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Lavender in bloom.

LAVENDER- LEMON VERBENA CAKE

Makes 2 dozen muffins/cupcakes, one bundt cake or two 8” cake layers.

• 2½ cups cake flour
• 3½ tsp baking powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 TBSP fresh, finely chopped organic and unsprayed lemon verbena leaves, prepared according to instructions
• 2 TBSP fresh organic and unsprayed lavender flowers, prepared according to instructions
• 2/3 cup butter
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup apple juice
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp lemon extract OR 1 TBSP real lemon juice
• zest of one lemon

Preheat oven to 350F. Choose your pans and prep with pan spray or use cupcake papers. Cream butter, sugar and herbs. Blend dry ingredients and add to sugar and butter. Whip juice, milk, eggs and extract and add to dry ingredients. Mix well until batter is really smooth. Bake 25 minutes for muffins, approximately 30 minutes for layer cake, 35 minutes for tube cake. Test cake center.

SUMMER SALAD

4 roasted red peppers

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, sliced

1 tsp coarse salt

freshly ground pepper

3 TBSP red wine vinegar

8 TBSP olive oil

choice of greens, including arugula, rocket, sorrel or chicory

3 tomatos, cut in bite-sized pieces

handful of blanched green beans

4 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and quartered

Fresh organic and unsprayed herbs and herb flowers, including purslane, basil, chive    leaves and flowers, and nasturtium leaves and flowers

Peel and seed the peppers, slice them into strips, and place them with their juices in the bottom of a large salad bowl, along with the sliced onions.  Make the vinaigrette by mashing the garlic in a bowl with the salt and a few grinds of pepper.  The garlic should be completely pureed.  Add the vinegar and stir well, then stir in the oil.  Pour the dressing over the onions and peppers and let them marinate for 2-3 hours.  When ready to assemble the salad, add the washed and dried greens.  Arrange the tomatoes and eggs on top.  Then add basil leaves, the young leaves of purslane, finely chopped chive leaves, whole nasturtium leaves, and scatter the purple chive and orange nasturtium flowers on top.  Toss the salad at the table.

BERRIES WITH ROSE-SCENTED CRÈME ANGLAISE

2 highly fragrant organic unsprayed roses

1 cup heavy cream

3 large egg yolks

¼ cup sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1 quart fresh berries

Prepare the flowers according to the directions above. Remove the white heel, which may add bitterness, from 24 rose petals with a pair of scissors.  Refrigerate the remaining petals.  In a heavy-bottomed sauce pan, bring the cream and rose petals to a boil.  Remove from the heat and let steep for 10 minutes.  In another bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and salt.  Temper the egg mixture with a slow stream of the cream/rose mixture, then combine the remainder by pouring slowly through a strainer, whisking constantly.  Now return this mixture to a saucepan and cook over low heat until the mixture thickens and coats a spoon, 10-15 minutes.  Strain again to remove any lumps.  Cover and chill until ready to serve.  At serving time, pour some of the crème anglaise onto a dessert plate and scatter fresh berries over the cream.  Garnish with some of the remaining fresh rose petals, which are a beautiful, edible addition.

July and August are months of lush abundance in the Yakima Valley, when gardens explode not only with extraordinary produce, but with extravagant flowers. For centuries and across many cultures, flowers have provided not only a feast for the eyes, but for the palate as well. Many flowers are edible and can make a beautiful and delicious addition to recipes.

But before you head into the garden and pick a bunch of blooms to add to tonight’s dinner menu, it’s important that you know precisely what you are eating.

Photos of food bedazzled by blooms entice readers from the pages of cookbooks and magazines, but just because that dish may be garnished with flowers does not mean that the garnishes are safe to eat. The widespread use of pesticides by commercial growers is a reality, making it essential that cooks obtain flowers from a dependable, food-safe source. Never eat flowers from a florist or gathered from the side of the road.

Better to use those flowers from your own garden, so you know they are completely safe. Roses, nasturtiums, pansies, violets and lavender are flowers that can be used easily and are good choices for the flower-as-food novice. Not only do they make gorgeous garnishes, but thyme, oregano, sage and chive flowers have a milder taste than their leaves and can safely be used as you would the herb.

