The Greatest Cooking School in the World!!!

I am currently going to camp at the New School of Cooking in Culver City and I absolutely love it. Each day we "go" to a different country and we make 4-5 dishes from that country. Then, at the end of the day we get to eat it all! The head chef is Carol Cotner and she is an amazing chef with a great personality. Then there are three other teachers in my class. There is Pace, Sue, and Hillary. Pace is really good at cooking chicken, Sue is a master chopper and Hillary is really good at teaching and making desserts! My favorite day was on Thursday. We cooked the foods from France and made this really good chicken paillard in a shallot-butter sauce. We also made magnificent chocolate eclairs drizzled with a homemade chocolate glaze. The New school of Cooking also teaches professional classes which focus on one type of food. I think that this is an amazing school and if you ever find yourself in Culver City, then you should definitely check it out!

Bananarama Bread Recipe

Here is a recipe for a sweet and decadent treat that includes bananas. Can you guess what it is? Yep. It's banana bread. I love this recipe because beginner chefs can make it mostly all by themselves. The only thing that requires help from a grown up is melting some butter and putting the bread in the oven (taking it out too). This recipe doesn't take a lot of time either. Actually, most recipes for "bread" use yeast but banana bread uses a different leavening agent. A leavening agent is a gas that causes dough to rise. Banana bread uses baking soda as its leavening agent. As a result, it is a quick bread and is baked as soon as the batter is mixed. By the way, national Banana Bread Day is February 23.


Bananarama Bread

3 bananas (ripe ones are the best)
1/4 cup or 4 tablespoons of melted butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup chocolate chips ( don't overdo or it'll taste too sweet)
1/2 cup walnut pieces (optional)


In addition to the ingredients listed above, here's what you will need to begin...

Measuring cups; 1 cup, 1/2 cup, 1/4 cup, 1 teaspoon

Mixing bowls; 1 large bowl, 2 medium sized bowls, 1 small bowl

1 masher

1 loaf pan


Let's make it easy, directions:

1. Have an adult preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Butter a loaf pan.

2. Take one of your medium sized bowls and mash the bananas in it until the bananas are mushy.

3. Put your dry ingredients (flour and baking soda) into another one of the medium sized bowls and mix together.

4. In the small bowl, beat the egg with a fork.

5. In your large bowl, stir the melted butter, the sugar and the egg together.

6. Pour the mashed bananas, and the dry ingredients into the butter, sugar and egg mixture. Incorporate it all together. Be careful not to overmix.

7. Add the chocolate chips and walnuts.

8. Finally, pour your mixture into the buttered loaf pan. If the bowl is too heavy for you to lift then use a measuring cup to scoop the batter out and into the loaf pan.

9. Bake for 55-60 minutes. Stick a toothpick into the center of the bread and if it comes out clean (no batter sticking to it), then your banana bread is ready!

Voila! You have successfully made banana bread.

Joanne Weir and Stella

On Saturday afternoon, I met with my mom's friend, renowned chef, Joanne Weir. We sat at a table outside of Pete's Coffee on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica. We talked endlessly about cooking, recipes, restaurants and pretty much anything else you can think of that is associated with food. That's when she gave me the brilliant idea of starting my own blog. Here I plan to share recipes, techniques, restaurant reviews, and even food games! Follow me.