When I was about 15 my mom, sister and I took a big camping trip across the US.  It was amazing, and left me with some very special memories.  One in particular was when we were eating at a very fancy place called “Chateau Lake Louise“. 

The food was great, it was a beautiful restaurant with an awesome view.   The other people eating there were surely vacationing in the Chateau, not rolling up from their campsite at Banff National Park in a station wagon with a cargo carrier on top. We looked like we had been camping for a month because, of course, we had. 

I was embarassed.  I announced to my mother in an adolescent huff that, “Everyone in here has more class than we do.”  She told me to take a good look around. Our fellow patrons looked the part; with their nice clothes and enviably clean hair.  On closer inspection I saw that they were shovelling in their food with the wrong forks, rendering them more a gardening tool than a utensil.  Food was chewed loudly, in large bites, and with open mouths. Napkins were still on the table, or worse, tucked into their shirts.  My Mom said, “You know your manners. You could eat with the Queen (we were in Canada, after all); money doesn’t buy you class.” 

I recently took Maybelle to a local place called “Etissentials“.  Wanting to get her started on the proper footing, etiquitte wise, we attended the “Nutcracker Suite” Tea.  She was one of the youngest people in the place, but behaved herself beautifully.  She knew that her little napkin went on her little lap, and was quiet when the hostess was speaking.  I was so proud, and know that my mom would have been too. 

We have one area we need to work on however.  The food is brought to the table on something like a cake pedistal, and Maybelle ate every morsel of food on our table and even borrowed a cupcake (she had only had two, after all) from a neighboring table.  At least she won’t be the girl who orders a salad just to appear dainty on a date.

I enjoyed our tea time together, but found it very expensive.   Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I didn’t eat anything, but I was disappointed in the food. I’ve had tea in Germany, and they don’t mess around with these little tiny crustless sandwiches. It’s like Taco Bell’s “Fourthmeal”, except it comes at a much better hour – around 10:30 AM just when breakfast is wearing off and lunch is dangerously far away.

I don’t know how much kids pick up in a few hours about etiquette, so I guess it’s like everything else – if you want your kids to learn good manners you just have to teach them yourself. Sigh.

By now, it’s probably not a secret that I love to cook.  My husband and I have a dream vacation that includes taking a trip to France together.  Once we get there, he heads for the Tour de France, and I take off to attend a cooking school with Patricia Wells.  Our children are not incorporated into this dream vacation, which is just fine, as by the time we would be able to afford it they will be quite capable of being on their own for a few weeks.

For now, we watch le Tour on le Television, and I poke around looking for chances to learn more about my passion from the pros. I recently heard about an opportunity to cook with R. Stanley, an amazing chef in Kalamazoo. This is coming up in February, and I started inquiring as soon as I heard.

It didn’t occur to me immediately that the name of the place sponsoring the event was “Young Chef’s Academy“.  All I saw was a chance to cook with a master.  Once it occured to me that this was a joint for kids, of course I was even more interested.

As it turns out, Young Chef’s Academy is quite the little cooking school.   They have weekly classes (a little difficult for those of us in Grand Rapids) but also camps, workshops, birthday parties, and field trips.  I quickly signed A.P. up for “Breakfast With Santa”.  We cruised down there last weekend, dropped Maybelle off for an afternoon with “Gampa” and were on our way.

The best way to picture this is to think of one of those “meal preparation” kitchens, but designed for kids.  The hosts are excellent at communicating with the young ones and explain everything that is happening.  And of course, everyone gets a turn to stir, dump, and scoop. 

Mid-way through the event, Mr. Claus came strolling through the front door with his lovely bride.  They assembled the kids in a story-time type circle and sang a few songs and talked to the Mr. and Mrs. Santa.  Each child got to sit on Santa’s lap, and then it was time to get back to work.   The kids now had a purpose: French Toast for Santa.

It was quite good, and so was the White Hot Chocolate and Breakfast Cereal Muffins.  A.P. had an absolute blast and really enjoyed his table-mates.  They all had a good time and  were the loudest table by a long shot.

The kids were sent home with the recipes and great memories.  Of course we had to make French Toast about 4 times last week, but that’s OK.  It will hold me over until I get to make the real thing. Bon appétit!

I am certain that no one is in short supply of things to do right now, but just in case… don’t forget to check Big Binder’s Calendar (there is a tab up at the top of the page) for fun stuff in the upcoming weeks.

One highlight is the Grand Rapids Symphony Lollipop concert in January.  It will be Peter and the Wolf this time, and if you haven’t been, you really should! Before the show, the musicians let the kids get an up-close look at their instruments and the entire performance is fun for kids while sneaking in some musical education to boot.

It’s really reasonably priced, too.  The tickets are $5 per person and it’s all general admission so get there early for a good seat.  You know I can’t pass up an opportunity to save money so I’ll also tell you that if you order off the website, you will pay Ticketmaster fees.  Ugh! Stick it to the Ticketmaster; that’s the Man if there ever was one.  

A better choice is to call the Symphony direct and order (using a credit card).  The number is 454-9451 and you will just pay a $1 fee per ticket.  Or, if you are downtown you can just buy tickets at the Symphony offices (300 Ottawa, Suite 100 across from Calder Plaza) and pay no service fees.  Parking may outweigh your cost savings unless you’re downtown for something else.

You can also buy tickets at the door for no extra fee, but remember you’ll be waiting in line for tickets, then waiting in line for seats, then sitting for a 1/2 hour or so during the performance and if your kids are anything like mine this combination will not float.

Check out the other stuff in the Calendar too, I’m updating constantly!