Pears that Taste like Apple Pie

Tom Culbertson is a very unique Tasting Week chef.  He graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena with a Baking and Pastry Certificate.  Tom CulbertsonHe had many jobs in food: Cheese monger at Dean and Deluca, Pastry Cook, and even Pastry Chef.  After following his passion for food – he developed a new passion for education, and is now a fourth grade teacher at Juana Briones Elementary school in Palo Alto! This made him the perfect choice for this week’s workshop at his own school. He changed his teacher clothes for an apron and prepared the most delicious pears dipped in a syrup composed Poached Pearsof star anis, cinnamon and cloves. The multipurpose room smelled so good! The kids said they could not believe that pears could take so much like apple pie.

Fruit for Dessert? Dee-lish

Chef Brendy Monsada visited Hoover Elementary School in Brendy Step 1Palo Alto today and gave the children a whole new perspective on dessert. Chef Brendy talked about seasonal fruits and how important it was to eat well at a young age. And if any of the kids didn’t think that highly of eating fruit for dessert, they had an entirely different view by the end of the workshop.

Brendy Step 2Chef Brendy started out making whipped cream, and then layered slices of apples, figs, and pomegranate seeds with the cream and a strawberry coulis. For those of you that don’t know what a “coulis” is (I didn’t and I was happy to add a new term to my culinary vocabulary) it is a thick sauce made from puréed and strained vegetables or fruits. In this case – strawberries. It was beyond delicious!

Brendy FinalEach student got to prepare their own dessert, and it wasn’t as easy as it looked. Though some of the fruit layers ended up a little lopsided, it still tasted good. Teachers, students, parent helpers… everyone loved it.