a productive and enjoyable way to spend their time.

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We are excited about our Winter After School Kids and Teens Cooking Program coming up soon. The first session will be on December 1st, and the Passion for Spices™ Team is looking forward to welcoming the young chefs again.

Winter After School Cooking Class Menu

We will be showcasing many classic and authentic recipes from around the world, and made sure to incorporate some holiday spirit into our menu as well.

December 1st: Hanukkah Special:
Classic Latkes
Baked Spiced Donuts

December 8th: Classic Christmas Feast:
Classic Whole Roasted Cornish Hen with Chestnut Dressing
Scalloped Potatoes
Classic Christmas Cookies

December 15th: Taste of Italy:
Tuscan Style Chicken
Tiramisu

January 12th: Easy Hearty Meals:
Turkey Meatloaf
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

January 19th: Taste of France:
Beef Bourguignon
Crème Brule