"Kids Food Fun" at the Del Monte Test Kitchen (Part 1)

Joshua and Faith at the Bonifacio High Street

To many, kids and cooking may not run synonymous to each other. While kids (like many adults) love to eat, I have yet to see children coming in droves to sign up for kitchen work. To think then of kids having “fun” with food preparation was at the very least, an interesting notion to me.

Last March 23, I received an email from the Del Monte Kitchenomics Club on its Summer Class Schedule from March to April. As a long time member of this culinary guild I would regularly receive invites and recipes from them which often turned out to be useful at home.

What really caught my eye was the “Kids Food Fun” class slated for April 2 that I thought should be a fit for my youngest child and only daughter Faith who seemingly loves to cook and bake. I thought this should get her more motivated to learn the culinary craft.

So after a process of pre-registration and a reasonable payment of P1,200.00 (which covered the hands-on class fee, the ingredients, materials, recipe handouts, apron, toque and certificate of participation) to Del Monte’s Banco de Oro account, we were good to go.

A quick breakfast at the nearby Krispy Kreme Donuts Shop

I had asked my wife Odette and Joshua to come along with us to the Bonifacio Global City (BGC) where Del Monte’s Test Kitchen was located. At first, I wasn’t sure they would be allowed to join us inside the test kitchen. But I thought they could at least go around the shops of Bonifacio High Street for the duration of Faith’s class. Luckily, as we later found out, they were both allowed to be near us, allowing them to be there for much of the duration of the class.

Site of Del Monte’s Corporate Offices

After a quick breakfast at the local Krispy Kreme outlet we set out to look for the Test Kitchen of Del Monte which wasn’t really far away. The site which also houses the company’s corporate offices here in Metro Manila is found at the Bonifacio High Street’s B3 area near TGIF and exactly at the back of the Stock Market Café.

B-3: Del Monte’s Test Kitchen

1^st to arrive….

….with Kuya Joshua

The family that cooks together…bonds together!

Faith with cooking classmates

The class started rather slow, much delayed by the arrival of several registrants. And with very young children a long lull time would generate restlessness and disorder. At first it looked like a pre-school gone haywire like a scene from the movie “Daddy Day Care” but some semblance of order finally set in when the class actually started with Test Kitchen Chef Char presiding.

Kids introduce themselves

Banzai!! The kids do some stretching

Faith gathers ingredients for the first recipe: “Fruit and Jello Salad”

As the kids relatively calmed down, their food preparation adventured began with the first recipe – “Fruit and Jello Salad”.

PORTION	UNIT MEASURE	INGREDIENT	PREPARATION
1	CAN (439g)	Del Monte Fiesta Fruit Cocktail	Chilled
100	Grams	Fresh strawberries	Sliced
2	Packs	Ready to eat gelatin (jello)	Sliced
½	Cup	All-purpose cream	Chilled
1	Tbsp	Condensed milk	Room temperature

Procedure:

Combine all ingredients. Chill until ready to serve.

These portions combined makes for 5 servings.

Chopping strawberries

Cutting jello

Group mix

“Chef Faith”

Kids label their respective fruit salads

Items for the 2^nd recipe: Merry Mix Sandwich

PORTION	UNIT MEASURE	INGREDIENT	PREPARATION
¼	Cup	Cream cheese	Softened
¼	Cup	Grated Cheese
2	Tbsp	Mayonnaise
1	Can (234g)	Del Monte Crushed Pineapple	Well-drained
2	Tbsp	Toasted Cashew Nuts	Chopped
1	Tbsp	Chopped Red Bell Peppers

Procedure:

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and 1/8 teaspoon iodized fine salt. Blend well. Serve as sandwich filling.

These portions combined makes for 6 servings.

Grating cheese

Mixing the sandwich spread ingredients

Using different plastic molds to create variously shaped sandwiches

Lunch break!

While all of Faith’s classmates and their companions opted to eat out somewhere else, we stayed at the test kitchen, as my wife bought food and drinks outside which we ate along with the lunch food we brought from home.

Faith and Joshua with the Test Kitchen Team

With two recipes done there were three more to go in the early afternoon. The best of Faith’s cooking is yet to come…