Getting Started

Each year, The Overlake School takes a break from traditional curriculum to make room for experiential education.  We call this break Project Week. This year, my colleague and I are taking a group of 16 seniors out into the community for a week of culinary experiences. Students will learn about food trends in Seattle, take a professional food photography class, taste dishes from Seattle's best restaurants, and learn to create their own masterpiece dishes. Throughout the week, I will keep a photo blog of our adventures--be sure to follow along! The week will end with a Chopped Challenge where students will work in groups to create an original dish for a panel of judges at the Tom Douglas cooking school, Hot Stove Society. It will be a week of delectable all-things-food-related events.

Shiny locally grown, organic apples at Pike's Place Market.

Locally grown, organic rainbow carrots at Pike's Place Market.

Handcrafted pappardelle pasta, made by Jenni at Hot Stove Society.

Pappardelle pasta in the making: mixing, rolling, cutting.

The plated, completed papardelle pasta dish, complete with a lemon zest alfredo sauce.

Stir, saute, stir, saute: the slow process of making pasta sauce.

Sea salt, pepper, parmeseano reggiano, and parsley: some key ingredients for the sauce.