Home Cooking: Mahwah Students Share Quarantine Cooking Videos
MAHWAH, NJ — Courtney Carrelha's eighth-grade students are another example of American teenagers adjusting to a more virtual learning experience. For the Ramapo Ridge Middle School students, that means competing and performing in the international Future Problem Solving competition.
With the virtual competition, Carrelha, the gifted and talented coordinator for Mahwah Public Schools, knew her students understood the oddity of the moment, but thought there was an opportunity to further connect them with it.
"I felt it was important also make a current connection to what is taking place around us. I ask students to solve problems, and gave them freedom to solve a problem that people were facing," she said in an email to Patch.
Thus, Quarantine Food Kitchen was born.
The idea was simple: help people solve a problem they are currently facing in quarantine.
Four students — Sofiya Doroshenko, Mark Leschinsky, Zoey Wen and Kayli Hung — decided to take the challenge to the kitchen, and help people spice up their culinary palette.
In four videos uploaded to YouTube, the students have explained, step-by-step, how to prepare everything from smoothies to seafood.
Carrelha, for her part, is happy the idea went to the kitchen, as she explains that it not only provides entertainment, but resources for cooks new and old.
"I think using our resources and thinking outside the box in these current situations is so important. I am fortunate to have the most amazing students and I love that the world can hear their voices," she said.
Patch sent questions to the four student chefs to get their take on the project and their creations:
How did the project come to be?
Sofia Doroshenko: In one of my classes, Future Problem Solving, we were assigned to create a video of any choice. With my group, we decided to do something entertaining and fun. What better way to entertain yourself than to cook? That’s how we decided to create videos of us making delicious meals, snacks, and desserts that are easy to create at home.
Mark Leschinsky: My group and I were instructed to work on a school project about teaching others in our community about ways to stay entertained and interested during the coronavirus pandemic. Many of my group members and I love cooking, so we decided to create the “Quarantine Food Network” as a way to educate others around us on how to make simple recipes with household ingredients at home.
Zoey Wen: I didn't come up with the Quarantine Food Network idea, but I liked the idea and supported it. Now that people are in quarantine and social distancing, there is time to learn how to cook and/or to try out new recipes. I hope the project encourages people to start cooking and to use this time to try out new recipes.
Kayli Hung: We were all doing some sort of cooking/baking during this quarantine, so it wasn't hard to come up with the idea. It kind of came naturally.
How receptive were you to the idea?
SD: We were delighted with the idea since we all contributed to it. Cooking is something that we all enjoy. The four of us have different types of food that we like to cook. I, for example, enjoy baking and making desserts from scratch. We wanted to choose the easy recipes that include ingredients that others could have at home.
ML: My group and I were very attached to the idea of creating our Quarantine Food Network and we were fully committed to it. We worked for many days from home and the thought of being able to help others in our community motivated us and kept us going.
ZW: At first, I didn't like cooking with a camera because I had to record everything I was doing. It took a lot longer. But putting the project together into a video format and watching everyone cook made it all worth it. Overall, the project was fun and was a new experience for me.
KH: I really enjoyed being part of this project. It was fun to make the recipes and put them together.
Do you feel more connected to your peers after participating in the video series?
SD: I definitely feel more connected to my peers after participating and helping create this series. After I told my classmates about what we did, most of them asked me for the videos. Many of them enjoyed cooking with us and some even said that they discovered their new hobby.
ML: My group and I were very attached to the idea of creating our Quarantine Food Network and we were fully committed to it. We worked for many days from home and the thought of being able to help others in our community motivated us and kept us going.
ZW: I do feel more connected to my peers. I like to think that viewers, by watching us make food, are motivated to use the time they have to participate in new hobbies such as cooking. Or at least find the video entertaining to watch.
KH: Yes. Everything we made was made by kids for kids, so we hope that they are using our videos as an inspiration to find a new hobby during these tough times.
How did you decide what you were going to make? Was it a new dish for you or a staple?
SD: The two desserts that I made were Blueberry Ice-Cream and Grapefruit Shortbread. I definitely wanted to include the ice-cream because I know that many people enjoy this treat and would love to make it at home. Also, this recipe does not need an ice-cream maker, which I don’t think that many people have. For my second dessert, I was not sure what to do. I went over the list of desserts I make at home and decided that I would do the Grapefruit Shortbread. It’s an unusual dish but my family really enjoys it so that’s what I picked. Both of these dishes are not what I make regularly, so it was a nice change of pace.
ML: When deciding what recipes we wanted to feature on the Quarantine Food Network, we decided that we were going to make recipes that are accessible to families and individuals in our community in these tough times. Many people do not have access to a wide variety of ingredients during this pandemic, and we made sure to take that into account when deciding which food we wanted to show how to make.
ZW: I decided to make the 20-minute Garlic Shrimp because it was super easy and quick as well as tasty. I thought that people who may not have much experience cooking could be able to make it since it only took 20 minutes to make. I also had a lot of frozen shrimp in my freezer. I decided to make the Thai Noodle Salad because it is my mom's favorite and it tastes delicious. It is not hard to make either and is very healthy. The shrimp was the first time I was making it and the noodle salad was my third time making it, at my family's request. I tweaked the recipes a little, but the 20-minute Garlic Shrimp is from sallysbakingaddiction.com, and the Thai Noodle Salad is from feastingathome.com. I only started cooking a few months ago, so my cooking is mostly recipe-based.
KH: We made our favorite recipes for the videos. These are things that we enjoy making as well as eating.
Do you think after quarantine is over these types of creative, internet based projects will be something you continue to do?
SD: I have never made videos of my cooking, this was the first time, so I’m not really used to it. However, I do believe that it is interesting to see what others think of my cooking and the types of desserts I make.
ML: I will strive to continue to work on creative, internet-based projects in the future even after Quarantine is over. I have a wide variety of passions that I pursue every day. I am a winner of over 20 national science and art competitions, a U.S. Patent holder, and an Award-Winning Filmmaker that has special interests in technology, inventing, cinematography, math, photography, and helping my community. The Quarantine Food Network is just one of the many projects that I have worked on since early childhood. As of most recently, I have created a film called “We The Children.” This film featured 21 students of different ages and backgrounds who provided their own opinion from the perspective of a student on the global coronavirus pandemic. Additionally, I have invented and patented a Self-Disinfecting Hazmat Suit to aid in the fight of the coronavirus pandemic by protecting the healthcare workers who are risking their lives on the frontlines.
ZW: Honestly, I think after quarantine is over I will no longer have the time to think of and create many more internet-based projects out of school. Every cloud has a silver lining, and the abundance of time we have is definitely a hidden blessing. But I had fun doing it, and now that I've had a little exposure I may make more projects in the future if I come up with good ideas.
KH: Yes. I think I can speak for the rest of my friends that we enjoyed putting together this series.
This article originally appeared on the Mahwah Patch
