The Helping Hands at MKE Kitchen
There are two things that I know to be true: I love Milwaukee and I love food. These aren’t the only two things I love, of course, but they are important. Milwaukee’s German heritage extends its roots into my family tree, which means I not only top my bratwurst with sauerkraut, I can make sauerkraut. Standing beside my dad in the kitchen, he helped me measure out the salt and vinegar, cut up the cabbage, and then, inexplicably, let me do it myself. Sure, salt littered the floor by the end, and the kitchen reeked of vinegar for the next week. But I realize now that being allowed space to learn and get my hands dirty in the kitchen as a child helped me find joy in the process of cooking and creating. I was lucky.
Fortunately for Milwaukee’s youth, Kathy Papineau of MKE Kitchen is on a mission to give local kids the opportunity to roll up their sleeves and get cooking.
Offering day camps throughout the summer, MKE Kitchen opens its doors for kids of all ages to come in and spend two hours learning how to make everything from quiches to jambalaya. I was invited by Ms. Papineau to join the class when they were tackling a sweeter treat-- raspberry pie.
Entering the stainless steel kitchen, Ms. Papineau welcomed me with a smile and began telling me the story of a birthday party she had hosted the week before. She laughed easily, recalling the fun she and the kids had making cake and how it had taken “just about four years” to clean up afterwards.
As she prepped the kitchen, twenty kids came filing in, all around 10 years old, ready to make a new mess. We gathered around the big silver island and Ms. Papineau handed out printed instruction sheets. We split into four teams of five to get the job done faster. Soon, voices of kids asking questions like, “Am I doing this right?” and “Does it say one tablespoon or one teaspoon?” bounced around the room, echoed by answers from Ms. Papineau, “Make sure that you’re not working the dough too much” and “tablespoon!”
The room was humming but never chaotic, with Ms. Papineau constantly on the move, making her rounds from team to team, demonstrating how to mix the butter with the flour to avoid a chewy dough in favor of a flaky crust. Every once in a while, she stopped and called for eyes on her so that she could make a large demonstration of the process. The kids listened intently as they rolled out their dough, their eyes sneaking peeks at her example to make sure they were doing everything right. Flour was spilling all over the floor.
Where does Ms. Papineau find her ideas (and her patience)? It comes from many years of experience, she says. She has been running her program for about five years, and was inspired to do so by more than just her love for food. “I wanted kids to eat more healthy, so I started off teaching things that were a little less exciting to them than baking,” she laughs. “Then, I decided to get baking into the mix.” Surely, this day’s batch of kids were happy that she made that decision.
The pies we made were excellent: flaky crusts and gooey centers, complete with blackberries picked fresh from Ms. Papineau’s garden. As the pies sat cooling on the counter, the kids swarmed around them. Their eyes were wide with pride, pointing at the fruity, crystalized details on each one. Soon enough, the pies had cooled down, and it was time for the kids bring them home and share them with their families. But, for Ms. Papineau, this is not a last good-bye.
“I see these kids on the street,” she says, “They’re happy to see me and we talk about what we did in the kitchen.” Not only does cooking give these kids a foundation to learn the culinary arts, it gives them an opportunity to experience teamwork, creativity and discipline through eating and having fun.
