Marrison co-wrote award winning project book
Emily Marrison, Family, Consumer and Sciences Educator, with the OSU Extension Office learned in October that a project book she co-wrote for 4-H was named the best project book for the North-Central Region (about 15 states). The announcement was made at the National 4-H Conference.
Her project book is called “Kitchen Boss” and is aimed at older teens who have already completed cooking or baking projects.
Marrison said she wrote the content for the book, then Rhonda Williams, who is a 4-H educator, made sure the activities included were age appropriate. “This all happened during 2020 – we’ve never met. COVID was terrible, but if it hadn’t been for that downtime, I don’t think I would have ever had the time to do this project. It was very time consuming.”
She said every few years, 4-H project books get updated. The culinary arts area had been on the list for a few years, but hadn’t gotten updated, yet. She received an email asking if anyone would be interested in updating the old project book and thought it would be fun. “But once I started looking at it, I realized it needed a complete redo, not an update.”
“This was a whole new adventure for me. Before I came to the extension office, I worked for Abbott Nutrition, and I have a food science background. Since starting here, I’ve taught safety trainings in schools and nursing homes about food safety. I’ve sat with my own children as they completed project books and sometimes, the books can be hard for kids.”
“I wanted to do the project for older kids, especially those who are interested in culinary arts. This isn’t really a ‘learn to cook in your kitchen’ project, but more to explore the possibility of a career in food. We are always looking for ways to help teens explore different careers.”
2023 was the first year that 4-H members could choose “Kitchen Boss” as their project. “It was written in 2020, but it went through a lot of peer reviews and now it is a national 4-H project. At the Ohio State Fair last summer, there were some 4-H members who took this project.”
The project book is 61 pages long and divided into three project areas. Each section includes activities and recipes. Modern Kitchen Brigade shows different roles in the kitchen and explains how to prepare and follow a plan to create a meal. Culinary Exploration explores different methods of cooking, such as steaming, roasting or grilling, affect foods. It also explores different ingredients and tools that can be used in the kitchen.
The third section is called Putting it all Together. The 4-H member must plan and prepare a dinner. Marrison said the project stretches their imagination and helps them think about meal presentation as much as preparation. “Hopefully, this is a fun way to end the project. Ultimately, we want to make food that creates an experience. It’s not just science of cooking and flavors, it’s an art.”
“I hope the most fun part of the project is sharing what they create with other people.”
“This was a lot of fun to do. It took a tremendous amount of time, but I’m thankful I got to do this.”
Category: Clubs & Organizations
