More on Sprouts from K

K with Ooolng. Oolong, it turns out, likes to carry eggplants around.

To finish up her week at Sprouts, some more from K:

"On Thursday we got to go to the market and buy lots of yummy produce. My group bought white nectarines because they tasted the best. We tasted a whole bunch. Then we went to Dolores Park and made a bunch of things on bread (note: bruschetta). I put honey and nectarines on bread and nutella and strawberries on other bread. Some people made hummus, some black bean paste and tomatoes on bread. My favorite was the honey and nectarines.

After we went to Namu. They make Korean food there. We learned how to sharpen knives. You use the dressing stone to dress the knife stone. The knife stone has to be wet. Then you rub the knife on the stone at an angle. It does not work on ceramic knives. Then we cut vegetables and made tempura. I made potato, green beans, mushrooms, onions and some sort of leafy vegetable. We dipped them in batter and oil. They were really good. I liked the potatoes the best.

Then we went to a Gelato store. I tried cannoli. It was really good and had pistachios and chocolate chips.

On Friday we first made stuffed vegetables. We made two kinds of sauce: a yogurt sauce and pesto. Then we stuffed the vegetables with grains, herbs vegetables and cheese. I did a zucchini and used mainly cheese.

Then we went back to the Ferry Building for a cook-off kind of like the tv show Chopped. There were 5 groups and we each had to make something special that was gluten-free and vegan (except for one team). I was in "Best Fruit Dessert Team 1." We made a crumble with coconut and cocoa nibs and lots of berries. We used plums, strawberries and blueberries.  One group made a granita with lemon lime Ice cubes. Another made a breadless salmon sandwich, they also did an eggplant one. One made spring rolls. The last group made a zucchini boat with quinoa. Our group won "Best Pairing with Two Ingredients"

The last thing we did was a visit to Tcho chocolate factory. We go to go on a tour and see how they make the chocolate. After, we got to taste it."

Some things I learned were:

1. How they make chocolate. It starts out as a fruit. And there is actually vanilla in a lot of chocolate!
2. How to sharpen a knife: the higher angle at which you put the knife on the stone, the more pointed it gets. Western and Eastern knives are different. You sharpen Eastern only on one side, Western on both.
3.  How to make tempura--with regular flour and rice flour to make it crispy.
4. How to scoop out vegetables for stuffing it: it is best to use a spoon.
5. Pesto is more of a skill than a recipe. You don't have to be exact for how much you put in.

It was my favorite camp of the summer."