Kara Anderson has been teaching at the link since December of last year. She teaches youth camps and focus on cooking and art. Most recently, the link started a youth enrichment class each Wednesday night that Anderson heads up. She brings experience as a former owner of a meal prep business and strives to present a fun atmosphere while exploring her student’s creativity.
Tell us a little about yourself and your background.
I grew up in Wisconsin and it’s where I lived for most of my elementary and high school days, but I’ve lived in Jacksonville now for forever.
I actually worked at Christ’s Episcopal Church helping to start their after-care program, as well as summer camps and I also did cooking with kids there for years.
We then opened up our own meal prep business called Super Suppers and had a couple of locations.
At Super Suppers everything was preped for you and you could come in and get it. We hosted parties and would make up to 12 meas that you could take home and freeze for the rest of the week.
So, I dont live in St. Johns County, I actually live in Jacksonville, but I’ve worked in Ponte Vedra for years and I know the area.
How did you get involved with the link to start your cooking and art kids’ class?
They don’t teach home ec the way they used to when I grew up, so the camp really serves and an enrichment class.
I first time started doing enrichment classes at the link last Chrsitmas with a full day cooking and crafting camp.
Every week we do some sort of art, science and cooking, and sometimes it’s just all about figuring out how it all works together, like baking soda and the variety of ways we can use it.
We can make dog treats out of it or volcanos with it, and of course, we can also always bake cookies and breads with it as well.
What are some of the foods that you’ve made during the class?
A lot of the food we do, is really a transition from the meal prep days.
Today, we’re making monkey bread and last week we did cranberry barbecue meatballs and puffed pastry apple tarts.
I am not a fancy chef, but I originally worked for the Duval County School Board and their lunch programs in the main office creating menus for the schools about 25 or 30 years ago.
My focus is more about family meals and what we can make to help bring families back to the table.
All recipes we use have stemmed from somewhere else’s recipe, so it just reminds kids that they can be creative and there are no wrong answers when it comes to cooking. There is always the option for a do-over in the kitchen.
As they follow along and realize they don’t like something in a recipe, they know they can just leave it out or add something that helps fit them and their family.
What are some things you’ve seen the children look forward to most about the classes?
Getting their hands dirty is what they just love. And then the fact that they get to bring home what they’ve made and sit down and eat it with their family.
The different crafts is also something that the kids really enjoy because there are so many things out there for them to make and discover.
Nowadays life has just gotten so busy and we’re all running all over the place.
These classes just allow for a couple of hours once a week where kids can just be kids and just be as creative as they can, while the parents also have a break and don’t have to clean up any of the mess left behind.
I’m not a super structured teacher. I try to be fun and goofy and one of the girls in my camp also went to four of the summer camps we had over the summer.
That makes me feel that I’m doing a good job, and I’m happy that they keep wanting to come back and take part in even more camps.
Even if it’s only one child, I’m OK with that and it just means the world.
How would you like to see the class grow in the future?
This is the first time we’ve done the enrichment program and right now we’ve six kids in the class and during the summer we did nine weeks day and night with about 40 to 60 kids, and that was just in my programs, not even including the rest that the link had going on.
I would love to bring about “Meal Prep Mondays” where families can come in and make healthy meals for the week, but for now we’ll continue to do the enrichment programs.
A lot of the meal prep companies will deliver the ingredients, but you still have to make it, this would take all the hard work out of it where all you have to do is throw it in the Crock Pot or pop it in the oven.
