This term our students have been investigating and practicing a range of cooking techniques. One example of this was how to extract colours from vegetables. Students blended different vegetables to extract the colours to make rainbow potatoes, which could be reproduced with any food, ‘rainbow rice!’ ‘rainbow fish!’ These colours can be used in making pastry.

After our monster dust storm our students put in a team effort from Foundation to Year 8 to tidy up our garden area. Everyone had a job – rehooking the shade cloths, raking leaves, composting dead materials, dusting the plants leaves by gentle watering and checking on plant damage for Lauren our appointed gardener, she was very thankful for the help given.

Students produced their own photographic documentaries on ‘Spring in the garden’ at Hawker Area School. Many photos were taken of the various plants that were now appearing. Students noticed our very healthy Artichoke, flowering plants with different and varied colours and the lizards that suddenly appeared.

There has been a variety of dishes cooked up this term. We made Crème Au Beurre, which is a custard mixed with butter, that is found in French eclairs. The result was a tasty creamy dish for the students to enjoy on biscuits.

During NAIDOC week students celebrated by cooking up some damper. We discussed and explored this ancient Aboriginal recipe, looking at the different ways it can be served. We talked about harvesting the seeds that were harvested over thousands of years.

This is my last newsletter article as our SAKG chef. It has been a fun ten years where I have learnt a lot as a teacher and seeing the children develop as cooks, enjoying their tasty treats. I have enjoyed the experience a lot but I am not going anywhere yet! My involvement will still be with Hawker Area School in other areas of great importance! I look forward to seeing everyone next year. Thanks for the kitchen garden memories!