Keep the kids busy during the holiday break

Keep the kids busy during the holiday break was Chef K’s theme on LIVE! From Jaspers Kitchen today.  Yes, even with Playstation, XBox, Wii, MP3’s  and all other kinds of cool gadgets out there, your child  can actually be bored during the break from school.  A great way to keep them busy is to include them in the kitchen by baking with them.  Chef K shared a variety of  recipes to keep your children busy and have a great time with you in the kitchen.  As always, I’m happy to share those delicious recipes with you, which is posted below.  And remember…..we also require you to throw in our main ingredient when making these recipes………….FUN!!!!

CHOCOLATE FONDUE                

Ingredients                                                      Amount 

Marshmallow cream                                        1 jar

Whipping cream                                              ½ C

Semisweet chocolate, pieces                           12 oz

Vanilla                                                             1 t 

Method: 

In heavy saucepan melt marshmallow cream into whipping cream. Add chocolate and stir until smooth. Remove from heat and pour into fondue pot at table.  

Serve with: Angel food cake, pound cake, strawberries, apples slices, marshmallows, or any of your favorite fruits! 

Variation: 

Substitute white chocolate for semisweet  

For PB chocolate fondue add 1 /4 C creamy peanut butter

EASY VANILLA BUTTERCREAM 

Yield: 1 ½ C 

Ingredients                                          Amount 

Butter, unsalted, at room temp           10 T

Confectioners sugar                            1 ¼ C (5 oz)

Salt                                                      pinch

Vanilla extract                                                ½ t

Whipping cream                                  1-3 T 

In electric mixer w/ whisk attachment, beat butter until smooth.

Add sugar and salt and beat until moistened.

Scrape down bowl and beat until fully combined.

Add vanilla and cream and beat until incorporated.

Increase speed, and continue to beat until light and fluffy. 

For Chocolate 

Reduce sugar to 1 C

After beating in vanilla, beat in 4 oz melted cooled semisweet or bittersweet chocolate 

For Strawberry 

Add 1 drop of red food coloring and 1 t strawberry extract

 

 

SQUEEZE -N- SQUIGGLE PAINT 

½ C Water

½ C Salt

½ C Flour

Food colorings of choice

 

combine all in small bowl, adding more flour till desired consistency is reached

pour into squeeze bottles and use as finger or fluffy paint

 

BEST EVER SUGAR COOKIES

 

Yield: 2 dozen

 

Ingredients                              Amount

 

Butter, softened                      2 sticks

Brown Sugar                           1 C

Egg                                          1

Vanilla                                     1 t

Flour                                        2 2/3 C

Baking Powder                       1 t

Salt                                          ½ t

 

In electric mixer beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add egg and vanilla. Sift dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not over mix. Chill in fridge overnight. (Can be made ahead and frozen)  Roll out dough on lightly floured service. (You will not need much flour – use as little as possible). Using cookie cutters, cut out desired shapes.

 

Bake on buttered cookie sheets at 350° for 12-15 minutes, or till lightly golden. Cool on rack.

 

Here we (they) go again!

Yes ladies and gentlemen, it’s that time of week again to announce that Chef Jasper has asked Chef K back to his show LIVE! From Jaspers Kitchen, Saturday December 12th, at 11am cst. on kcmo 710am radio or www.710kcmo.com on the internet for those of you who live outside the Kansas City area.  Chef K will be “mixing” up something yummy for the holiday season.  I’d tell you but I’ve been sworn to secrecy not to tell.

Chef K and Chef Jasper

  Well actually she told me just to tune in like everyone else to find out what will be mixing in the bowls this week.  I can tell you it will be worth your time to tune in. 

LIVE! From Jaspers Kitchen is sponsored by Hen House Markets.  Be sure and check out all the Holiday specials they have listed this week at www.henhouse.com

Tis the Season

Tis the season to be giving…..fa la la la laaaaaaaaaaa, la la la laaaaaaaaaaa!  Okay so I changed the words around and made them mine, but this IS the season to be giving.  Whatever your background is, this is a time to reflect on what beautiful things you have in your life, and also a time to give to those that are less fortunate or struggling to get by.  Support your community food drives or volunteer in a shelter.  Maybe adopt a family to buy presents  for.  Anything that you can do to make someone’s life richer makes your life richer as well.  It also teaches your children the importance of giving, and is a gift you as a parent will see used throughout your childs life.  We all want to make this world a better place for our kids……this is a great time of the year to start. 

From everyone here at Bistro Kids we want to wish you and your loved ones, a joyous holiday season and a safe and wonderful New Year!

