Kerrville class for kids cooks up lessons about food, God

By Rachel L. Toalson
Staff Writer
Fourteen heads capped in miniature chef hats bend over the kitchen tables at First UMC, Kerrville.
The students, none older than 8, are intent on making perfectly flat circles with their dough, as their instructor, Darrel Young, has shown them.
Giggles pepper the room as they try, fail and try again.
In his second year teaching “God’s Growing Gourmets,” a cooking school for children 4 to 12, Young said his goal was not to create perfect chefs but to show children that cooking could be fun.
“Kids respond so well to cooking,” he said. “Parents come up to me when I’m out in the community to say their children (now) want to cook at home. It’s sparked an interest. It’s thrilling for me to know that.”
The effort is a ministry before it is a cooking class, Young said. He begins each session of the three-part class with a prayer that he and his students will glorify God in what their hands create.
Young said he decided to start the class after he was hired two years ago as First UMC food ministry coordinator. A chef himself, Young said he and his wife, a pastry chef, always had their two children, ages 4 and 5, in the kitchen with them.
“I knew how much children would enjoy something like this,” he said. “And there is no one doing things for kids this young.”
Patti Hutte, director of First UMC’s children’s ministry, said, “This class has been extremely popular and well-received. The kids enjoy it because it’s very hands-on.”
And they get to eat everything they create, she added.
During each class, Young instructs students on making appetizers, including bread; a main course; and a dessert. Between each food cooked during class, Young talks to children about God and prays for them.
Cost is $40 for three sessions or $15 per session.
At the end of the three sessions, students receive a cookbook with all the recipes they cooked during class and some of Young’s personal favorites.
Students hail from Austin, Dallas and all across Texas. Many have grandparents who are members of First UMC, Hutte said.
Joshua Font, an 11-year-old recruited as Young’s chef-in-training, was visiting from Beaumont when his grandmother signed him up for the class.
“I never decided to take this class,” he said with a smile. “She did because I was down in Kerrville visiting her. She signed me up because I enjoy making breakfast.”
And his grandfather enjoys the breakfasts he makes, Joshua added.
But he has enjoyed taking the class and learning more about cooking—a hobby he said he really likes.
Hutte said many of the returning children from last year’s classes brought their friends this year.
“And several of the parents say their kids go home and want to buy ingredients for the meal they cooked in class,” she added. “It definitely seems to stick.”
Six-year-old Jasen Zirkel said he sometimes cooks at home, but his favorite food to cook is pizza.
“I like making the food,” he said. “You can learn a lot.”
Young said he hopes the ministry makes a difference in kids’ lives.
“I don’t know if all of them have an older male showing them there is something positive in their lives,” he said. “I try to put a positive message in this.”
The program currently runs only during the summer, but Young said he hopes to extend it year-round in the near future.
Adults have requested that he begin a cooking class for them as well.