Salad with Chive Blossom

If you are choosing homegrown flowers to eat, remember that many can potentially cause gastric distress and some are outright dangerous. Always consult a list of poisonous plants before you even consider eating a particular flower, and never use floral preservatives with edibles. Pick freshly opened and perfectly formed flowers from your garden in the morning or late afternoon, when the water content is high and flavors and essential oils are at their peak. Remove the pistils and stamens — the pollen-bearing parts of the plant. This step is especially important if you have asthma, hay fever or allergies.

If this is the case, you may want to avoid eating flowers altogether, or do so very cautiously in small quantities, to be absolutely sure you will not have a dangerous reaction. Continue your preparations by washing the flowers thoroughly in cool water, followed by a revitalizing 30- to 60-second plunge in an ice water bath. Drain on paper towels and then carefully remove the petals or other parts to be eaten. In some flowers, such as roses, you may decide to scissor away the whitish part of the petal where it connects to the stem, since it can add bitterness. You can store the flowers in a plastic bag in the refrigerator, but try to serve them just as fresh as possible.

Ten common plants that you shouldn’t eat:

(From livescience.com)

Narcissus

Rhododendron

Ficus

Oleander

Chrysanthemum

Anthurium

Lily-of-the-valley

Hydrangea

Foxglove

Wisteria

Rietje Keyes is a refined lady whose well-mannered, well-spoken, well-postured  presence belies the chaos of her youth.  She is a member of “the greatest generation” who, because of life’s adversities and adventures, lives with intention and purpose.  Rietje has known the darker side of life yet chooses to live in gratitude – an attitude that infects all those fortunate enough to know her.

Born 75 years ago in Voorsehoten, Holland, Rietje’s life is a testimony to the value of hard work, adaptability, global perspective and humility.  As the youngest of ten children, Reitje learned order and discipline at a young age. “You did not come to the dinner table late, you sat up straight, and there was no speaking until after the soup was finished.”  Discipline proved an important survival tool when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939.  A neighbor to Germany, Holland felt the effects of war from it’s earliest days.  Rietje was eight years old at the outset of WWII and well remembers food rationing, the forced conscription of Dutch men and women into labor camps or the German army and the general chaos of a country under siege.  Rietje’s father and four oldest brothers worked for the Dutch Resistance, living months or years at a time away from home.  Rietje remembers one nighttime raid in which seven young resistance fighters found refuge under the floorboards of their family home.

As the war progressed, conditions worsened.  For many, malnutrition turned to starvation.  Rietje’s brothers were eventually captured and placed into labor camps. The nighttime drone of first British, then American warplanes was relentless as Rietje tried to sleep in her top floor bedroom.  On 2/28/45, the Germans took over the family home forcing the family to flee in different directions.  Rietje remembers running hand-in-hand with her mother on a road dividing railroad and canal lines, while Allied bombs dropped all around.  The road was pock-marked with holes from exploded bombs, holes that would help them escape bullets and V1 and V2 bombs. They found refuge in a farmer’s home and the underground network eventually united all but one family member under this kind man’s roof.  Rietje’s brother, Jan, was executed in a concentration camp before the 1945 liberation of Northern Holland.

War-torn Holland eventually rebuilt and by the time socialism arrived in 1959, cities were a mass of concrete roads and high-rises.  Rietje was 24 in 1958 when she made a life-changing decision.  She and her fiancé had waited three years on an expected six to eight year waiting list for a small flat – the necessities for starting a marriage and family life.  The climate, overpopulation, crowding, socialism, and intense structure of Dutch society made Rietje think, “there must be something better elsewhere!”  Post WWII Canada, Australia and New Zealand were underpopulated and needed the manual labor that Europe could provide.  Rietje chose adventure over convention. She broke off her engagement, ended a career as a Physician Assistant and trained to be an esthitician, a trade then regarded as “laborer.”  This vocational shift into skin care provided the means by which to immigrate.

In 1958, getting on an immigrant ship was difficult, especially for single women.  Rietje’s brother, Walt, a New Zealand Air Force pilot, and his wife, agreed to host Rietje for three months while she looked for employment.  Rietje found both employment and love in New Zealand.  The New Zealand Air Force, in liaison with the American Air Force (and more than 70 countries), had been exploring the South Pole since 1956, in a cooperative scientific program aimed at studying the earth and its environment.  Jerry Keyes was a Navigator for the American Air Force, stationed in Christ Church, New Zealand.  Walt and Jerry soon found more than flying in common!  Rietje and Jerry dated for five weeks before his assignment in New Zealand ended, redirecting him back to the States.  They wrote every day for two months, Jerry proposed by letter to Rietje’s parents and two days after her arrival in America, they married.  What started as  “lust, intellect and friendship,” is now marked by 48 anniversaries.