Chef K – Kiersten Firquain

Merrill Gobetz

Chef C-O-B-I

Chef Montana

Chef Jodi

Chef Katy

Ascension School

Bistro Kids was invited to serve lunch to 340 students at Ascension School in Overland Park, Ks.   A big thank you goes out to Marni, Patty and the kitchen staff for their hospitality, and also Sheri Monaldo PTO President of Ascension School.

MENU:

• Spaghetti with Beef Sauce
• Caesar Salad
• Whole Wheat Bread Sticks
• Big Red Grapes
• Chocolate Milk

I received an email from Chef K that was sent to her from a parent of two students who had lunch today and it pretty much sums up why we do what we do in serving children healthy, nutrition rich meals each and every day of school.  So rather than me writing about the day I thought I would share the email with you.  If you as a parent have any questions about what we do and how we can help your school, give Chef K a call at 913.710.5171.

This is the email I want to share with you:

Hey Kiersten 

Just wanted to let you know that both my kids loved the healthy lunch today.  They are extremely picky eaters and tend to eat more junk than I would like them to.  I was so pleased when they both got in the car and raved about how good the lunch was without me even asking about it.  One of the boys even got an extra breadstick.  It was great to have them come home and eat a light snack versus eating everything in sight because they didn’t eat their lunch.  Both of them loved everything about the lunch including the salad and milk – both of them refuse to drink the school’s milk.

 

 

 

Kansas City Academy Cooking Fun

Recently Kansas City Academy had a cooking class.  The students made bacon wrapped dates with garlic aioli and pumpkin crunch cake.  YUM!  Plus they also made sugar cookies thanks to Amols grandmothers recipe which from what I understand didn’t quite turn out the way they normally would, but isn’t that what cooking and bakings about?  Sometimes despite best intentions it just misses it’s mark.  The  students had alot of fun making them (as well as Chef Katie) and spread around alot of Bistro Kids main ingredient……………..FUN!

Fun Friday at Oakhill Day School and a recipe

We love to do Fun Fridays with the students.  It’s a day when they learn about new foods or foods they never tried before.  It’s a hands on experience that has proven to be a great success for everyone involved. 

Friday December 5th, 2008 was no different.  Chef K turned the tables and invited Chef Jasper Mirabile to be the guest at Fun Friday.  They did a two and a half minute segment for Chef Jaspers show tomorrow at 11am on KCMO radio 710am or www.710kcmo.com on the web.  Jasper fixed a delicious Ricotta Gnocchi.  (When I was in school, where you had to walk uphill both ways without shoes…..in the snow, we were lucky to guess what the “mystery meat” was and these kids are learning about Gnocchi!  Fantastic!).   I’ve posted the recipe below the pictures.  Try this at home for your family and friends.

Be sure and listen to the show tomorrow at 11am cst. to see how Fun Friday and the Gnocchi went.  In the meantime, here’s some pictures from the fun.  After all, fun is our main ingredient.

Jasper Mirabile’s Riccota Gnocchi Recipe

1 Lb Ricotta Cheese
1 Egg
2 Tabl. Romano Cheese (grated)
2 Tabl. Flour
Sea salt to taste

In a large mixing bowl, add all ingredients and mix with a spoon, do not beat or whip. Add more flour as desired. The dough is ready when it no longer sticks.

Sprinkle the surface of a pastry board with flour. Using 1/4 of the dough, roll out into a rope that is about 3/4 inch thick.
Working quickly while the dough is still warm, use a knife to cut off 1/2 inch pieces.

Repeat until you have used all of the dough.

Place the gnocchi onto a tray, leaving a space between each piece to prevent them from sticking together.

Drop gnocchi into salted boiling water. Adjust heat to a simmer. When gnocchi floats to the top and is slightly firm to the touch, about 3-4 minutes. Remove using a slotted spoon. Add your favorite sauce and serve

Oakhill Day School Thanksgiving

Kids and food, food and kids…….it’s a combination made this time in the kitchen of Oakhill Day School to celebrate Thanksgiving.  And from the looks of it, the kids enjoyed it.  And of course what’s pumpkin pie without the boys wearing the whipped creme?  Our chefs love cooking for the kids at both Oakhill and Kansas City Academy and from the looks of these pictures, the kids love eating the food.  Kids and food……it’s a combination we at Bistro Kids love!

One of our VIP

Boys will be boys

Whipped Creme Mustache

Thanksgiving lunch at Oakhill

A very powerful message

Take a few minutes and watch this trailer from our friends at Food Matters.  This is just the trailer to the movie but it sends a very powerful message about food and making the right lifestyle decisions for our bodies.  For more information regarding the movie, visit www.foodmatters.tv