Brainfood student chefs at the White House... again! Part 1

This past week Brainfood participants had the opportunity to visit the White House, learn from the White House chefs, and help prepare food for the 4th of July picnic.  Over the 2 days, our participants seared chicken, grilled portobello mushrooms, cut tomatoes & cucumbers, prepped hamburgers & hamburger buns, skewered corn, cut fruit for jam, and scooped cookie dough.

Here is what some of them had to say about their visit:

Click here to read more student reflections in Part 2

"My most favorite part of my day at the White House was lunch. They had the best pizza and Iced Tea. They had different types of chicken! I can't believe I was in the White House Kitchen."
- Christian T., 9th Grader, Bell

"Today was pretty much awesome even with out being able to see Barack. Everything was wonderful from cutting the different fruit to placing the cookie dough on the sheet pans."
- Tranesha H., 11th Grader, Banneker

“Today was a good day! I worked on searing chicken and I never saw so much chicken at once in my life. I was able to use my skills of cooking chicken to complete my task.”
- James M., 12th grader, Banneker

“The skills I used were my knife skills because I had to slice tomatoes and hamburger rolls. I was surprised to see how helpful, open, funny, nice, and social the chefs were. At times it did not feel as if I were in the White House Kitchen but back at Chinatown in a Brainfood class.”
- Andrea S., 12th grader, Banneker

“It was a really fun experience, I got to de-pit cherries, which was new for me and it was pretty cool. I also got to see how environmentally safe the White House is. They have their own compost bin, they make their own honey with bees, and they grow their own herbs. It was truly a enjoyable experience.”
- Briana C., 11th grader, Banneker

“My favorite part of the day was meeting all of the chefs and conversing with them. I used the knife skills I learned at Brainfood to cut some of the prep food. I was surprised at how nice it felt to cook in the White House.”
- Vilma C., 12th grader, Wilson

"My favorite part was making cookies. The skill that I used was knife skills. What surprised me most was the size of the kitchen – it was very small.”
- Gabrielle S., 9th grader, Bell

“My favorite past was using the mandolin to slice cumbers. It was pretty easy but I had to concentrate, so I would not cut my hand. I was surprised that I finished 5 boxes of 12 cucumbers each (that was all the cucumbers!). What I learned at Brainfood and used today at the White House was kitchen safety and knife safety.”
- Sade H., 12th grader, School without Walls

“I was really surprised by how calm everything was, and how nice everyone we met was. The staff was incredibly gracious and it was wonderful how comfortably our students seemed in a professional kitchen.”
- Abigail Lundy, Brainfood Volunteer