St. Vincent’s cooking class sharpens more than just cooking skills

According to Donna Sibley, there are more skills associated with cooking than just following directions. Social, math and reading skills are all enhanced, she said, just to name a few.

That’s why she has been leading the cooking camp at St. Vincent’s One Nineteen since 2006.

When she started off, she said, it was just her and one other student counselor teaching all 16 kids in each camp. Today, she has help from a handful of students from either Samford or the University of Alabama. 

The traditional cooking camp, which is held in June and July, teaches kids basic skills. Four kids are paired up and led by one of the counselors, who works through recipes and nutrition facts with the group. They also lead the groups in games to “bring it home” and emphasize the nutrition of the recipes.

While Sibley coordinates all of the camps, she is also there “running interference,” she said with a laugh.

The next step up from the camp is the teen bootcamp, which is taught by Jessica Ivey, a culinary trained dietitian. She teaches knife skills and more advanced techniques to those older than 12. 

The recipes featured are changed each year as a way to mix things up and teach a variety of methods. This year, the theme for the first camp is “Culinary Delights,” which will focus on recipes with unexpected ingredients that offer surprising results — for example, black bean brownies. The second theme will be “Cruising the Mediterranean,” which will teach campers all about the Mediterranean diet, and how to eat well and not sacrifice flavor. 

“We just want the kids to know that healthy doesn’t have to mean bland,” she said.

Something Sibley said really excites campers is the opportunity to use knives to prepare the food. She said holding and using a knife is something parents might be afraid to let their kids experience, but the campers love to chop. In the classes, they don’t use choppers or shortcuts, they “do it the old fashioned way.”

Her favorite part of leading the camps, she said, has been helping campers discover new ways to eat foods and watching them try new things.

“[It’s great] knowing that the kids are gradually becoming more and more used to different foods that they haven’t been accustomed to,” she said. 

She’s even had parents bring their kids back the next day and say their child went home and made the meal that night.

“Many times the parents say, ‘little Joe took home the recipe and made us dinner from that week,’” she said. “They’re just so excited to share it.”

This year, the cooking boot camp will be held June 3-7. The camp itself will begin with ages 6-9 from June 10-14, followed by ages 10-12 from June 24-28. July will start off with the younger group from July 8-12 and the older group from July 22-26. 

Those interested can reach out to 205-408-6550 or donna.sibley@ascension.org