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Food Education Center

  • From our table to yours: Hanukkah Latkes

    From our table to yours: Hanukkah Latkes

    In the spirit of Hanukkah, we’re sharing a delicious recipe for latkes from one of our Directors, Leah Gordon. Leah told us that she usually makes them “by feel” but agreed to put it to paper for Pilot Light! Happy Hanukkah to everyone celebrating! 

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    Leah Gordon’s Hanukkah Latkes

    Ingredients:
    – 4 medium Russet Potatoes
    – 1 small, or ½ medium Yellow Onion
    – 2 Eggs
    – 1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
    – 1/2 tsp Salt
    – 1/4 tsp Pepper
    – Canola Oil

    To make the latkes:
    – Using a deep-frying pan, pour canola oil in to cover the bottom and a ¼ inch up the sides of the pan. Bring the pan up to a medium heat.
    – Place a colander in the sink, and after peeling the potatoes grate them into the colander using the large cut on a box grater. Remove the skin from the onion and grate it into the colander as well. Using a spatula, press it against the potato and onion mixture to help remove excess moisture while moving them around, and then use the spatula to scrape the mixture out of the colander into a large mixing bowl. Crack the eggs into the mixture and combine with a fork. Add the flour, salt and pepper, again combining the mixture with a fork. If the mixture is wet and not binding together, add a Tablespoon more of flour at a time until getting the consistency you want.
    – Drop a small pinch of the latke mixture into the frying pan to check the temperature of the oil. If the oil sizzles around the mixture, then you’re ready. If not, bring the heat up a little and
    check the temperature using a little pinch of the latke mixture again.
    – Using a ½ cup measure, scoop the latke mixture from the bowl and turn it out gently into the frying pan. Use the back of the measuring cup to press down the latke mixture a bit. Repeat 2-3 times, but don’t overcrowd the pan. After 2-3 minutes flip the latkes using a fork and a spatula (tongs will break apart the batter) to help not splatter yourself or the cooking area with hot oil. You’re looking for a deep golden-brown color when you flip the latke, so adjust the heat accordingly as you cook. Once both sides are the desired color, remove the latkes and place on a cooling rack with paper towels underneath to catch the excess oil. Add more oil to the pan (make sure to bring it back up to temperature) in between batches if necessary.
    – Serve with the traditional accompaniments of applesauce and sour cream or have fun and try different toppings and garnishes.

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  • Supporter Spotlight: Carolyn Sutter

    Supporter Spotlight: Carolyn Sutter

    This fall, we’re continuing to highlight the incredible people who support Pilot Light with their time and energy on our Advisory, Development, and Associate Boards! We are so grateful for their dedication and passion for food education day in and day out!

    Featured today on our Feeding Minds Blog is Carolyn Sutter of our Associate Board, and I’ll pass it over to her to kick us off!

    Tell us a little bit about your background and journey with Pilot Light:

    I am originally from California, which is where I developed my love of food and the ways it can bring us together and help us learn about each other. My career training and background are in child development, which was the focus of both my masters and PhD degrees. I am a researcher at heart, and have worked with many community-based programs, schools, and organizations to conduct research related to how individuals and families make decisions in their daily lives, in particular related to their health and nutrition.

    Currently I work as a Senior Research Associate for Clinical Outcomes Solutions. What I would like people to know about Pilot Light’s work is how dedicated they are to the communities that they work with, and how this dedication is making a difference. And that’s not just anecdotal evidence, I know that the data they collect in their program shows this because I have helped them analyze it! I also see this dedication through my interactions with all the awesome Pilot Light staff and fellow YPB members.

    When did you first get involved with Pilot Light? 

    I was immediately drawn to Pilot Light when I moved to Illinois in 2017 because of their important work supporting children, schools, and communities through food education. I’ve been involved with the Associate Board ever since, and have also helped with some research over the years.

    What is a favorite food or childhood food memory? 

    A favorite food memory of mine is eating the cheesecake my mom makes every year for Christmas, especially when I was little and my brother and I got to “help” by licking the beaters from her hand mixer. It isn’t a family Christmas now without her cheesecake!

    What is your favorite Pilot Light Food Education Standard? 

    It’s hard to choose because I think all the standards are great (I was fortunate enough to attend the PL Food Education Summit when the standards were developed). But I think my favorite PL food education standard is #4- “Food behaviors are influenced by external and internal factors” because I think it captures the complexity that comes with food choices and eating behaviors. Pilot Light takes great care in providing food education with nuance, that supports children and all the many factors that impact what they eat and how they feel about food. I think everyone could benefit from learning more about this standard!

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  • Announcing FOOD THOUGHTS – Videos from WTTW and Pilot Light for Kids & Families

    Announcing FOOD THOUGHTS – Videos from WTTW and Pilot Light for Kids & Families

    Healthy eating and food education are essential to preparing the very youngest members of our community for school and life. As children head back to school, Pilot Light and WTTW announce the launch of FOOD THOUGHTS, a new animated seven-part series of one-minute videos that will debut on WTTW on Monday, October 11 across the Chicago region. New episodes will air throughout the WTTW Kids lineup each week through the week of November 15. FOOD THOUGHTS will also be available for streaming at wttw.com/foodthoughts.

