Food Technology

Heretaunga Intermediate has an amazing Food Technology teacher - Miss Smith - who has an amazing Food Technology Room to call home. Each term the students have 5 weeks of Food Tech (i.e. Year 7's have Food Tech Weeks 1-5 and Year 8's have Food Tech Weeks 6-10 during Term 2). Miss Smith has developed a theme for each term that includes a collection of recipes. The theme for the Year 7's in Term 2 is "Brunch and Lunch" with a focus on using the common ingredients found in your pantry. Each class sessions lasts an entire block - 1 hour and 30 minutes - providing the opportunity for the students to observe while Miss Smith models, complete the preparation and cooking steps in cooking teams, set the table, enjoy a taste, wash the dishes, and reflect on their cooking - all in one session! At the end of the block, the students are given a copy of the recipe and encouraged to try it at home.

Last Monday I had the opportunity to spend an entire day in the Food Tech room helping Room 3 and Room 6 make Bacon and Egg Mini Pies. It was so much fun to watching these students move so confidently and successfully throughout their kitchen space.

Each cooking team gets their own kitchen - oven,
stove-top, sink, microwave, and all the utensils necessary.

They also have a table that they will set and enjoy their
food after they have cooked it!

The Teacher Cooking station - it has a huge mirror to reflect
all of the "little" cooking things the teacher is doing.

Whisking the eggs.

Creating the "pie crusts" - we used pieces of bread
for a faster cook. The students had to cut off
the edges of the bread so that they would not burn.

Grating Cheese - one thing I have observed in NZ is that
buying grated cheese at the store is not the "cool thing" to do.
We grate our own cheese for every meal.

Filling the pie crusts with the filling - egg, bacon,
peas, onion, and topping it off with cheese.

Getting the Mini Pies out of the pan.

The finished DELICIOUS product!

Tables set and folders out for review of cooking.