Kids Cooking Corner

 

 The dining room, once the kids have made dinner they set the table and we eat it. It's cute right?

Last summer I started volunteering for a local non-profit called The Kids Cooking Corner, I teach cooking courses once a week to kids who can be ages 3 and up, and occasionally volunteer over there for random reasons when I have the time. Like the weeks before Christmas when I found myself over there for 3 days in a row almost 24 hours preparing for a huge bake sale.

 Part of the KCC kitchen, there are 3 ovens and sometimes that's still not enough.

I've always liked volunteering, I think that's why I was originally drawn to a job at the Red Cross, (and why I stayed there way past my expiration date) there's something about helping others that for me, negates a lot of the drawbacks (like low pay, no benefits, and helicopter parents). When I got my new job I knew I needed this outlet again so I looked into a lot of volunteer options and KCC was the only place to contact me back. Too bad for those other suckers too because I am a dynamite volunteer.

This is the proprietor of the KCC Heidi, she is one tough, dedicated woman. I'm always super impressed by people with drive because I seem to have been born without any. She's always on top of things going on at the school (and is often 5 steps ahead) and is constantly rearranging and redecorating for the season, teaching classes, talking to sponsors... she's just always very busy. On top of all that she got some major health issues and 3 kids and a husband at home. She's a firm believer in the old adage that there are 24 usable hours in every day. I'm a firm believer in the much younger adage that there are 24 unstable hours in every day.

Sitting in the middle is Carly, if Heidi is the president then Carly is the Vice President. To the left is Carlys sister Melanie(?) and on the right her daughter Olivia who is AWESOME! She's very sassy and likes copying me when I say stuff in a weird accent. This day we were all putting 60+ gingerbread houses together for the winter Gingerbread Camps where kids would later decorate them.

I happened to be volunteering on the last day of the Gingerbread Camps when 2 people didn't show up to claim theirs so Heidi and I decorated them. The peppermint house is mine and the gumdrop one is Heidis. It was kind of the coolest volunteering perk ever! I think the last time I made a gingerbread house I was 19 and it was for Halloween.