It was the first week of cooking class, where we met another wonderful group of students, and were lucky enough to have one of our favorite students join us for another session, Jizelle Santos.

After reviewing the kitchen rules about washing hands, and being careful with sharp knives and hot pans, we got down to reading the recipe and identifying the ingredients. We were making Mini Italian Frittatas, basically eggs with onions, basil, spinach and pepper jack cheese, baked in a muffin tin. While the students knew most of the ingredients, none of them were familiar with a frittata or even a quiche, a similar dish. Miss Belinda explained that it was a fancy egg dish that could be served for breakfast or dinner. We were also making mint tea from fresh mint leaves, which no one had made before.

All the kids were eager to get started, but no hands were raised for the job of chopping the onion. Jizelle, our veteran, was recruited, but knew better than the rest: there would be tears. We have goggles now, we told her, and they really help. As she started cho

pping, she was amazed: “The goggles work!,” she said. No tears were shed.

The kitchen was soon humming with activity. Leilah Cruz quickly mastered how to julienne the basil. Margie Hernandez and Gabriella cracked the eggs without losing a single one, and whisked them together like pros. Joel Palillero managed to grate the cheese without knicking a finger, a mean feat for a first timer. And Miguel Montero took his job of measuring the milk and yogurt for the egg mixture, quite seriously, making sure the amounts were precise.

Once everything was prepped, Joel was very comfortable at the saute station, stirring the onions til they were soft, before his classmates added in the spinach. “It smells like spaghetti,” he said, recognizing a familiar aroma. “I guess that’s the onions.”

“It reminds me of cooking with my Dad,” said Gabriella. “We make chicken and yellow rice.”

Miguel used tongs to divide the cooked onions and spinach among the 12 muffin cups, and everyone took a turn ladling the egg mixture to the top of each cup. Once the mini frittatas were in the oven, it was time to make the Mint Tea.

The mint leaves were placed in a glass tea kettle filled with water, and how the kids loved watching the mint leaves churn and roll around in the glass kettle as it boiled! Gabriella and Jizelle found it quite funny!

A gasp and then a collective “Ahhh!” rang out when the frittatas came out of the oven, puffed high like a souffle. After a minute or two, they deflated a bit, but the kids were still in awe of what they created.

Once they assembled at the table and took a few bites, the reviews came in strong. Every student rated it 10 out of 10. Not everyone loved the mint tea as much. Jizelle said it smelled like toothpaste or mint gum, but she and Margie said it would be good for stomach aches.

Leilah described her first cooking class: “Brilliant! I loved it!”

Joel wrote that the class was “good!” The frittata was spicy, sweet and smooth.”

Margie found the class to be “amazing.” The frittata was “tasty and wonderful.”

“When I first heard the ingredients, I thought I was not going to like it,” wrote Jizelle, “because it had onions and pepper jack cheese. But it turned out delicious. It looked fluffy and smelled great. It was very juicy and tasty. Cooking class was very fun!”

Mission accomplished: The kids learned a healthy meal could taste great and had fun preparing it!