Archive: Around Town

Lansing's Recreation Department excels in traditional offerings such as soccer, football, and skiing.  But it hasn't shied away from experimenting with less common offerings to service Lansing residents who have different interests.  Karate was a surprise success that led to a vital ongoing program.  Others haven't been as successful, but that doesn't stop Recreation Director Steve Colt from exploring more new ideas. 

This year's surprise hit was cooking camp, run by sixth grade English teacher Stacie Kropp and elementary science teacher Sue Henne.  "It was probably the first of all our camps to sell out," says Colt, noting that Cooking Camp and Day Camp were the two most popular this summer.  Parks & Recreation Clerk Maureen Muggeo adds, "I had nothing but positive comments."

The teachers split up the 45 campers by age into two groups, second and third graders in the first, and fourth through sixth graders making up the older group.  Each group met in the middle school Family and Consumer Science room for a two day session in the week, then campers from both sessions went on a Friday field trip to Littletree Orchards.  On Thursday Kropp said the experience was winning for both the teachers and the campers.  "There are a lot of excited kids," she said.  "Excited to be here, excited while they are here, everyone is behaving really well, and it's been a great experience."

That perception was born out by kids and parents.  "My girls loved it," says parent Clara Barett.  "They learned so much.  My older children were jealous that this camp didn't exists when they were their age."


Young top chefs rotated between five stations, each set up for making a different dish that could be part of a day's meals.  For dinner they made a pasta dish with homemade pasta sauce made out of roasted vegetables and pasta.  For a lunch individual personal pizzas were on the menu, so the kids learned to make homemade pizza dough with yeast.  Raspberry-peach buckle was on the dessert menu, and homemade vanilla ice cream at a fourth station.  Henne's daughter Kelsey lent a hand at the ice cream station.  For snacks kids made homemade peanut butter, then used it to make granola bars. 

"The pasta sauce has been the most surprising station, because most of them said going in, 'I don't like sauce,'" Kropp says.  "But when they cut the tomatoes and roast them and then blend them up themselves, they taste it and they really like it.  We're hearing things like, 'Wow, you never eat pasta sauce.  What do you mean you like pasta sauce?'  Or, 'You don't like tomatoes,' or 'you put peppers on that?'  So they are sometimes willing to try new things without their parents around."

Campers also got to taste three other foods in addition to dishes they made themselves.  "They get to taste smoothies and learn how to make those," Kropp says.  "They get to taste watermelon pops, an alternative to Popsicles that has no sugar in it,  So it's just watermelon.  It's very healthy.  And they are getting to taste something that's called summer corn chowder which uses a lot of fresh vegetables and the little kids loved that.  It was a big hit."

Henne and Kropp came up with the idea because of shared loves of cooking and kids.  A year and a half ago Kropp appeared as one of four winning cooks on 'Emeril's 'Holiday Cookie Contest' episode on telivision's Food Channel.  ""I taught myself to cook when I was in middle school," she says. " My mom was a good cook but she didn't have time.  She was a single mother and she actually worked nights so I was pretty much in charge for cooking for us, for myself and her.  It's a great sense of accomplishment when you produce something that other people eat and they enjoy it, and they say thank you.  That's what these kids are seeing now -- that they are learning a skill that will give them some respect, and it's something new and different.  Everyone appreciates good food."


At the end of camp each kid got to take home a cookbook with all the recipes from camp, and their own aprons that they decorated themselves.  The cookbooks were a hit with the families as well as the kids.  ""They have already made a number of things from the recipe book they brought home from camp," Barrett says.  She also says she and her older kids fought over who would get to eat them.

The camp went so well that Henne and Kropp are already talking to Colt about repeating it next year, and about special holiday themed camps throughout the year.  "They learned things that will make it even better next year," Colt says.  "We are talking about the possibility of special holiday theme cooking camps during the year.  Those would probably take place at the Lansing Community Center where they would have full access to a kitchen and places to spread out and do things."

Everyone is delighted at how well the camp went.  "I was surprised at how excited parents are and how excited the kids are," Kropp says.  "It's great.  The kids, it's really given them a sense of independence that they really feel they can go home and cook this for their family.  And the family is excited because the kids are coming home and saying they are cooking for the family."

Sweet!

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