The soup is on to benefit Indian Creek Nature Center event, Dec. 6
The stockpots are once again steaming at Kirkwood Community College, and soon patrons of the Indian Creek Nature Center will taste the results. For the fifth year in a row, Kirkwood Culinary Arts students will brew soups for the center’s Nature’s Noel fund-raising event.
Nature Center Guild Member Mary Christensen calls the work “a great partnership” to train Kirkwood students while making favorite Guild recipes available to increasing numbers of nature center supporters.
“Having the assurance that the soups are prepared under professional guidance, in sanitary conditions, and delivered well ahead of our deadlines is a priceless gift for us,” Christensen said. “And, with students and staff donating their labor, we are still able to pass on healthy profits to Indian Creek Nature Center so it can continue its educational and recreational programs.”
Kirkwood Culinary Arts Coordinator, Mary Jane German says the project is a “classic win-win” for the college and the nature center.
“Since we started cooking for the event the students have learned a lot about how to plan and create, plus how best to work ahead of time. Students in Chef Dave Dettman’s classes learn to produce exact quantities to exacting recipes and deliver in a timely manner. They also learn packaging and ingredient-listing requirements. That’s real-world knowledge they will need for future careers,” German observed.
The soups offered at this year’s Nature’s Noel event are: Baked Garlic, Belgian Dilled Potato, Byelorussian Sauerkraut & Pork, Cream of Broccoli, Curried Mushroom Spinach, Herbed Tomato, Green Chili Chicken and Rice, Mulligatawny, New England Clam Chowder, Soup of the Wild, Steak Vegetable, and Vermont Cheese.
German said the Kirkwood students will make close to 135 gallons of soup before the project is complete.
The Nature’s Noel event at the Indian Creek Nature Center is set for Saturday, Dec. 6, 9 a.m. to noon at the center, 6665 Otis Road SE. More information is available from the center office, (319) 362-0664.