AURORA —The Peterson kids were patiently eager to learn everything they could about cooking in one week’s time.
“My mom is really busy a lot, so I have to stay at home with my sister pretty often, and occasionally I’ll have to cook dinner for us,” said Eiger Peterson, 11. “Usually it’s just like microwave mac and cheese, but lately I’ve been trying to do things that are a little more elaborate.”
Eiger and his sister, Laeta, 6, took notes and listened intently during the weeklong Camp Cook-A-Munga class, part of Aurora’s now 30-year-old public cooking program called Kitchen on the Green, which is held at Expo Recreation Center in west Aurora all year long.
“Our parents already asked if we would cook them breakfast on the weekends,” Laeta said. “It’s possible. I can’t wait to learn how to cook good food for my parents.”
Laeta said she was especially excited for the next day’s class, when her instructor, Karon Sorensen, was going to take them to the Expo teaching garden outside the rec center and show them how to pick out herbs for Italian cooking.
“When we do the day on Italian food, we go out into the garden and pick Italian parsley, oregano, basil, cilantro and tomatoes if they’re ripe,” said Sorensen, who has taught cooking classes in Aurora for more than 20 years. “It’s a great way for them to learn how to identify the herbs while they’re growing, and then as well by taste after they’ve been cooked or even packaged in a grocery store.”
The Expo teaching garden was built outside the rec center at 10955 E. Exposition Ave. in 2013. It’s about 200 square feet total, and this year produced eggplant, broccoli, radishes, beets, carrots, tomatillos, tomatoes, squash and a big herb garden.
Since the garden bloomed, officials with the city’s Parks, Recreation and Open Space Department have actively worked to update the Kitchen on the Green classes to offer garden-to-table workshops as well as more healthy-eating classes in general.
“We were able to develop curriculum around our new teaching garden,” said Sherri-Jo Stowell, spokeswoman for Aurora Parks, Recreation and Open Space. “In fact, there’s a class for kids called “Cooking from the Garden” that was designed to let kids see the process come full circle — from growth to harvest to plate in terms of how garden vegetables are used.”
The popularity of those classes took off immediately.
“We can’t provide enough classes; they are constantly full,” Stowell said. “We’re having a hard time accommodating all of the people who want to learn the best ways to turn garden produce into healthy meals. We’ve expanded to include more classes this year, but we still need more.”
She said some program planners in Aurora have noticed that desire in the city, and are now in talks to expand Kitchen on the Green outside of the Expo.
“We’re talking about how to teach people to cook in a more healthy way across the city by expanding some of those programs citywide,” Stowell said. “It’s about teaching people where their food comes from. A lot of urban kids and adults don’t always make that complete cycle when they’re eating their food — seeing it from the ground to the table.”
That’s something that Laeta was very interested in.
“I think that learning how to cook things that you grow is the best way to cook, probably,” she said. “It’s natural and better to me.”
Megan Mitchell: 303-954-2650, mmitchell@denverpost.com or twitter.com/Mmitchelldp
Kitchen on the Green Garden Classes:
Where: Expo Recreation Center, 10955 e. exposition ave.
What: Cooking from the Garden (kids): 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Aug. 3 to 7
Garden Master Chef (teens): 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 3 to 7
Lil’ Garden Chefs (ages 3 to 6 with parent): 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Aug. 15
Call: 303-326-8630 to register
