It's about the time of the year when festive foods and creative holiday treats will be made for family and friends. The Principles of Culinary and Hospitality Nutrition class is taking part in making these fun and enjoyable holiday foods as well.
The class made Halloween foods and treats that customers and staff could enjoy. Chef Andrea Yount enjoyed teaching and challenging the kids on finding ways to make treats from scratch.
“One of my favorite activities that I do around Halloween is a trick or treat lab. I give the kids chocolate chips to make cookies with no recipes and or measurements. They just have to wing it and decide if their measurements are right, this is to see if measurements matter while they're cooking,” Yount said.
This is just a start to the fun, there's more to come, some of which will also help fund the class.
“We also do fundraisers for Thanksgiving. We sell pumpkin rolls to the staff every year, but this year we are adding pies into the fundraiser,” Yount said.
Chef Yount likes to have the kids try and make things that aren’t normally being made. This allows the students to learn and improve on different skills in the class.
“I try to make labs and restaurant items that kids don't normally do. To expose them to meals and new ideas they wouldn’t be able to get anywhere else. In the past we have made beef stew, chicken pot pie brussel sprouts with cranberries and bacon. There are also desserts that are made ranging from cookies, cakes, pies and muffins,” Yount said.
The Threshold holds many favorite dishes from staff and customers, but it's pretty hard to pick just one dish from the variety that has been sold.
“I like to change it up, but some of my best sellers are my meatloaf, and when I think about wintertime, the chicken noodles and mashed potatoes that are sold are the top two that are sold. Our baked potato soup is a huge fan favorite and it will be out here soon,” Yount said.
Now that the start to the holidays has begun, Chef Yount and the kids are now joining in on the holiday festive foods and treats, and can’t wait to challenge themselves and advance their knowledge.