Chef Lisa Holmes, presents a fun-filled summer of cooking and gardening with children ages 5 and up. Chef Holmes, a graduate of The Culinary Insititute of America, is also an award-winning author (her latest book Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed Our Children focuses on school lunch and childhood nutrition and won an IACP Cookbook Award).

In three separate groups (Rake and Bake for children ages 5 to 9 and Green Teens I for children ages 10 to 13, and Green Teens II for teens ages 14 and up), kids participate in week-long, half day sessions focusing on creating fun, healthy food from seasonal produce grown in CCA's own organic kitchen garden, as well as from local farms. Menus change weekly, but each session will focus on the basics of organic gardening, the art of food, knife skills, food science and safety, nutrition, and recipe development. 

The garden includes a wide variety of produce, from the simple, yet flavorful humble green bean, all the way to unusual heirloom tomatoes. Not only will children be cooking, but they'll be growing their own unique ingredients. Pineapple mint, lemon thyme, curly chives, purple cherokee tomatoes, and butternut squash have all been found just steps from the air-conditioned kitchen's back door.

Most recipes are individually-sized so children can create their very own product to eat and take home. Experimenting with ingredients is encouraged.