The students were excited to be making pasta this week and when they heard that we were also making blackberry hand pies, A’Laya exclaimed “I’ve never been so happy to be in cooking class!”

We started making the spaghetti first. Priya found that chopping a refrigerated onion was not as irritating to her eyes, at least until the chill wore off. Ju’ne patiently cut the basil leaves chiffonade-style, using the roll and slice method that I learned by watching a video before class! Jazmine learned about lightly coating the pasta with oil after cooking it, so that it wouldn’t stick together. Meanwhile, the turkey sausage fell apart when we were cooking it, so instead of slicing it like the recipe said, we just broke it up with a spoon, making more of a bolognese, which worked put just fine!

When we moved on to making the hand pies, A’Laya and Macie not only floured the surface for rolling out the pie crusts, but also floured their faces! Then every student happily made their own hand pie, putting in the filling, folding the crust, using a fork to create a ridge pattern around the edges, and cutting small slits in the top. In the end, each pie had an individual flair!

The whole meal was a big success. The students really enjoyed the pasta, even though they were used to a sweeter sauce. And, as expected, everyone loved the hand pies. At first, Zoe said that she wasn’t going to eat one because she wasn’t hungry for dessert, but after a little cajoling, she tried it and gave it an enthusiastic thumbs up!