By Madison Butkus
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Tweens and teens were in for a Summer Strawberry Treat this past Tuesday, August 6th at the Medfield Public Library (MPL). Here, they welcomed Katie Shepherd, Owner and Founder of Food Explorers, to help attendees make their very own Strawberry Shortcake Parfaits.
Shepherd, who is a Registered Dietitian and graduate of UCONN's Coordinated Program in Dietetics, created Food Explorers in order to help children explore and eat foods without a side of guilt. Her ultimate goal is to further help children develop a positive relationship with food and away from the pressures of diet culture.
For this class, attendees created each of the four layers of this parfait from scratch. Each kiddo had a helping hand in the recipe, either working on their own or in a group. Before starting the program, Shepherd had each participant wash their hands and put on a fresh pair of gloves.
The first step in the recipe was making the homemade cake using ingredients like sugar, butter, vanilla, flour, baking soda and a dash of salt. Attendees took turns adding and mixing the ingredients until it was time for Shepherd to put the batter into a cake pop maker.
While the cake pops were cooking, it was then time to work on the chia seed jam. Kiddos each took a small bowl of defrosted frozen raspberries and got busy mashing them together. Upon completion, Shepherd had them add a spoonful of chia seeds and maple syrup to the mix, then had them stir it all together.
Next it was time to cut up some strawberries. Shepherd brought along child-safe knives that all attendees knew how to use so no demonstration was necessary. She encouraged them to cut off the stems and either dice or slice them up for the parfait. The last layer they made was the delicious whipped cream to go on top!
As all the layers came together, the room filled with the sweet scent of pure deliciousness. Throughout the event, kiddos mentioned how excited they were to eat the final product, even commenting that the strawberries looked so good they wanted to eat them even before they cut them up.
It can be said with ease that many are eager for the return of Shepherd and the Food Explorers to visit MPL again! For more information of events like these happening at the MPL, please visit their website at www.medfieldlibrary.org
