LOCKDOWN BAKE OFF CHALLENGE

Over a period of 10 weeks (to the end of March) we have joined forces with our canteen who have devised a selection of recipes and areas of baking to focus on – very much “Great British Bake Off” style.

Each section runs for 2 weeks and it is simple base recipes which students, staff and parents may well want to use at home to develop new skills or simply have some fun in the kitchen.

Week 1 starts on Monday 25th January 2021 with Bread but you can join in when you wish.

We are asking students to send in photos to the School on the email cafe@joa.herts.sch.uk of their baking for that week.

The Winners of each round will be in with  a chance to win one of two prizes at the end of the Challenge.

The judges for our school are Phil – Head chef in the canteen and Mrs Walker – Head of Food Technology

 Students can use their own recipes, not just the ones sent in the pack.

Week one kicks off with bread and the details will be shared with pupils via the school website and form teachers.

Bread

Download (PDF, 3.79MB)

Pancakes

Download (PDF, 2.93MB)


Biscuits

Download (PDF, 2.89MB)

Cake

Download (PDF, 3.73MB)

Last week our Year 10 GCSE students visited ‘Butler and Sons’ butchers on New Road Croxley Green

Steve Butler kindly demonstrated how to debone and portion a whole chicken. Thank you

Then yesterday the students deboned and portioned their own chicken and they made chicken bites. some also made a chicken stock. In their forthcoming lessons they will make  hunters chicken, chicken wrapped in bacon stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese and spicy buffalo wings from their whole chicken.

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Year 10 GCSE students visited the FOOD: Bigger than the Plate  exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum

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It explored how innovative individuals, communities and organisations are radically re-inventing how we grow, distribute and experience food.

This exhibition took us on a sensory journey through the food cycle, from compost to table, it posed questions about how the collective choices we make can lead to a more sustainable, just and delicious food future in unexpected and playful ways.

The Final week of Christmas cake Club

We had such a busy and productive week – with some absolutely amazing results!

I couldn’t be prouder of your imaginative and individual ideas. The families of Homestart will be overjoyed at the present of a homemade cake in their hamper!

A huge thanks to Miss Morton and Mrs Locke for helping during the club and Mrs Scarlett for all her organizing prior to the club. Robin and his team in the canteen also need a huge thanks for providing some stunning decorations to add a professional touch.

The winners of the competition  judged by Robin, Mr Sweeney and myself are:

1st Prize – Aoife Gallagher – 8 Theresa
2nd Prize – Lily Carroll – 8 Ward
3rd Prize – Katie Weir – 8 More
Well done!
 photo 13 (4) photo 14 (4)photo 12 (3)photo11 (5)

Lessons for Life!

As Food becomes part of the National Curriculum again, it is time to celebrate and recognise the reasons why it is so important for our pupils. I have quoted from an article in Waitrose Kitchen, which sums it up nicely:
‘Food brings people together – literally. Just as families benefit from sitting down to break bread every day, so do schools.
Teaching children about food – how to grow, harvest and cook it – doesn’t just set them up with healthy eating habits, it also gives them practical insights into many traditional academic subjects.
There are also broader social benefits. The problems caused by bad diet and the loss of cooking skills are finally being recognised in government. Obesity, asthma, sleep apnoea, hypertension and type 2 diabetics cost the NHS £6bn a year. One in ten children are obese when they start primary school.
So from this month, all pupils will – in the words of the new curriculum – ‘be taught how to cook and apply the principles of nutrition and healthy eating’. By the age of 14 they should be able to ‘cook a repertoire of predominantly savoury dishes so that they are able to feed themselves and others a healthy and varied diet’.
If we, as a country, can succeed in making this happen, we will not only reduce the burden on the NHS, but we will create a generation of children who are healthier, achieve more and experience the great pleasure that can come from cooking’.

I am looking forward to being a key part of your food education (I hope you show off your new skills at home!)
See you in Food and Nutrition.

Mrs Walker