Marriage to Jerry and the Air Force translated to 15 moves in 30 years.  Rietje welcomed each move as an opportunity to meet new people, exchange new ideas and update the languages of her youth: French, German, English and Dutch.  Rietje’s attitude about moving speaks to her adventuresome spirit.  “Good friends you keep; new friends you can make anywhere.”  Rietje approached moving as “a challenge in making a new place livable.  Once we lived in an army barrack.  When we first moved in, Jerry put the our two cots on either side of the barrack, the way he had lived as a bachelor.  I reminded him that we were married and moved the cots together.”  Two cots, two sons: Walt (1960) and Eric (1964).  Their sons are now grown, married and have blessed them with four, much-loved grandchildren.

Jerry’s retirement from the Air Force in 1979 brought Rietje and Jerry to Yakima.  Reitje has worked as an esthitician in Yakima since 1989.  While some may regard an ethitician’s work as frivolous, those who count themselves as either client or friend know her work is a ministry to both the body and spirit.  Her touch restores the body.  Her words nourish the soul.  She has known depravity and loss, joy and contentment.  She chooses to live with compassion and humbly dismisses the enriching effects of her spirit.  I, for one, sit much taller in her presence.  “I can’t remember hunger.  What I remember most is fear of airplanes, fear of bombs, the cold and darkness.  Now, on cold, damp, dark days, when I feel like shrinking up, I realize that if it doesn’t get any worse than this, I think I’m lucky, and then I go buy yellow flowers and play a lot of music.”

Photo by Sara Gettys

Zesta Cucina serves up incredible flavor and texture with their Caramel Gelato, sprinkled with Hawaiian coral sea salt, made right there at the restaurant.  Pictured in a handmade bowl made by Evans Fletcher of Fire and Fiber Art.  Bowl is fused and kiln-formed, using three layers of glass with iridescent glass as accents.

Zesta Cucina

5110 Tieton Drive * Yakima

509-972-2000

zestacucina.com

Fire and Fiber Art

Fireandfiberart.com

By Sara Perry

A beautiful and appealing landscape is part of what makes our homes lovely, comfortable and comforting places to be.

Purchasing plants can represent a significant investment, and mistakes can be frustrating and costly. Luckily gardeners are notorious share-alls and advice from an experienced gardener – especially one who gardens in the same area you do – can be very helpful.

I recently asked some of our most experienced WSU Master Gardeners to share their “best picks” for plants – ornamentals or vegetables – that thrive in their Yakima area gardens.

Tomatoes are at the top of many gardeners’ priority lists, and this is certainly true for Larray Prather. Larray and a team of dedicated Master Gardeners propagate thousands of plants each year at our greenhouses in anticipation of our annual spring plant sale. Tomatoes and peppers are his specialty. When the sale is over, Larray goes to work in his huge half-acre garden where he grows more than 200 tomato plants, peppers and other veggies. Here are his top picks:

* Super Fantastic – an indeterminate hybrid tomato with a smooth taste that cans, juices, sauces and slices;

* Kelloggs Breakfast – a yellow beefsteak that has won our annual taste-off more than once. Larray says, “You just have to get over having a red tomato.”

* Sun Sugar – an orange hybrid cherry – sweet and yummy;

* Burpee’s Supersteak – an indeterminate hybrid for those big hamburger-bun-sized slices;

* Nu Mex Big Jim – a medium hot pepper;

* Fat and Sassy – a sweet bell pepper that really performs;

* Armenian cucumbers (which are really melons!) – He likes them fresh and pickled.

Hosta is one of Kris Vestad’s favorite ornamentals. Propagated for its lush green, blue or multicolored leaves, it fills in beautifully under shrubs and trees. This low-maintenance, long-lived plant thrives with afternoon shade and even watering but will grow in sunnier spots as well.

Kris’ favorites:

* Big Daddy – true to its name with large, deep blue, heart-shaped leaves that grow to 3 feet;

* Albo-marginata – with deep green, white-edged leaves that grow to about 2 feet;

* June – with a variegated leaf that is a little smaller.

