Red Devils host launch party for class cookbook

Noxon art and culinary classes worked together this fall to produce the second annual publication of the art class's cookbook. This year 14 students from Jessie Novak's middle school art and Intro. to Art classes contributed to the book. The students chose a recipe, hand-wrote it and created an illustration using colored pencil.

The culinary class is new this year, taught by Louise Chandler, the head cook at the school. Students in her class tested many of the art students' recipes. They also created and cooked some of the food available to taste at last week's launch party in the school's multi-purpose room. "My goal is to make it as much a collaborative process as possible," Novak said.

"Red Devil Bites" contains 25 recipes and was organized, laminated and bound by the students during their free time. "The students were involved with the whole process and have something tangible to take home," Novak shared. "Middle school student Kennedy Brown has been a big help; she took to the project and rolled with it," said Novak.

April Kiescome made the Japanese cheesecake. "I like Japanese food....saw it on YouTube and it was jiggly, so I went for it," Kiescome said.

Kennedy Brown contributed four recipes, saying she stayed up late at times to finish them.

"The chocolate macaroon bundt cake was my favorite and most challenging. I made it with my grandma and it's my grandpa's favorite," Kennedy said.

In "Red Devil Bites," one can find a pita bread recipe by Brianna Horner, Kaleb Vanek's macarons recipe, and a fried chicken sandwich by Ellie Ezell, among other favorites.

"It's amazing for them to be challenged with a new recipe and laborious process, then seeing it come out," Chandler said. Chandler shared that Aiden Currie, one of her students, took care of, and is still taking care of, the sourdough starter for their unit on sourdough breads. Slices of sourdough bread were one of the many items on the tasting table last week.

Novak says she would like to see the business and English classes involved in the future. "I'm looking forward to future growth and to see what works best." The project has become a fundraiser for both the art and culinary departments. She said that the cookbooks are available for purchase at the school or through her until December 15.