In their second class after the kitchen orientation, the sixth graders baked pan de muertos in honor of Dia de los Muertos. The sweet, brown sugar-encrusted rolls were formed into the shape of each student’s choice, to commemorate someone who has passed on. By far one of my favorites was a mini-loaf in the form of a hamster. As they waited for the bread to finish baking in our convection oven, the students wrote a message on a piece of brightly colored paper about what shape they chose and who their bread memorialized.  The notes were then rolled up and placed into a memory wall we displayed in the kitchen along with our Day of the Dead altar!

This week, the sixth graders finally got to use their toolboxes. The students learned about the difference between paring knives, chef’s knives, and bread knives, and that we have special green and white cutting boards that are reserved for garlic and onions. The dish they prepared was a heavenly sautee of garlic, dinosaur kale, and collard greens, finished with a little soy sauce and sesame oil. Some students had the chance to peel and mince garlic, while others stripped the greens of their stalks and then cut or tore the leaves into smaller pieces before cooking. The wonderfully fragrant end result served over a bed of brown rice and quinoa was so popular that almost everyone asked for seconds.

The memory wall on the Day of the Dead altar

Collard greens in our garden

Dinosaur kale

The finished greens over brown rice and quinoa