Carol Barany’s expertise is filling large spaces with free-flowering, long-blooming perennials, and the beautiful gardens surrounding her lovely old period home prove it.

* Of geranium Rozanne Carol says, “When I first found this “Perennial Plant of the Year” for 2008, it was love at first sight, and I haven’t changed my mind since. This plant is simply the best hardy geranium, and my favorite perennial.” Rozanne’s violet-blue blooms continue all summer.

*A Dahlia called Fascination, with striking blackish-purple stems and leaves, is the best of the dark foliage dahlias, according to Carol. A diminutive 24 inches tall, its pink blooms make great cut flowers.

* The Centranthus ruber called Alba is a warm-white version of the familiar red (or pink) Valerian. Carol says this tall flower with pretty silver-green foliage “never seems to be without flowers, and it responds well to deadheading. When it’s time for a haircut, I whack the bushy, upright plants back with hedge-clippers, then wait for the next flush of blooms. Hands down, when people tour my garden, this is the plant they ask me to share.  There’s no better recommendation than that!”

Diana Pieti grows a wildlife-friendly garden:

* Agastache rupestris, Licorice Mint, or Agastache cana, Bubble Gum Mint — for the hummingbirds and butterflies

* Amelanchier, Serviceberry — a North American native shrub with small white blooms in spring and edible, blueberry-like fruit for people and birds

* Cornus stolonifera, Red Twig Dogwood — with its beautiful red branches in winter for general wildlife habitat.

Zinnias are everywhere in Bill Gillespie’s yard. “We plant them in thick drifts in our largest beds. Miniature, short and giants go well together and provide a mass of color from ground level to 4 feet high.” Some favorite varieties include State Fair, Dreamland and Lilliput; all are available in mixed colors.

Mary Killingstad is hooked on garlic.  Plant certified, disease-free cloves in the fall, feed and water well and you will be rewarded in July with large heads of home-grown culinary heaven.  Mary likes two heirloom hardneck varieties called Chesnok Red and Persian Star.

“Hemerocallis” or Daylily, and “Gaillardia” or Blanket flower, are two of LaVonne Benner’s garden stalwarts.  Easy to grow and maintain, and available in lots of colors, they bloom all summer.  A hybrid flowering shrub called “Caryopteris clandonensis” or Dark Knight is also on her list of bests, with its attractive blue-purple flowers that bloom from July until late summer.

The Yakima Arboretum’s annual plant sale runs 3-7 p.m. Friday, May 7, and continues 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, May 8. This is a great way to find a new-to-the-market selection of trees, shrubs, perennials, grasses and vines for your yard.

WSU Extension Master Gardener Program is an organization of trained volunteers dedicated to horticulture and community service. Do you have questions about gardening or landscaping? Call the Master Gardener Clinic at 509-574-1600 or visit us at the WSU Extension office on 104 N. 1st Street in Yakima. New volunteers are welcome.

Fedelini alla Carbonara

The Sauce:

Brad Patterson's Fedelini Alla Carbonara

1/2 cup of thickly sliced smoked bacon lardons

1 cup of crème fraiche

1 large egg yolk

1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

fine sea salt

2 tablespoons finely sliced chives (may substitute scallions)

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

8 ounces dried fedelini or other pasta of your choice

Bring a large pot of water to a full boil over high heat with salt.

To make the sauce, sauté the bacon until crisp. Add the crème fraiche and bring just to a simmer.

Whisk the egg yolk into the sauce, add the black pepper and taste for salt. Reserve and keep warm.

When ready to serve, cook the pasta al dente. Drain the pasta.

Add the pasta to the sauce and lightly fold in the sliced chives and parmesan cheese.

Using a meat fork, twirl a quarter of the pasta and put in the center of each of four bowls. You may garnish with additional chives, bacon and parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

*Serves four first course portions.

Cooking notes:

Fedelini is a thinner version of spaghetti. We use exclusively the brand De Cecco from Italy. It is easily purchased at De Laurenti’s in Seattle’s Pike Place Market and occasionally the brand can be found in local grocery stores.

Lardon is a French term for thicker diced fried bacon, etc.

Crème Fraiche is a French-style sour cream that does not curdle when heated.

I find that dried pasta is preferable to fresh pasta as it produces a less “sticky” result.

“Al dente” is an Italian term for “to the tooth” meaning slightly underdone.

Carbonara is an Italian name referring to coal miners or the fact that it was originally cooked over charcoal. The dish gained popularity in the United States with returning soldiers from World War II.

