Pavlova and Pies

I know I talked about cooking last time, but this was too good to pass up!

Pies filled with minced meat!

My lovely class of Rosellas truly love food and cooking so they were eager to share some classic Australian food with me. They've been offering me Vegemite since Day 1 (I think I'll continue to dodge that one for now) but today, the kids got to do some more intricate cooking! Today the class split up and worked on cooking 2 different foods: Pavlova and Meat Pies. We divided the boys up based on their interest in the type of food!

A soft meringue topped with cream and fruit!

So myself and the head teacher, Vanessa, took four of the boys into the kitchen to make the pies. (I have more pictures of that process than the other because I wasn't there for that!) Michael, Luke, Leif, and Lachlan were all very excited to make the pies with the special pie maker!

Notice the safe way the pot handle is turned!

After washing their hands, each of the boys helped put the minced beef into the pot on the stove and then they took turns stirring the meat. While the meat browned we asked the students to use their senses of smell and sight to notice the meat changing color and smelling good as it cooked! 

Michael was so excited for the pie!

Once the meat was cooked, in order to make a more substantial filling, the students added packets of gravy to the meat. The boys used scissors to cut the packets open and squeezed all of the gravy out to develop their fine motor skills! 

Check out that fancy pie maker!

While the meat simmered in the gravy the students cut circles of pastry for the crust of the pies. One large one for the bottom and one small one for the top. The boys discussed how the circles were similar yet different in size and why that was needed!

Last step before they bake!

The pies were finally assembled in the pie maker. I was extremely proud of the boys for being safe in the kitchen. With the warning that the pie maker was hot, they all were extremely cautious and careful while helping to put the tops on the pies. Having safety awareness is something children and people with disabilities often struggle with so this was great to see!




Next came the extra fun part: Enjoying their creations! We joined the two groups of students to taste the different foods made! And there were positive reactions from all around, myself included! The food was great!

The boys enjoyed digging into their pies and then I had a taste. Super good! I loved all of their willingness to try new foods and embrace new activities. Great day and I'll go into some other specials the kids do next time! Peace and Go Friars!