Tag: labs

The History & Science of Cream Puffs

I love teaching students how to make desserts that look elegant, but sound difficult! After learning about The History & Science of Cream Puffs, they are always surprised to learn how simple they are to actually make. Read on to learn how to incorporate this into your pastry or dessert unit.

Knife Skills Interactive

Put the initial learning in the hands of your students with this Knife Skills Interactive assignment.  The entire assignment is not only digital, but breaks down important knife information by topic and section. I used this with my upper level students in my foods class.  For many, it was a review of information they had learned in junior high or other courses of mine. However, for those students who were new to the school or I didn’t have me in junior high, it gave them all of the basics about knives they needed before we headed to the kitchen to practice.

Cast Iron Cooking Stations

Had I asked students years ago if they cooked much with cast iron, I would have gotten a lot of positive responses. Today, not so much! Because many students don’t have this experience, I decided to teach them about “Cast Iron Cooking” so they could see the similarities and differences to regular cookware as well as the variety of foods that could be prepared with it.

Pet Based Service Projects

For many of us, our pets become part of our family and we want to love on them by giving them toys and treats! Sadly, there are many pets in need of love especially at organizations such as the SPCA, Rescue Pet Centers, and Best Friends centers. Pet Based Service Projects can be creatively included in your curriculum via labs, sewing or non-sewing projects and even repurpose projects to help those organziations. Read on to see a variety of ways to do this on the cheap!

Japanese Fruit Sandwiches

What is beautiful, photogenic and instagram worthy, colorful and easy to eat? Japanese fruit sandwiches, of course! Read on to learn more about Japanese fruit sandwiches and how to incorporate them into your classes and food labs!

43 Minute Lab Series: One Pan Taco Dinner

After noticing continuous requests for lab suggestions that are doable in 43 minute class periods, I’ve decided to do a recurring series, featuring recipes that can be completed from beginning to end in a 43 minute time frame. In some cases, longer recipes will broken into two day labs. In addition, I will include my pre-lab review questions that pertain specifically to the recipe. This helps to ensure that students are reading the recipe. It also allows me time to show any videos that may demonstrate the product or specific techniques. So, without further ado, I present the 43 Minute Lab Series: One Pan Taco Dinner!

Quick Breads: Lesson & Labs

I have had some requests to share ideas for teaching about quick breads…so, here you go! One thing about teaching quick breads is that there are a plethora of ideas for labs so you can mix it up from one year to the next and secondly, the labs are pretty inexpensive to make so they won’t break your budget! Another thing I like about teaching quick breads is that it’s easy to include math and science concepts into your lessons and labs. Take a look below to see some things I’ve used over the years as well as some links to previous lessons and activities on the website about the topic.