Training to be a Masterchef

Dear Mom and Dad,

Mr. Sun seemed quite busy today– we imagined him washing his face and taking a long shower– that must have been why it rained the whole day, and he didn’t come. But, someone else did– we had Chef Larry in the morning! Liezel had him propped up on the table, and she helped us make some fabulous chef’s hat and apron. On the other table, we had some food from our kitchen corner, and we had fun cooking up all sorts of things (Just imagine spaghetti topped with ice cream, or burgers with oranges) with Kai.

After packing away, we had our snacks. As we finished early, Kai talked to us about what we did last week– we had to keep him up to speed as he was working in the office that time. We told him that we made a first aid kit, and something for giving shots. Kai then told us that we were going to talk about “Chefs” this week.

Pauline confirmed that indeed, we were going to talk about being a chef– and food! How our eyes sparkled at this! Pauline then read a book by Stan and Jan Berenstein called “The Berenstein Bears and Too much junk Food”.

N: What’s ‘junk food’?

L: Sweets

M: food that has a lot of fats.

K: So many food!

B: food that has so much sugar

W: Lots of candy

J: Like chips

M: It’s food that’s not good for you

J: And then tummy ouchie

W: Like this “Ooooouuuccchhhhiieeee!!!” (He mad a dramatic sound

while seemingly clutching his tummy in pain)

Pauline: It’s okay to eat junk food sometimes

but—

A: —not so many

B: You can also eat candy 1 piece at

a time

M: Just one time in a day

In the book, Mama Bear noticed that Brother and Sister Bear were

eating “goodies” often, so she decided to take them away. Papa Bear

thought it was a good idea but then, he started to look for Sweetsie– Cola

and was surprised that it was being taken away, too!

L: My friend drink too much cola and she get tummy ache.

We were not able to finish the story as

Miyashita sensei arrived. We did our usual

warm– ups. We also tried to walk backwards

and balance on the cushions. We did it again

while balancing a tape on our head. It was

tricky!

After saying goodbye to Miyashita

sensei, we sat down together

with our teachers again,

and Pauline asked us if we

remembered what we did in

the morning. We told her

we made a chef’s hat and

apron.

Pauline: Do you know what the hat is for?

A: Maybe it’s for hot things

A: Maybe it’s because the hair might get dirty

A: How do we know if there is hair under the hat— because like my

daddy doesn’t have any hair.

Pauline: Well, actually, this is to keep hair away from our face as the chef

cooks, and to keep hair from falling into the food. Ai– chan is right, too,

as it will keep our hair clean. Now, how about the apron? What is it for?

M: Keeping clean

Pauline: That’s right, it’s for keeping our shirts clean. Now, the chef also

has some other important things that he uses. What’s this?

Everybody: A knife!

N: We have to be careful when we use it.

Pauline: How about this one?

N: Keys!

M: Measuring spoons

Pauline told us that there are some recipes that will require exact measurements

of ingredient, so we use the measuring spoon and measuring cup.

Pauline: Do you know what a recipe is?

A: Something you read when you don’t know how to cook.

Pauline then went on to show a pot, and a wok.

N: if it’s more flat, then it’s a pan (Pointing to the pot)

Pauline also showed us two types of spatula– one was for frying

and flipping omelets and pancakes; the other was for mixing

baking ingredients and smoothing out icing on a cake.

A: My daddy also cooks pancake with this

Pauline: This one is called a whisk

N: There’s an electric one!

Pauline: And then we have this—

M: A ladle! We use it for soup

A: We also use it for tasting the soup

Pauline also showed a strainer, which was used to drain the water. The last

one she showed was a grater. She said if we want ingredients like cheese,

fruits, and vegetables to be tinier, then we use the

grater.

M: cheese grater! You can also use it for lemons!

That concludes our Monday. We hope the weather will be

better tomorrow, so we can play at the park!

L ove,

All the budding chefs in Petals Class