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<p>Tiny chefs in tiny chef hats took residence in Luzerne County Community College&#8217;s Educational Conference Center this past week for the Kid&#8217;s Culinary Camp. The camp was the first of this year&#8217;s two sold out sessions, which follow a successful inaugural camp in 2014. Chef Kim Mclendon is a graduate of LCCC with a degree in culinary arts and education. Now she&#8217;s an adjunct at LCCC, where she teaches traditional classes part-time, and weekend continuing education classes. The idea that became the Kid&#8217;s Culinary Camp came to Mclendon during the latter.</p><p>&#8220;I did a children&#8217;s cooking class and a lot of people said, &#8216;you know, it&#8217;s kind of neat. I don&#8217;t see a lot of children cooking. It would be a good idea to do a children&#8217;s cooking camp, being that the college has a Lego camp and robotics camps and things like that,&#8217;&#8221; Mclendon said. &#8220;So last year was our very first Kid&#8217;s Cooking Camp and we thought, &#8216;well, it was very successful.&#8221;</p><p>Mclendon was joined by two assistants during the camp. Janet Golaszewski, an orthodontist-turned-culinary enthusiast, started with LCCC&#8217;s continuing education classes and has since amassed 42 credits through the college&#8217;s culinary department. Margie Langdon graduated from LCCC in 2014 with a certificate of specialization in pastry arts management. All three women cited previous generations of their families when asked why they took an interest in the culinary arts and said they choose to teach kids because students come to the camp eager to learn.</p><p>Ten-year-old Connor Kosicki went to camp eager to learn. Connor&#8217;s mother, Lisa, said his enthusiasm for the culinary arts dates back to his time in preschool.</p><p>&#8220;He has always had an interest in cooking,&#8221; Kosicki said. &#8220;He loves to watch the Food Network. His preschool used to have a little cooking class. He took that and loved it and then we used to do the cooking classes out at the Red Barn Cafe. When we found out about this we thought it was perfect for him.&#8221;</p><p>Aiden McFarlane, also 10, enjoyed the camp&#8217;s hands-on aspects and the freedom they&#8217;re given to create.</p><p>&#8220;I like that we get to be interactive with all the stuff,&#8221; Aiden said. &#8220;The cake that we were doing, we got to decorate it, and we made pasta. We&#8217;re allowed to do all different types of things here. We&#8217;re (also) making ice cream&#8212;that&#8217;s my favorite food.&#8221;</p><p>Aiden and Connor&#8217;s reasons for enjoying the camp highlight the creative spirit of children, but Mallory Taney, another 10-year old at camp, is a no-nonsense child chef who got right to the point.</p><p>&#8220;My favorite part of the class is we get to make all different kinds of foods and then we get to eat them after,&#8221; Mallory said.</p><p>Mclendon chooses which dishes the students will prepare (then eat) during LCCC&#8217;s Kid&#8217;s Culinary Camp sessions by consulting the food pyramid&#8212;and by using her own kids as guinea pigs. She&#8217;s mindful of families who buy groceries on a budget, and tries to keep the cost of each meal down so kids can take their knowledge home and prepare meals for their families. Connor enjoyed Aiden&#8217;s handmade pasta lesson, but his favorite part of the Kid&#8217;s Culinary Camp wasn&#8217;t the food.</p><p>&#8220;My favorite part of the class is probably that we get these cool chef hats,&#8221; the tiny chef said as he stood wearing his tiny chef hat.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">As her classmates look on, Abby Lauer, 10, of Shavertown, takes a turn decorating a cake during the Kid&#8217;s Culinary Camp at LCCC in Nanticoke recently. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_TTL071115KidsCulinary1.jpg</photo0><caption0>As her classmates look on, Abby Lauer, 10, of Shavertown, takes a turn decorating a cake during the Kid&#8217;s Culinary Camp at LCCC in Nanticoke recently. </caption0><photoCredit0>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_TTL071115KidsCulinary2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Pastry Chief Margie Langdon demonstrates to the class how to decorate a cake during the Kid&#8217;s Culinary Camp at LCCC recently. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_TTL071115KidsCulinary2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Pastry Chief Margie Langdon demonstrates to the class how to decorate a cake during the Kid&#8217;s Culinary Camp at LCCC recently. </caption1><photoCredit1>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_TTL071115KidsCulinary3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Olivia Rovaczewski, 9, and Helana Miller, 10, listen to instructor as she talks about how to decorate a cake during the Kid&#8217;s Culinary Camp at LCCC recently. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_TTL071115KidsCulinary3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Olivia Rovaczewski, 9, and Helana Miller, 10, listen to instructor as she talks about how to decorate a cake during the Kid&#8217;s Culinary Camp at LCCC recently. </caption2><photoCredit2>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_TTL071115KidsCulinary4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Students taking part in the Kid&#8217;s Culinary Camp practice decorating a cake during class. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_TTL071115KidsCulinary4.jpg</photo3><caption3>Students taking part in the Kid&#8217;s Culinary Camp practice decorating a cake during class. </caption3><photoCredit3>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>LCCC&#8217;s Kid&#8217;s Cooking Camp stirs up creativity</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Gene Axton</p><p>gaxton@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Gene Axton at 570-704-3943 or on Twitter @TLArts</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Tiny chefs create big flavor at LCCC’s Kid’s Cooking Camp