When someone likes simple, home-cooked foods, it’s often said they’re “a meat and potatoes” person.

In Week 7 of cooking class, ALL of our Bayard Taylor chefs became “meat and potatoes” people.

That’s because the recipes for the week were homemade turkey meatloaf and “smashed” red potatoes. And on top of that, the chefs got TO MAKE A DESSERT for the first time!

This meal was hands-on from start to finish. And students got to use their hands in a great variety of ways. They started by peeling fruit and grating carrots, moved on to chopping red potatoes into chunks and finished with the new and fun experiences of mixing ground turkey meat with their hands and smooshing sugar, flour, spices and butter together for the topping of the dessert.

It was extra fun for Alison Reyes and Isaiah Viera to scoop the turkey mixture out of the mixing bowl with their hands and mold it into loaves for baking as if they were making snowballs.

Our team had a new member for this week after two chefs left the program.

Glorialys Gonzalez Torres was a fast learner, however, and was a great addition peeling and slicing fruit for the first class dessert — a Cranberry, Apple and Pear Crisp.

“She was a great help right from the start,” Ms. Linda said.

“I liked helping out,” Glorialys said. “I had conversations and got to help a lot.”

While Glorialys and Genevieve Brush mixed and measured ingredients to make the topping for the dessert, Alison, Isaiah and Austin Caballero tackled the prep work for the meat loaf.

Austin volunteered to dice the onion, even though he had to step back when his eyes started watering. Alison remembered that we hadn’t put out a bowl of water, which can reduce eye problems by attracting the chemicals in the onion.

Austin was more successful peeling and grating the carrots, and Isaiah showed the flair of a TV chef by sprinkling the carrots into the meat mixture from at least a foot over the bowl.

When the meatloaf went into the oven, Isaiah carefully dropped the potatoes into boiling water and watched them until they were soft. Alison and Glorialys then cut loose to “smash” them into rough red and white pieces with forks and spoons.

With just one oven, the meatloaf and dessert crisp had to share space and cook at the same time. The meatloaf finished first, so Alison paraded it to the table, and we started the meal while the dessert finished up.

The young chefs couldn’t wait to dig in, and everyone wanted extra slices of the meatloaf and extra potato. Austin once again wanted to take some home, and so did Glorialys.

“Our moms cook for us every day, and we can pay them back with the food we make,” she explained. “The meat loaf was good and the mashed potatoes were, too.

The Cranberry, Apple and Pear Crisp was also a hit, but truth be told, the chefs had filled up so much on the main meal they didn’t have much room for it.

Still, the meatloaf tied with Chicken Tortilla Soup as the most popular meals to make for family members at the last class.

Except with Genevieve, who couldn’t decide.

“I wish we could make ALL the meals for our families!” she exclaimed.

That was high praise for the food made this year in the fall cooking class.