The smell of freshly cooked breakfast wafted through the second-floor halls of the Munroe-Meyer Institute.
But it wasn’t breakfast time or even lunch time.
Instead the meal — pancakes, eggs and toast — was whipped up by a handful of student chefs in cooking camp mid-afternoon.
The camp, hosted by MMI’s Department of Occupational Therapy, is in its third year. Campers meet once a week for five weeks.
“It lets them practice independence and real-life skills,” said Sam Montemarano, an occupational therapist who led the cooking sessions. “It takes something scary — knives and heat — and in this controlled environment, it shows that this can be fun.”
Other sessions offered by the department include arts and crafts, LEGO and shoe tying. All the camps, regardless theme, teach campers new skills and build confidence in practicing fundamental abilities.
The first week of cooking camp had participants selecting their own menu — quesadillas and nachos, breakfast, dirt cups, and personal pizzas.
At the start of camp, chefs don their paper chef hats. Montemarano outlined the day’s plan of making pancakes — plain and chocolate chip — and “egg in a hole.”
“Man, this is going to be fun,” one chef said.
Chefs started by washing their hands.
Then they divided and conquered. One chef got to work buttering toast and dropping it on the griddle where it sizzled.
The other chefs read directions on the box of pancake mix before taking turns measuring and whisking ingredients. A few performed quality control measures by sampling chocolate chips before adding them into the mix.
Logan Hansen carefully poured batter onto the hot griddle and waited patiently before flipping them over. Another chef exclaimed: “Whoa! I’m loving how these turned out!”
Chefs, who ranged in age from 11 to 14, sat around the table adding butter and syrup to their pancakes before tucking in.
And to get the full cooking experience, they also got to take turns washing and drying dishes.