• WHAT: Summer cooking camp
• WHEN: One week in June annually; morning and afternoon classes
• WHO: Students ages 8–12
• COST: $40 

Karen Sims is teaching basic cooking techniques and etiquette — skills she believes are essential — to kids while they're young.

Many of the high school students in her family and consumer sciences classes at Baldwin County High School didn't have these skills before taking one of her classes, so three years ago, she decided to start a summer program that would give children ages 8 to 12 basic knowledge of how to navigate the kitchen, write a thank-you note, set a table and eat politely.

“I feel like so many kids are just not getting this at home nowadays, and it's a vital thing all children need in society,” Sims says.

In Sims' classroom, there are several kitchen stations, and each student is able to have a hands-on experience, learning about turning on the oven, stirring food on the stove so it doesn't burn and other cooking basics and kitchen safety skills. They are supervised by high school volunteers who have taken one of Sims' family and consumer sciences classes. At the end of the week, a guest chef makes an appearance.

During the four-day camp, students learn how to make several entrees, appetizers and desserts. They leave the camp with a cookbook filled with all of the recipes they've learned.

After the students cook an entire meal and eat it together, setting the table correctly and remembering to keep their elbows off the table, they clean up the dishes and move on to etiquette.

Sims emphasizes the importance of handwritten thank-you notes.

“These days, people think it's OK to just send someone a text or thank them in person,” she tells the students. “But there is nothing like getting an actual thank-you note.”

Sims has the students write a draft of a thank-you note to someone they love on notebook paper first. She proofreads it, and then they write it on stationery she provides.

Even though the students are learning, Sims says they love the camp because everything they are learning is useful and applicable in real life.

“You get to eat your work,” says Sydney Eubanks, who has come to the cooking class every summer since it began in 2010. She says she'll probably go home and set the table for her family.

Kid-friendly recipes

Courtesy of Karen Sims

White Chicken Chili

Ingredients

• 2 cans kidney beans
• 2 cans black beans
• 2 cans Rotel
• Sauteed onions
• 4 cooked chicken breasts, chopped
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 ½ teaspoon chili powder 

Preparation

Mix all together. Do not drain beans or Rotel. Simmer and stir for 1 hour. Serve with tortilla chips, cheese and sour cream.

Mexican Cornbread

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups self-rising cornmeal
• 1 large can creamed style corn
• 1 cup buttermilk
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced
• 3 chopped green onions
• 1 cup shredded cheese

Preparation

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Grease cast iron skillet on bottom and sides with vegetable oil and heat in oven while preparing cornbread mixture.

Mix all ingredients and bake for 30 minutes.

Rotel Chicken Pasta Casserole

Ingredients

• Large box angel hair pasta
• 1 small stick of Velveeta cheese
• Chicken breasts or tenders, cooked and cut into small pieces
• 2 cans mild Rotel
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 large can of chicken broth
• Sauteed onions

Preparation

Pan sear or boil chicken and cut into small pieces. Cook and drain pasta. Add all ingredients to pasta. Place in a casserole dish and cover with foil. Bake until firm.