Jaime Rincon – Antojitos Mexicanos

Camarones Al Mojo De Ajo

Jaime Rincon's Camarones Al De Ajo

Ingredients:

¾ cup butter

10 garlic cloves, thinly chopped

40 raw shrimp (21-25 count), deveined (peeled if like)

4 spoons of mayonnaise

Instructions:

In a small sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat; toss in shrimp.

Add a dash of seasoning salt when the shrimp are almost pink.

Add the fresh garlic and four spoons of mayonnaise once the shrimp turn fully pink in color.

Mix well and simmer until garlic turns light brown.

Divide the shrimp into four meals. Garnish with salad and Spanish rice.

Derrin Davis of Tony’s Steakhouse

Kurobuta Pork Chops

Serves 6

Brine:

1 quart water

¼ cup kosher salt

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup good quality honey

1 bay laurel leaf

1 sprig fresh rosemary

1 teaspoon mustard seed

1 quart ice to double the volume of the brine

Pork:

Six each double-bone Kurobuta pork rack with chine bone off and brined overnight or up to 24 hours. Have a qualified, reputable butcher cut and French your pork chops. When brining is complete, remove pork and pat dry with a paper towel. Place in a plastic container until ready for grilling and place in the cooler.

Method of Preparation:

Combine water, salt, sugar and honey in a 2-quart sauce pan and bring to a boil. Allow the sugar and salt to dissolve. When the sugar and salt have dissolved, remove the pan from the heat and add the other ingredients, except for the ice, in order and allow steeping (much like tea) for 10 minutes. Strain the liquid mixture and add the ice to double the volume. When the mixture is at 40 degrees, add the pork rack in a suitable container and allow to brine overnight or up to 24 hours.

Hash:

2.5 pounds sweet potatoes (not yams)

1 sweet onion

1 tablespoon fresh thyme

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons bacon renderings

Method of Preparation:

Derrin Davis's Kurobuto Pork Chops

Wash sweet potatoes and place on a medium-size sheet pan. Cook sweet potatoes for 20 to 25 minutes at 350 degrees until skin begins to brown and outside begins to soften slightly. We still want the inside to be slightly firm to allow for extra cooking later. While potatoes are cooking, peel and cut onion into 1-inch pieces and set aside. Uniformity is not important in either the onion or the potato. Pick the thyme leaves, finely mince and set aside. Heat a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the bacon renderings and onion. Sautee until the onion becomes translucent and begins to brown slightly. Add the thyme to the onions and set aside to allow cool. When the potatoes are done, place directly into a cooler or refrigerator. This allows the skin to loosen from the potato and eases the peeling process. After the potatoes have had a chance to cool, peel the skin off and cut them into 1-inch pieces. Combine the onion mixture and the potatoes in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Spread the mixture on to a medium-size sheet pan lined with parchment paper to form a single, evenly spaced layer and cook at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until nicely browned. Store hot until ready for use.

Pre-heat a grill to medium-high heat (preferably a wood grill using apple or cherry wood). When grill is hot and coals have formed from the wood, place the pork chops on and cook, turning occasionally, until an internal temperature registers 135 to 140 degrees.

Place hash on the middle of the plate and place pork chop on top. Serve immediately.

Suggested accompaniments:  Tart Cherry Compote and Grilled Asparagus

Suggested wine pairing: 2006 Cultura 100% Cab Franc

Cooking notes:

For another version, one could replace the bacon with Italian prosciutto or even the wonderful smoked salmon bellies from the Pike Place Fish Market.

Not many of us have had the pleasure of experiencing the Kurobuta Pork. Raised here in the Pacific Northwest, in the same fashion that has delivered the increasingly popular American Kobe Beef, we have at our fingertips arguably the world’s best pork. Kurobuta pork is still technically Berkshire pork, however, being raised in the Japanese-style of Kobe, it delivers an amazing texture, color and flavor. Paired here with sweet potato and onion hash, roasted asparagus, Yakima Valley dried tart cherry compote and apple cider pan-sauce, this has become a staple on our menu and a favorite among our guests. Please, I implore you; understand that confirmed cases of trichinosis from pork in the U.S. have been less than 12 per year since 2001 and have lowered every year since. You actually have a greater chance of suffering from trichinosis by consuming wild game. It is safe to eat pork at medium to medium well. We no longer have to consume pork that tastes and feels like cardboard.

