While I was visiting my daughter April and her husband Brian Barker in St. Mary’s, I was privy to my grandson’s 4-H club meeting. Hayden, who is 13, had joined the “Best of 4-H Online Cooking Club”. This club ran every Saturday morning for two hours on Zoom for six weeks. Between 70-80 youth from across Ontario participated each week. Hayden received the recipes prior to the meeting and assembled his ingredients and a laptop on the kitchen counter. The leaders gave detailed instructions, along with demonstrating how to do each step. While waiting for all members to complete a task, they filled in with tips, recipe history, and cultural connections. He said the recipes were more advanced than he was expecting, but had no trouble keeping up. The day I was visiting he made cabbage rolls, biscuits from scratch, and microwaved chocolate pudding. He worked non-stop the entire two hours. Two of his favourite dishes were the chili and cinnamon rolls. I’ve shared the chili recipe and a photo of Hayden with the rolls. 
I discovered that a Haldimand 4-H member was also participating in this same club. Duncan McMillan, 10, son of James and Reese of Caledonia. Duncan joined this club because he wanted to learn more about cooking and he has liked it so far. The family has already enjoyed a second batch of the chocolate pudding. He also mentioned he was surprised with some of the challenging recipe choices. After talking with both the boys, I got a sense they were proud of what they had accomplished. Duncan had the opportunity to make Speculaas, which were one of his father’s favourite 4-H recipes. Speculaas are a highly flavoured buttery spice cookie traditionally made with carved wooden molds (to stamp an image on them) that are native to the Netherlands and Belgium. They are pictured here with a batch fresh from the oven.
The downside of online clubs, as Hayden and Duncan both expressed, is not having the opportunity to meet the other members and make new friends. Maybe these boys will meet one day at another 4-H event. In the meantime they are honing their culinary skills.
Basic Chili Recipe
- 25 ml canola oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped (about 125 ml)
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 500 g ground beef
- 796 ml canned tomatoes (large can)
- 398 ml canned kidney beans
- 1 bay leaf
- 15 ml sugar
- 25 ml chili powder
- 2 ml ground pepper
- 1 ml salt or to taste
In a large saucepan over medium heat, add oil and saute onions until translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Add beef and stir until browned. If necessary, drain off any excess fat.
Stir in tomatoes, drained kidney beans, bay leaf, sugar, chili powder, pepper, and salt.
Bring to a boil, stir. Cover and simmer over low heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.
Speculaas
James and Duncan McMillan
- 1 ½ cups butter
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
Cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg.
Mix all dry ingredients together. Stir into creamed mixture just until well mixed.
On a floured surface roll dough to ¼ inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutters and place on lightly greased baking tray, leaving space between cookies.
Bake at 350ºF 10-12 minutes until set and lightly browned.
