Testing those Taste Buds

  It's Friday which means it's day five or the last day of our 4-H Jr. Chef Day Camp.  It's been a fun week of measuring, cooking, local foods, and today its all about taste.  We warmed up our group with letting them know today was all about testing their frozen concoction of Ice Cream.  Each group had a chance to work in the kitchen to make strawberry syrup to cover their vanilla ice cream.
  While one group was in the kitchen the other group had questions and a job at hand.  Being that it is our receptionist's, Aletha Mebane, last day they wanted to help send her off in 4-H style.  All the youth got the chance to know her over the week passing by her desk and speaking to her to and from the bathroom and kitchen, garden, break room, auditorium, etc.  While our youth was learning where their pictures were (and where they had been tagged), they got a chance to make Happy Retirement cards and notes for this lady who loved seeing and speaking to them everyday.  She was tickled to get their cards and thrilled to take a photo with her last 4-H Day Camp Group as an employee (trust me the volunteer forms are in the mail).
  Before we knew it it was time to load up in the vans and head to South of the Border and visit the Blenheim's Soda Factory.  We weren't quite sure what to expect but this turned out to be a really spicy tour.  We saw the warehouse where they store the soda waiting to be shipped and the new bottles waiting to be filled.  The day campers got to see the assembly line and how the bottles come out of the case and the case follows the bottles through the entire process and they go back into their box for shipping after being washed, filled, and labeled.  We got to see the tank where they store the liquid sugar or sucrose.  Our intern, Paige Sawyer, decided it might be a bit sweeter by sheer volume.  We also got to see where the ginger ale syrup is made before it is mixed with water and CO2.  The whole thing is really cool.  At the end our youth tried the not as hot ginger ale and many of them thought it was pretty spicy.  We understand it is the ginger that gives it it's kick and at the not as hot uses one ginger while the hot uses three gingers.  We really appreciated the plant assistant manager taking the time to show us around and answer all of our questions (cause we had a bunch).
After a quick stop for lunch we headed back to the office to finish what we started that morning.  We broke back up into two groups and while one was in the kitchen with Mrs. Janice making chocolate sauce and salted caramel sauce the other was in the auditorium making the last of the ice cream and testing all three out.  All three used the same recipe but the vanilla that was used was different for each batch.  Proving that not all vanilla extract is the same, the youth said they noticed a different vanilla flavor for each batch.  Although they all seemed to like the ice cream they hands down pick vanilla ice cream A as their favorite.  Their description of that ice cream was that it was a milder vanilla taste then the other ice creams and had a creamer taste.
After the taste test it was time to make sundaes.  Our campers had their choice of toppings and ice cream.  When it was said and done they informed us that the chocolate sauce was life changing.  They also at 2/3 of the strawberry syrup that they made.  It was impressive how much they ended up enjoying this process of taste testing and making a fun and easy treat.
We wrapped up the week with a slideshow review of the fun we have had.  It's been a great week, and we are already making plans for next year.  Can't wait to hear about our Jr. Chef's cooking escapades.