Princeton Middle School Cooks+Gardens1

PPS Cooks+Gardens, Spring 2023

by

Sugar snap peas with students in the backgroundTwo sessions of our seed-to-table Cooks+Gardens program are under way for the Spring 2023 semester at Princeton Public Schools! On Tuesdays, Chef Elisabeth Quatrano and Janet Gaudino, faculty advisor in the science department, focus on the science of the plate. On Thursdays, Chef Marilyn Besner and Betsey Valenza, faculty advisor in the French department, take a look at the culture and connections and community of food, with a French accent. Master Gardener Debbie Gries is teaching the garden angle for both.

 

 

 

 

Empowering students, one tasty homemade cracker at a time

by

JW Cooks+Gardens, our 6-week seed to table after school program, is under way! Thanks to our wonderful Chef Michelle Fuerst and to Priscilla Hayes, our edible gardens educator with the greenest thumb ever. The students learned to make crackers from simple ingredients — flour, butter or oil, seeds and herbs and spices. Next week, they are in the garden. Among the comments: As they were grinding seeds: “That smells strong! But really good!” As they were kneading the dough: “This is like Play-Doh!” As they were cleaning up: “I’m going to drop tech and take Food Science.” As they were walking out the door: “This was the best class ever.”

In the PMS Teaching Kitchens

by

A big thank you to Chef Michelle Fuerst and Priscilla Hayes, garden educator, and Eddie Cohen, science supervisor at PPS, for volunteering their time for a holiday cookie-baking extravaganza in the JW Teaching Kitchens this afternoon! And thanks for dropping in for the festivities, Princeton Public Schools Superintendent Steve Cochrane! Nice to have you in the kitchen!

  • IMG_1979
  • IMG_1999
  • IMG_2019
  • IMG_2032
  • IMG_2047
  • IMG_2069

Note of thanks from PMS

by

IMG_2070CHARDCORE: Jason Burr, principal of John Witherspoon Middle School, writes to thank Princeton School Gardens Cooperative for funding of the part-time edible gardens educator position for the school year 2017-18. The funding, provided by a partnership between the bent spoon and Whole Earth Center of Princeton, makes possible the seed-to-table efforts of Priscilla Hayes, master gardener, under way in the school’s Food Science course and also in the 501c3’s JW Cooks+Gardens program under the culinary direction of Chef Michelle Fuerst. That’s Mr. Burr with a celebratory bouquet of just-picked Swiss Chard from the JW Edible Gardens – in December!

PMS Cooks+Gardens: Ice cream and cookies

by

Chef Michelle Fuerst and Master Gardener Priscilla Hayes created a stellar send-off menu for JW Cooks + Gardens students for the last class: salad from the school’s edible gardens, followed by frozen yogurt with gingersnaps! Students put their own spin on the yogurt – some used New Jersey’s Sweet Sourland Farms maple syrup, others used molasses and one made a vegan version with coconut milk. Students practiced knife skills by dicing candied ginger for their cookie dough. Thanks to everyone who makes this after-school program possible: our funders, McCaffrey’s Food Markets and Church & Dwight Employee Giving Fund; Jason Burr, principal at JW and other administrators at Princeton Public Schools; Janet Gaudino, 8th grade science teacher and our advisor for the program; all our volunteers who ensured safety and empowerment for participants. Where would we be without each other?

IMG_9295

IMG_9290

IMG_9277

IMG_9347 2

IMG_9282

IMG_9346 2

IMG_9331

IMG_9359 2

IMG_9309 2

IMG_9382 2

IMG_9385 2

IMG_9371 2

PMS Cooks+Gardens: Personalized garden pastas

by

Students in JW Cooks+Gardens this week used garden greens they grew to make pasta-based dishes in their kitchens. With each kitchens’ members making decisions jointly, each pasta was different: One added homemade meatballs, another stuck with greens, another added both, and one made a lovely pasta fagioli. Thanks to Chef Michelle Fuerst; to Master Gardener Priscilla Hayes; to Janet Gaudino, our faculty advisor and 8th grade science teacher, to Jason Burr, principal, to all the volunteers who ensured kitchen safety and good practices and to McCaffrey’s Food Markets and Church & Dwight Employee Giving Fund. Overheard: One student reporting to Chef Fuerst that she had already made parathas, which the class learned last week, for her entire family! These programs are changing the way children see themselves!
IMG_8949 2

IMG_9046 2

IMG_9024 2

IMG_8966 2

IMG_8958 2

IMG_8939 2

IMG_9042

IMG_8952 2

IMG_8936 2

PMS Cooks+Gardens: Garden Greens Paratha

by

Thrilled to report that JW Cooks+Gardens students made paratha with garden greens and radish raita to go along with cilantro chutney and red lentil dal in today’s after-school program. Chef Michelle Fuerst welcomed Gita Bakshi as guest demonstrator for the afternoon. JW Edible Gardens greens included Swiss chard, mint and spinach. Thanks to all our parent volunteers who assist and to McCaffrey’s Food Markets and Church & Dwight Employee Giving Fund for making this sense-sational (and delicious) learning possible.

PMS Cooks+Gardens: Salad days

by

JW Cooks+Gardens students watered the Edible Gardens, laid in red-painted rocks as decoys in the strawberry beds (will they trick the hungry birds?), then harvested salad – and ate it together! Note the interior courtyard, an almost blank canvas with a mix of sun and shade, needing only a water spigot to bring forth abundance. What could you imagine there? A pergola with grapes growing? Watch this space for the progress! With gratitude and thanks to McCaffrey’s Food Markets and Church & Dwight Employee Giving Fund for making it happen.
IMG_8449 2

IMG_8430 2

IMG_8522

IMG_8423 2

IMG_8513 2

IMG_8495 2

IMG_8489 2

PMS Cooks+Gardens: Tasting herbs, planting blues

by

Fantastic news to report from JW Middle School: Nyrie Janho’s food science course is so popular that Priscilla Hayes’ accompanying garden lessons have necessitated an expansion of the edible gardens! Newly installed rain barrels will help with watering needs for the plantings until we can get an outdoor spigot installed there. Under the direction of Priscilla and Janet Gaudino, 8th-grade science teacher and advisor, students in JW Cooks + Gardens planted blueberries in the lovely (and little-used) courtyard yesterday, after they took a tasting tour of herbs and greens growing in the established gardens next to the playing fields. We are grateful to McCaffrey’s Food Markets and to Church & Dwight Employee Giving Fund for their generous support of this vital program!
IMG_8294 2

IMG_8148 2

IMG_8197 2

IMG_8223

IMG_8256 2

IMG_8173 2