Each morning for four days, they put on their apron and white chef’s hat to prepare a delicious gourmet lunch.
Twenty-one fifth – eighth grade young people across the county attended Junior Chef Camp this past summer.
It was organized through Sevier County 4-H and Walters State Culinary Arts.
Each day the junior chefs were given group assignments as well as recipes for certain parts of the meal. They also were involved in setting the table, and learning table manners. And yes everyone pitched in to clean dishes using the commercial dishwasher.
The menus included stir fry chicken with vegetables, meatballs with marinara, roast beef with mashed potatoes and apple pie. The last day involved making Boston baked beans from navy beans and homemade potato salad.
Some of the highlights were making and cutting homemade pasta noodles, rolling out pie dough and baking yeast bread sticks. They learned to cook “foods from scratch” without depending on a can or frozen dinner tray.
Students were also introduced to careers in the hospitality and culinary department through the Walters State Director of Hotel & Restaurant Management, Joe Fall.
Five-A-Day was stressed to the young chefs. They were challenged to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables daily for a week and maintain a chart which could be redeemed for a prize at the Extension Office.
Chef Catherine Hallman, an instructor at Walters State and certified pastry chef, led this camp. Along with her staff of culinary students and graduates, she graciously volunteered her time and expertise to teach these young people the joy of cooking.For more information on this, or other special 4-H workshop activities, you may contact Linda Hyder at 774-3764 or lhyder@utk.edu.

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