Month: February 2012

This week, we returned to Europe and visited one of my favorite spots… ENGLAND!

Did you know that the English drink the most tea in the entire world? They sure do enjoy their “Afternoon Tea” parties and so did we! While sipping some English Breakfast Tea (decaf, of course), we ate some warm baked Currant Scones and nibbled on some little tea sandwiches such as the famous cucumber sandwich and an egg salad sandwich.

We talked about famous locations, people and food in England. The students learned that the sandwich was invented in England by John Montagu in 1762 and that Europe’s tallest ferris wheel, called the London Eye, is located right in London. We also saw the beautiful Windsor Castle, which is the oldest and largest castle in the world! And of course, everyone recognized Prince William and Kate Middleton.

After our tea party, we ate two of Britain’s favorite dishes, the Cornish Pasty and the Cottage Pie. The most common foods in England are the sandwich, fish and chips, savory pies and roast dinners. We created our own savory pie, originally made for miners in Cornwall, the Cornish Pasty. The traditional recipe calls for Steak, Potatoes, Onions and Ruttabaga (or Turnips) but we made a Chicken, Potato, Onion and Bacon version. It was one of the kids favorite dishes!

Are you familiar with the Shepherd’s Pie? Well, this type of pie is made with Ground Lamb, but we made a version with Ground Turkey instead, which we called the Cottage Pie. It was delicious, topped with mashed potatoes and cheddar cheese! I could have eaten the entire dish all by myself.

Next week, the kids want to visit Asia, either China or Japan…. but I was thinking it would be fun to visit the Arabian coast or Thailand and definitely India. Plus, we can’t forget about visiting my family in PORTUGAL! Maybe, we’ll make that our final destination on our trip around the world with some homemade, warm, sweet, pasteis de nata. YUM!

Our trip this week was filled with fun in the sun! We visited the largest country in the Caribbean… Cuba!

The kids learned some interesting facts about Cuba. Did you know that Cubans refer to their island as “El Cocodrilo” because its shape resembles a crocodile or that the most popular sport in Cuba is baseball, not soccer? We also learned that Cuba was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492 and that there are so many doctors in Cuba that they get sent out to other countries.

Cuban cuisine includes lots of unique fruits and vegetables since Cuba is in the tropics, including mangoes, plantains and guava which we used in our recipes.

Our delicious feast started with our famous Chicken Empanadas, followed by Pollo Empanizado (Cuban Chicken Cutlets) with Mango Salsa, Arroz (Rice) with Frigoles Negros (Black Beans), Maduros (Fried Plantains) and ended with Pudin de Pan (Cuban Bread Pudding) and Pastelitos de Guayaba y Queso (Guava and Cheese Turnovers). We had a full plate, literally, this week. DELISH!!!

Now we are back in the states and packing our bags yet again, for our next adventure. The kids are full of anticipation as each week unfolds a surprise!

Food Jules is pleased to announce that we will be offering kids cooking classes at the Trumbull Library as well as the Monroe Library during the 2012 Summer Season!

Our classes are being offered for children ages 6-10 on the following dates:

Trumbull Library: April 17, July 10, July 17, August 7 and August 21 at 3:00pm.

Monroe Library: Feb 18, June 28, July 12, July 18 and August 2 at 10:30am.

Classes fill up very quickly so call your local library to sign up today! Looking forward to seeing all my little sous-chefs!