Requirements:

By Troop 921 Amber Sublette & Patty Morkert

In today's world cooking is made easy with canned goods and boxed casseroles. Wouldn't it be fun to see how to cook a meal from a different country, or plan your own meals? Find out as you jump out of the frying pan and into the fire with gourmet cooking!

Skills builders:

1. Learn to cook in mass quantities such as for a party or event.

2. Research three ethnic groups, and prepare a dish from each group to share with your family, troop or community.

3. Plan and serve your family at least a three-course meal. In the process make a shopping list, make a budget, do the shopping and plan a date.

4. Plan all meals and snacks for one week on a budget of $150.00 for a family of four. This will include eating out, lunch money and additional snacks outside the house.

5. Keep track of your family spending on food. This includes candy and drinks for three weeks. Figure out the average cost per person in the family, including eating out.

6. Plan a holiday meal from another country.

Technology:

1. See how cooking methods have evolved through time. Make a presentation on your findings for your troop or group as if it were a cooking class.

2. Research a decade of cooking and prepare an item form that decade only using the tools available form that decade. Be resourceful.

3. Use a computer program to make a database for a cookbook.

4. Research TV cooking through out the years and see how they have changed from food, to recipes, to examples.

5. Use the interest to prepare a special dish for a party.

Service Projects:

1. Teach a younger group of girls to bake. You can be elaborate and bake a cake or keep things simple with the classic chocolate chip cookie.

2. Teach your siblings how to cook. Teach them all the safety precautions that need to be taken into account when cooking (i.e. washing hands, keep pots and pans cooking on the back burners when possible, etc.). Make sure it is alright with your parents before starting.

3. Create a cookbook to use as a fund-raiser for your troop, group, church, or organization your feel is important.

4. Work in a soup kitchen or gather materials needed for a soup kitchen.

Career Exploration:

1. Talk to a gourmet chef about his/her career.

2. Look up cooking majors on the Internet. Share your findings with your troop or group.

3. Try to take a tour of a restaurant.

4. Research what it would take to own and operate your own restaurant.