What is brine?

Historically, chefs around the world have used brine as a form of a preserve or cure in order to transport proteins without the risk of spoilage. Today, chefs use brine to flavor and tenderize meats. In this recipe, we will use a brine to tenderize and add flavor to our pork chops. Brine is a mixture of salt and water. There are many different theories as to what exactly brine does to meat. I believe that the brine passes through the cells of the meat and pulls the impurities out, slightly adjusting the structure of the cell itself, lending a superior piece of meat.

Birchfield Manor

OREGON PRAWN AND SHRIMP CAKES

1 red pepper, fine dice
1 green pepper, fine dice
8 green onions, fine dice
1 T garlic
1 T cajun seasoning
Saute together and add 1 C white wine

COOL MIXTURE

2 lbs shrimp meat (dry)
2 C bread crumbs
3/4 lb black tiger prawns pureed with 3 eggs
2 lbs sliced black tiger prawns

COMBINE INGREDIENTS

Form into cakes and roll in panko rice crumbs

Saute until crispy and golden brown

Finish in 350 degree oven for about 12 minutes.

ENJOY!

[Show as slideshow]

Nestled comfortably just east of State Fair Park is a young and quickly growing culinary arts school. Even in the sleepy winter weather, the main dining hall at Yakima Valley Technical Skills Center is bright and spacious. Lit up by a towering glass wall, the new building highlights the dining area, just to the right of the main entrance. A beautiful view is in every direction.

In its first year at the new location, YV Tech’s Culinary Program is already home to more than 50 high school students. As tourism in the Yakima Valley grows, YV Tech is quietly filling a need by educating young people in culinary arts.

Behind the dining area, the learning begins. Commanding a kitchen full of youthful, exubarant and easily distracted students is no cakewalk, but Ned Walsh, head chef and owner of Yakima’s 901 Pasta, has complete control.

Today, Walsh is giving clear instructions and wielding a rolling pin for emphasis. Behind him, a dry-erase board with the day’s lunch menu is colorfully decorated. The students approach Walsh with respect, calling him “chef.” Though he is firm in his command, a twinkle in his eye gives away the fact that Walsh loves his job. The students seem to connect with his caring and youthful ways. “I’ve always had an interest in working with young people,” he says.

Ivone Petzinger, one of the founders of Essencia Artisan Bakery in Yakima, has recently joined Walsh in the kitchen to lighten the load. Petzinger applies her background in baking, as well as her experience as a local business owner, to the classroom. “At Essencia I needed to train people; it was like a teaching job,” she says.

Each morning, after some announcements, the students split into two groups. Walsh takes half of the class to do a culinary lesson, while Petzinger’s half, referred to by the students as “the bake shop,” preheats their ovens and gets to work.

Chef Ned Walsh shows his students in the culinary program at YVTech, including Gandia Hernandez (second from right) learn how to make sauce for chicken picatti.

“When I found out that they had started the pastry program, I was like, ‘Oh, Sweet!’” says Melanie Stevenson, a 19-year-old senior from Eisenhower High School. “In my family, pastry is huge.”

The new kitchen, with 40 teaching stations ranging from fast food to a demonstration kitchen, allows for plenty of work space. “We’re not bumping into each other,” Walsh jokes. It is quite an upgrade from the residence hall kitchen at Yakima Valley Community College, where the program began 2 1/2 years ago.

And there are plans to expand. With large movable walls, the dining hall eventually will be able to seat 500 people, and up to three community events at one time. “There is one big floor mixer we haven’t even used yet,” says Walsh. “We haven’t had a need for it yet, but we will.”

YV tech’s hands-on approach has the students fascinated. Gandia Hernandez, a 17-year-old senior from Naches Valley High School, hopes to open her own restaurant in the Yakima Valley one day. “That’s what I really want,” she says.

The students are vibrant and willing to expand their minds. “Some kids are really serious about following a career. Others are here just because they are curious; they want to learn,” says Petzinger.

One of the most amazing parts of the program is the effect it can have on the students. “It’s fun. It’s interesting. But it also provides a career opportunity,” says Walsh. “They find a niche, and all of a sudden it lights their fire,” he says. “Now they’re at school every day. They’re doing their work.”

“They may discover something,” says Wash, excitedly. “It’s almost like a blossoming.”