Remind Your Parents About Salad

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Rebecca Scholl

Chef Brendy Monsada from Left Bank Menlo Park and his pastry chef Carlos visited Walter Hays Elementary school in Palo Alto today. In front of the astonished eyes of two classes of second grade, chef Brendy made a salad dressing with Dijon mustard, honey, balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and a touch of lemon zest – taking care to balance all the flavors. He composed a seasonal salad with endives, spinach, apples, and mixed berries – then added four different kinds of cheeses: parmesan, blue cheese, cheddar and emmenthal! Many students tasted endives and blue cheese for the first time! As a special treat, chef Carlos brought palmiers made with puff pastry and butter. There was not a crumb left. Chef Brendy has been a supporter of Tasting Week for the past five years and a wonderful member of our community. Thanks chef Brendy!

Fruit for Dessert? Dee-lish

Posted on October 8, 2014 by Inna Kaplan

Chef Brendy Monsada visited Hoover Elementary School in Palo Alto today and gave the children a whole new perspective on dessert. Chef Brendy talked about seasonal fruits and how important it was to eat well at a young age. And if any of the kids didn’t think that highly of eating fruit for dessert, they had an entirely different view by the end of the workshop.

Chef Brendy started out making whipped cream, and then layered slices of apples, figs, and pomegranate seeds with the cream and a strawberry coulis. For those of you that don’t know what a “coulis” is (I didn’t and I was happy to add a new term to my culinary vocabulary) it is a thick sauce made from puréed and strained vegetables or fruits. In this case – strawberries. It was beyond delicious!

Each student got to prepare their own dessert, and it wasn’t as easy as it looked. Though some of the fruit layers ended up a little lopsided, it still tasted good. Teachers, students, parent helpers… everyone loved it.

Pizza for Breakfast??

Posted on October 8, 2014 by Aurelie Teyssier

Today Chef Nathan Beriau from Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco, visited two 3rd grade classes at the International School of the Peninsula to share his passion for world-class cooking with the students.

He chose to cook … a breakfast pizza! A delicious sweet and healthy version of pizza made with orange marmalade, a few spoonfuls of ricotta cheese, fresh strawberries, and topped with fresh mint in a “chiffonade” and balsamic vinegar syrup… unexpected, right? Well, it was a hit and the kids ate it all, down to the very last crumb.

Many thanks to Chef Nathan, Bay Area Tasting Week who provided this great workshop, and all the teachers and volunteers who made it happen.

A Whole Lotta Shakin’

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Carla Matlin

Today Google chefs Kimberly Tran and Tatiana Contreras led a fantastic interactive demo with the children at Walter Hays Elementary School in Palo Alto. Each child was given their own individual container of whole milk. After a lot of shaking, jumping, and even some dancing, the children observed their milk transform into cream, and then into butter.

But the best part came at the end of the workshop when the kids tasted the whipped cream with strawberries and enjoyed the butter on fresh bread. Almost everyone asked for seconds. It was a great time for the kids, teachers, and the chefs.

Chef Kimberly remarked that it was this same experience, making butter, as a child that led her to become a chef!