Eager youth, ages 9-14, gathered in the Colonel Cullmann Museum basement room for the first 4-H Cooking Day Camp held Thursday.

Jay Conway, 4-H regional agent, said, “We thought this would be a good idea, since some kids are home during the summer and want to learn how to cook for themselves. And too, if kids get home before their working parents, it’s good for them to know how to fix a nutritious snack.”

After initial introductions, an educational program was presented in which 4-H volunteer instructor Jeanna Turner explained about the FDA food pyramid, healthy eating, good nutrition and the importance of exercise.

Turner then created a fun game of naming individuals as a certain food, and having others participate in discussion of the nutritional information about it.

Joanna Gobbell, 12, whose food name was garlic, said, “One thing I learned is what food group garlic comes under.”

Designed to feature life skills and kitchen safety, the day camp also included instructions and participation in cooking a taco pizza. The kitchen was busy with groups of four assigned specific tasks, cutting and chopping peppers, cooking lean beef, grating cheddar cheese.

Zana Moss, 11, said, “It’s hard to grate and shred the cheese, and you have to be careful not to cut your fingers, too.”

Tonya Mattox, 14, was busy cooking lean ground beef at the stove. “I do a lot of cooking at home, but I like to bake cakes and pastry most of all.”

Turner reminded the group, “Always cook beef well-done, or you risk the danger of e.Coli.”

Once all the ingredients were assembled, pizza crusts were divided out, and each section began building their pizza. Cheyenne Patterson, 10, said, “This is my first time here, but I like it so far. It’s more fun than I thought it would be.”

Her friend Kaitlin Turner said, “She is taking my sister’s place, because she was sick. Mom has made this taco pizza at home, and all the kids love it at parties.”

After the pizzas were in the oven, everyone began to get hungry from the aroma filling the room. “I’ve never had this kind of pizza, but now I can cook it myself. It sure smells great,” said Dara Moss, 12.

KaSarah Webb, 11, said, “I love taco pizza, it’s a real treat.”

Candace Letson, 4-H volunteer, said, “My kids love going to 4-H events, and I told my son, Stephan, he’d have to cook supper tonight after learning how.” She said Taylor Wray, her 15-year-old son, competes in 4-H events at the state level.

Letson said a woman recently donated Arabian horses to the 4-H club, and her son, Stephan Wray, 13, was especially excited about working with a horse, maybe entering it in 4-H competition.

Kerri Roberts, 4-H assistant, said, “We want to start a 4-H cooking club where kids can learn how to prepare different dishes, such as cake baking, pastries. A place where kids who love cooking can get together and enjoy cooking.”

While the pizza was cooking, the group began work on preparing a desert of “Ice Cream in a Bag.”

The cooking day camp also included an afternoon salsa canning lesson presented by Angela Treadaway, Regional County Extension agent.

“We actually had to put people on a waiting list for this first 4-H youth cooking day camp, and hope we can make it a regular event,” said Roberts.

For more information about 4-H and the cooking day camp, call Kerri Roberts at the County Extension Office at 737-9386.