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Cookbooks offered by Culinary Arts

Beckie Bloemker's Culinary Arts program is selling cookbooks to help with finances.

There's a chicken cookbook and a combo (appetizers and desserts) cookbook. Each book is just $10. Photo by Mike Noga.

Color photos accompany some of the recipies. Photo by Mike Noga.

Konstiantyn Noga sells a cookbook to science teacher Deborah Young. Photo by Mike Noga.

One of the prizes students can win for selling cookbooks is a flying sock monkey. Photo by Mike Noga.

By KONSTIANTYN NOGA
fhspress.com Correspondent
Posted August 31, 2015

Hungry? You’re in luck! The FHS Culinary Arts program has just the thing for you.

In order to get new materials and supplies needed to better optimize the learning experience in the class, students in the program are selling cookbooks. The interesting thing about these books is the fact that all of the 250-plus recipes have been perfected by Home Ec teachers all over the Western U.S.

These books are NOT available at bookstores, but are only sold by students. Students in the Culinary Arts program have a choice whether or not to support the program and sell the cookbooks. There are two books offered: the first has chicken dinner recipes, the other has appetizers and desserts.

Foothill’s culinary arts teacher, Beckie Bloemker, has been at it for a long time.

“This is my 12th year,” said Bloemker. She likes the idea of selling the cookbooks because all the money comes back to the classroom and helps with the funds. Also, Bloemker believes that by selling the cookbooks, “the students gain pride in their school, and class.”

Steve Dommer, the school's journalism teacher, bought the chicken dinner cookbook when I approached him after school.

“I buy one every year to support the program, but I’ve never used it. This time, I decided I would finally give it a try,” said Dommer.

Dommer asked me to choose a number from 1 to 100. I said 59 on a whim, and that night, he made Chicken Enchiladas ala Astrid, a delicious recipe on page 59.

“It was pretty easy to make,” said Dommer. “I had to spend a bit of time at Safeway finding some of the ingredients, but I managed. My wife gave me a nine out of ten on the dish. But that’s the highest score she gives, so I’ll take it.”

Students have two weeks to sell as many books as they can. The process is simple: students check out two sample books, sell them at school to teachers and faculty members, or at home to relatives or neighbors, and then get prizes for their hard work.

"By selling cookbooks, I met so many new people, it's awesome!" said Natalya Golub, a student involved in the selling of cookbooks.

Some of the prizes include: a flying sock monkey for selling two books, $5 cash for selling 5 books, $50 cash for selling 25 books, an Xbox 1, PS4, or iPad Air for selling 150 books, and the grand prize, $1,000 cash and two plane tickets to anywhere in the U.S. for selling 300 books. So far, only 15 students from various schools have sold 300 or more books.

Anyone interested in buying the cookbooks can contact Bloemker in room C7.

FOOTHILL HIGH SCHOOL fhspress.com SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA