The second-floor classroom in the Nationals Youth Baseball Academy bustles with activity. Campers in the summer months of their year-round BASE Academy methodically dump flour, sugar, and baking powder into silver mixing bowls supervised by members of DC Central Kitchen’s Healthy School Food nutrition programs team.
Their DC Central Kitchen aprons, formerly pristine black, are now entrenched in layers of white powder. Everyone clamors for a turn with the whisk.
The youth cooking class, comprised of campers ages 8-14, forges towards a biscuit-style shortcake using whole ingredients from Healthy Corners.
The recipe is demonstrated by Courtney Perkins, DC Central Kitchen’s own Production Manager and owner of cake company Bakers in the City.
“What if you put chocolate ganache in the strawberry shortcake?” a girl asks Perkins.
Courtney smiles. Perhaps it reminds her of the hours in her childhood spent watching chefs create chocolate sculptures on the Food Network, the first inspiration behind her baking career.
Or maybe it’s just because the students are, with their incessant questioning and bright eyes, relentlessly endearing.
Courtney Perkins is the first visiting chef hosted by the Youth Baseball Academy in the three years DC Central Kitchen has managed its cooking class.
The class, which is part of several enrichments offered by the free BASE Academy, provides students with a wider breadth of knowledge about where their food comes from.
According to DC Central Kitchen Nutrition Programs Specialist Taylor Coleman, RDN, LD, the program is a worthwhile endeavor on multiple fronts. In addition to educating the kids, it also provided a convenient location for parents to shop. “This summer’s cooking class series was a major success! We created our curriculum in partnership with Healthy Corners so that each recipe featured fresh produce items available at the concession stand.”
Campers learned about the nutritional value of all kinds of ingredients—even the fresh, vitamin-rich strawberries they smother in sugar and lemon juice. They used simple recipes with fresh, unprocessed ingredients to make their dishes each week. Thanks to Healthy Corners, those affected by food deserts in DC can go to their own local corner store to find ingredients for the same recipes they make at camp.
“We let students discover cooking for themselves,” says Nutrition Engagement Coordinator Leann Boatwright, adding that trial and error make for an effective and engaging lesson.
And students embraced the hands-on nature of the class, cutting fresh strawberries using a “bear claw” technique ensuring their fingers are kept out of harm’s way.
Employees and counselors float from group to group as students discovered the tactile joys of leveling off measuring spoons and hand-shaping biscuits from dough.
“It’s more fun when you do it together,” adds Nutrition Engagement Coordinator Natalie Greenbaum, as students gather around mixing bowls to whip heavy cream into soft, stiff peaks.
While the biscuits rise in classroom ovens, the students discuss plans for the bake-off that concluded their cooking class.
Courtney affirmed that her main goal was inspiring youth to try new things and realize the capabilities of their own small hands. “Even when you’re baking, it doesn’t have to be perfect. You can always add more of everything than a recipe calls for.” She laughed and noted, “except flour.”
Taylor adds, “We hope that scholar athletes will share the recipes they learned in cooking class with their families and bring them by the NYBA Healthy Corner store to check it out.”
