Art for Kitchen's sake

A BIG Thank you to Ms. Billy Kay's sewing class for making us some colorful curtains and napkins! Our kitchen renovation is slowly coming along. We now needed some art to spice up the kitchen walls, so I asked a few of the classes to create visual art that was inspired by food or nature. Although I was pleased by so many, here are a few of my favorites:


Dontrell


Jane'a


Jordyn

Celebrate Fall ~

Our 11th grade boys built this cute picket fence out of scrap from the potting shed. The new signs for the garden have a mirliton image, which is "Uniquely Louisiana".


A baby yellow squash.


Various colors of mums popped up from last year.

Families in the Garden

We are so proud of our APCS families! Last night at Open House, we took family photos in the garden. It was so wonderful to see our students proudly bring their parents and grandparents to the garden to have their picture taken.
I thought they all turned out great.
Here are just a few...

Happy Fall!
Ms. Paige & Ms. Polly

Work Day Postponed

The "Dig-In" workday scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 25th has been postponed.
We will have it when the weather cools a bit.

Thanks for your support!

Quote of the Week

"Gardening requires lots of water -
most of it in the form of perspiration."
~Lou Erickson


These are some "Hidden Lilies" in our garden, which are so named because their blossoms are hidden down in the leaves. There's not much of a fragrance, but as you can see- they almost look like orchids... very exotic!

September Garden Tour

Raven says according to our new thermometer even though Fall is almost here, it's still 100 degrees!


Marshall shows us the height of the corn & squash.


Bella is squinting from the sunshine in front of the pumpkin patch. There are a few blossoms, which will become baby pumpkins soon.


Devon spots a baby cabbage nestled around a compost pile.


Maci stops to smell the roses and declares the fragrance delightful.


Roses can be organic... look at these beauties!


Twins Corey and Courtney show us the lovely minature Lilliput Zinnias by the potting shed.


The 2nd graders play "Ring around the Rosemary".

Quote of the Week

"Insist on yourself.
Never imitate."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Planting fall crops

We're getting ready for Fall crops.
Although it was still 98 degrees today in the APCS garden. We just put a new thermometer on the potting shed, so we could torment ourselves by knowing that it is, in fact, 98 degrees (with high humidity, of course).
Today in the garden, we planted cauliflower, lettuce, and shallots.
Yesterday we planted some seeds~ 2 types of kale, brussel sprouts, swiss chard, spinach, broccoli, more shallots, garlic, cucumbers, butter lettuce, green onions.

We want to thank Darrel Voelker who has been volunteering in the heat to till the garden for us and map out the area for our new ramada.

Gratitude also to Dean Kramer and my 11th grade boys class who have been working hard to get some irrigation out to our garden. It will be so wonderful to have easy access to water.
Thanks Darrel & Dean!!

Cooking Cushaw

Ms. Paige brings a cushaw from a local farmer to the 8th grade boys class.
Do you know the main difference between a summer squash and a winter squash?


Ms. Polly splits it open and the cooking begins. We bake half with cinnamon, butter & honey, chop the other half into cubes to make a soup, and toast the seeds. The shredded skin goes into the compost... nothing is wasted.


Nathan, Casey & Ashton enjoy eating the toasted cushaw seeds sprinkled with sea salt.

A cushaw is a Cajun favorite hard-shelled squash harvested in the fall. Many locals eat it as a dessert. Here is a link to Chef John Folse's recipe (click on this). It is also listed as one of Slow Food's Ark of Taste foods (click on this)

Quote of the Week

Stretch your mind and fly~
African proverb


Amazing apples from the Edible Schoolyard Academy in Berkeley, California that Ms. Polly & I attended this summer. We now have 3 apple trees planted in our garden.

Guest Chefs

APCS attorney Rodney Rabalais (a member of Slow Food Avoyelles) and District Attorney Charles Riddle were the guest chefs on Friday for the 11th grade boys' class.
Our high school boys love to see positive male role models... in the community and especially in our kitchen. Our guest chefs talked about the history of omelettes and how fast and easy it is to make a quick veggie omelette. The class assembled and chopped all the ingredients. Then each boy got to make his own personal omelette. They were encouraged to try at least one ingredient they didn't normally eat. They also savored the taste of freshly squeezed orange juice with their meal.
A huge Thank You to Mr. Rodney & Mr. Charles!


Jordan enjoys his specially made omelette.


Nathan proudly presents our director, Ms. Julie, with a vegetable omelette and freshly squeezed orange juice.

Muscadines

Thank you to Ms. Janice Yantis who brought us muscadines from her farm near Bunkie! Several of our classes got to taste them and draw pictures about the experience. This gem's from the 2nd grade.

Quote of the Week

On Friday, we have two guest chefs teaching us to make omelettes!
Their identity is a mystery...

Cooking with Ms. Polly

Ms. Polly shows Martin & Grace the techniques of making bread dough, which the 4th graders made into cinnamon twists. Some of the other classes learned how to make homemade pretzels. This week, the hallway was teaming with the smell of bread baking, which is always delightful.

Today, she helped the older boys' class make Gazpacho~ a cold tomato soup from Spain. (recipe posted below) It's so refreshing and healthy!
Thank you Ms. Polly!

Herbed Gazpacho
(from the Cook's Garden cookbook)
4 large tomatoes, chopped
1 large cucumber, peeled & chopped
1 med. onion, chopped
1 med. red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 c. fresh basil
1/2 c. fresh parsley
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 c. rice vinegar
3 tbsp. olive oil
sea salt & pepper to taste

Puree all ingredients in a blender. Cover and chill overnight or at least 4 hrs.
(Ms. Paige also likes to add fresh cilantro and a bit of cayenne for a kick!)

Garlic Croutons
4 slices French bread, cut into cubes
3 tbsp. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
sea salt, to taste

Toss the bread with the oil, garlic & salt in a bowl. Bake @ 400' for 5 min., then turn and bake until golden brown. Serve cold soup with hot croutons.

for more healthy recipes and wonderful seeds for your garden:
www.cooksgarden.com