Kids cook up a batch of fun

With Father's Day just around the corner, mothers around the Lowcountry are trying to find time in their busy schedules to prepare celebration dinners and cakes.

Usually small hands are more a hindrance than a help, but children can be a huge help in the kitchen if they have the necessary skills. Trident Technical College's Culinary Institute of Charleston is offering cooking classes for children throughout the summer to teach everything from how to decorate a cake to how to make candy.

"I think I've found my calling," said 11-year-old Hannah Luckie during the Down Home Southern Cooking class Thursday.

There isn't a bored or pouting face in the bunch.

"I really like cooking, but I don't have enough time. I have things to do, other camps to go to," Gabrielle Strother said. Strother got a break from her busy 10-year-old's schedule to learn how to make traditional Southern favorites, such as pulled pork and coleslaw.

Even though the menu didn't agree with 9-year-old Lily Conant's diet, she seemed to be having a great time. "I'm a quarter vegetarian. I do eat bacon, but I don't eat meat meat. I'm sad because I have to pull (the) pork, but I don't like to eat it. I love, love, love bacon though."

"The kids get really excited about everything. You teach them things they will use forever, and they have a blast doing it," said chef Carla Walker, who taught the class along with Ward Morgan. The children seemed to have as much fun peeling sweet potatoes as playing tag or video games.

"It's always a lot of fun during the summer with the kids. Most of the time I do serious subjects during the school year. With the children, I have to be more animated and entertaining, which helps me be a better teacher," Morgan said.

Michelle Shinn, director of personal and professional development at the Culinary Institute, said, "Kids really have a passion for cooking. We have almost 1,000 kids this summer at our camps learning and having fun and making new friends."

The passion radiates from the children when asked whether they enjoy cooking. "I really like cooking. I like helping out my dad. My mom doesn't do much though," said Nathanael Vincent. Eleven-year-old Abby Tucker also likes cooking with her dad because "he doesn't mind the cleanup."

Trident Tech isn't the only source of cooking classes. Other children's cooking classes are offered throughout the Lowcountry, including Janet Gaffney's Art of Cooking and Charleston Cooks! Kids Culinary Camp.

If cooking isn't your child's forte, Trident Tech also offers classes ranging from photography to writing. For more information, go to www.tridenttech.edu/ce_kids-college.htm.

Reach Elizabeth Maybank at 937-5743 or emaybank@postandcourier.com.