This summer’s theme was “Cooking Up a Story”. Each day, we read a book that was related to a dish or a recipe, and then we spent the morning chopping, stirring, cooking, frying, dicing, and tasting, until we recreated the delicious dish described in the book just in time for lunch!
Every day we worked very hard. We ground wheat berries into flour to make a cake based on the story of The Little Red Hen by Paul Galdone.
![Summer Cooking prep](https://myownmontessori.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Summer-Cooking-prep.jpg)
![Summer Cooking mixing](https://myownmontessori.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Summer-Cooking-mixing.jpg)
Inspired by the story of Strega Nona by Tomie de Paola, we rolled out our home made pasta, cut them into taglietelle, and cooked them to eat with our home made tomato sauce whose recipe we borrowed from Tomatoes for Neela by Padma Lakshmi and Juana Martinez-Neal.
![Summer Cooking stretching pasta](https://myownmontessori.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Summer-Cooking-stretching-pasta.jpg)
![Summer Cooking making pasta](https://myownmontessori.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Summer-Cooking-making-pasta.jpg)
![Summer Cooking filling pasta](https://myownmontessori.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Summer-Cooking-filling-pasta.jpg)
![Summer Cooking the feast](https://myownmontessori.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Summer-Cooking-the-feast.jpg)
We made food art: ladybug appetizers with tomato, black olives, mozzarella, and balsamic glaze.
![Summer Cooking balsamic tomato ladybug salad](https://myownmontessori.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Summer-Cooking-balsamic-tomato-ladybug-salad.jpg)
![Summer Cooking edible lady bugs](https://myownmontessori.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Summer-Cooking-edible-lady-bugs.jpg)
![Summer Cooking healthy options](https://myownmontessori.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Summer-Cooking-healthy-options.jpg)
We realized that cooking a nice meal also included getting all the ingredients, so we went shopping to our local grocery store. The children had a shopping list and money, they carried their own shopping basket, gathered the ingredients, and checked out all by themselves!
![Summer Cooking shopping lists](https://myownmontessori.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Summer-Cooking-shopping-lists.jpg)
![Summer Cooking shopping locally](https://myownmontessori.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Summer-Cooking-shopping-locally.jpg)
Next day, we chopped up the veggies we had bought, shelled the peas, and cooked a yummy soup inspired by the book Soup Day by Melissa Iwai!
![Summer Cooking the harvest](https://myownmontessori.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Summer-Cooking-the-harvest.jpg)
![Summer Cooking soup](https://myownmontessori.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Summer-Cooking-soup.jpg)
One of the all time favorites was the roti with spiced baked vegetables inspired by the book Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-Ji by F. Zia and Ken Min. The children chopped the potatoes and carrots, crushed cardamom and cinnamon with a pestle and mortar, and rolled out the roti dough. It made a delicious lunch!
![Summer Cooking making roti](https://myownmontessori.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Summer-Cooking-making-roti.jpg)
![Summer Cooking making roti spices](https://myownmontessori.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Summer-Cooking-making-roti-spices.jpg)
![Summer Cooking making roti rolling](https://myownmontessori.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Summer-Cooking-making-roti-rolling.jpg)
![Summer Cooking making roti roasting veggies](https://myownmontessori.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Summer-Cooking-making-roti-roasting-veggies.jpg)
![Summer Cooking making roti cooking flatbread](https://myownmontessori.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Summer-Cooking-making-roti-cooking-flatbread.jpg)
We couldn’t resist making pickles after reading the book Pickle Things by Marc Brown!
![Summer Cooking canning](https://myownmontessori.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Summer-Cooking-canning.jpg)
![Summer Cooking making pickles](https://myownmontessori.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Summer-Cooking-making-pickles.jpg)
We devoted a whole afternoon to table manners. We learned how to set the table and eat with a fork and a knife.
![Summer Cooking table manners](https://myownmontessori.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Summer-Cooking-table-manners.jpg)
![Summer Cooking forks and knives fine motor skills](https://myownmontessori.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Summer-Cooking-forks-and-knives-fine-motor-skills.jpg)
The children and teachers at MOM loved cooking together, but most importantly, we loved trying out new flavors! After all, our taste buds are changing all the time, so you never know what you might suddenly like that you weren’t so sure about before!
![Summer Cooking time to eat](https://myownmontessori.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Summer-Cooking-time-to-eat.jpg)
![Summer Cooking enjoying the meal](https://myownmontessori.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Summer-Cooking-enjoying-the-meal.jpg)
![Summer Cooking outdoor greens](https://myownmontessori.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Summer-Cooking-outdoor-greens.jpg)
The children and teachers at MOM loved cooking together, but most importantly, we loved trying out new flavors! After all, our taste buds are changing all the time, so you never know what you might suddenly like that you weren’t so sure about before!
![Summer Cooking thumbs up](https://myownmontessori.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Summer-Cooking-thumbs-up.jpg)
![Summer Cooking kid tested and approved](https://myownmontessori.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Summer-Cooking-kid-tested-and-approved.jpg)
![My Own Montessori Preschool Oakland Rockridge Berkeley Logo](https://myownmontessori.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/My-Own-Montessori-Preschool-Oakland-Rockridge-Berkeley-Logo.png)
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