    Hosted by Pilot Light’s own puppy chef, “Puprika,” each FOOD THOUGHTS episode is based on one of Pilot Light’s Food Education Standards, which were published in 2018 to define holistic food education. The Standards illustrate how food connects us and has an impact on our culture, relationships, history, and environment – a concept that is deeply ingrained in Pilot Light’s mission. In each episode, Puprika joins a diverse group of children and families to visit their homes, gardens, farms, and schools, where they explore the different ways in which food touches our lives. With catchy and entertaining dialogue, Puprika explains to kids and families where their food comes from and how to make healthier choices.

    FOOD THOUGHTS is an extension of Pilot Light’s work in school classrooms where Pre – Kindergarten through 12th grade teachers deliver lessons that integrate food as a lens for traditional subjects, like math, reading, history, and science. Since 2010, the program has grown to engage more than 15,000 students in Chicago and nationwide. Through this project, Pilot Light will work directly with Chicago pre-kindergarten teachers involved in its Food Education Fellowship program to promote FOOD THOUGHTS on WTTW – bridging the digital divide – and to connect directly with parents and caregivers to foster dialogue at home around healthy food.

    Watch FOOD THOUGHTS here!

    Funding for FOOD THOUGHTS is provided by Cooking Matters, a campaign of Share Our Strength. FOOD THOUGHTS is written and produced by Electric Black Experience (EBE), a New York City-based production company that focuses on the screen stage and music arena. Animation is by MaGik World Animation.

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  • Community Partner Spotlight: Feeding America’s Amirio Freeman & Corey Malone-Smolla

    Community Partner Spotlight: Feeding America’s Amirio Freeman & Corey Malone-Smolla

    In a country where many people hope we are nearing the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to keep in mind those who are still reeling from the effects of the ongoing dual public health and economic crises. This Hunger Action Month, we are reflecting on the work of our friends at Feeding America and how their work aligns with our Food Education Standards, particularly FES 7: We can advocate for food choices and changes that impact ourselves, our communities, and our world. This past April, our Food Education Fellows’ professional development session was in collaboration with a pair of representatives from Feeding America –  Amirio Freeman, Advocacy Manager, and Corey Malone-Smolla, Policy Manager. 

    Feeding America has over 40 years of experience in hunger relief, action, and advocacy and is dedicated to helping alleviate the hunger crisis in America. With offices in Chicago and Washington, D.C., the organization is a network of 200 food banks and 60,000 partner pantries and meal programs that can be found in every congressional district in the country. Alongside food distribution, Feeding America is also focused on advocating for support and funding for programs and policies aimed at fighting hunger. This means advocating for more funding for programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or pushing for direct financial assistance for those at high risk of food insecurity.

    Amirio and Corey shared with our Fellows the explosion of work in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and offered resources for engaging community members, fellow teachers, and students in advocacy work surrounding food insecurity. While Amirio and Corey feel that the pandemic has (and continues to) really shine a light on the hunger crisis in America, they are proud of how their food bank network rose to the challenges within the food system, including distribution regionally and in the last mile. 

    In the past, Feeding America has provided meals to more than 40 million people in America each year. That effort works in tandem with urging our neighbors to engage in anti-hunger advocacy through strategies such as providing resources for anyone to take action against hunger or identifying racism’s role in food insecurity. A huge thank you to Amirio and Corey for their talk with our team and Fellows as well as the whole team at Feeding America for the work they continue to do for this country. 

    To learn more about how you can be a part of Feeding America’s anti-hunger efforts, visit Feeding America Action.

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  • Case Study: Pilot Light and the Urban School Food Alliance Team Up on Food Education

    Case Study: Pilot Light and the Urban School Food Alliance Team Up on Food Education

    Over the past year, Pilot Light was been proud to partner with the Urban School Food Alliance and their member districts to bring food education–paired with school food–into classrooms. Together, we published a case study on the first year of our work together with nationwide programs in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and Orlando.

     

    Read The Case Study

     

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  • Meet Advisory Board Member Vince Beckman

    Meet Advisory Board Member Vince Beckman

    I have a Masters in Education and come from an educational background. I was CPS teacher for eight years. I pivoted to business and private equity opening two restaurants and an ice company.   

    I would like people to know that Pilot Light is changing the entire construct in the way kids see food and how food can bring us together. We need to make bigger tables to eat not bigger walls to separate us. Food brings people together and Pilot Light is helping children and their families understand this through education. 

    I first got involved with Pilot Light in 2015.  It is a good story. At this point in my career, I already had pivoted to business in the hospitality industry. I was on the way to have a business meeting with one of the founders and board members of Pilot Light, Matthias Merges. At the time, I did not know this. On the way to the meeting, I was listening to NPR on the radio and sure enough they were interviewing Matthias. The interview was about Pilot Light. I was so intrigued! After my business meeting with Matthias, I told him about my educational background and asked if I could somehow get involved with Pilot Light. He was excited too and put me in contact with the Executive Director, Alexandra Desorbo-Quinn. The rest is history. 

    My favorite childhood memory is smelling my mom’s food. She was an amazing cook. She used to make dishes from her home country of Peru. One dish she made was Chupe de Camarones –shrimp chowder. The smell would lift me out of bed. 

    If I created a Pilot Light lesson, it would be titled “Depression-Era Bread” How the Great Depression changed the way we make bread.    

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    Pilot Light thanks Vince for being a part of our team! Be sure to check out Bank of America’s “That Made All the Difference” podcast to learn more about Vince by clicking here. 

     

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  • PILOT LIGHT THANKS USDA FARM TO SCHOOL FOR SUPPORTING AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD EDUCATION

    PILOT LIGHT THANKS USDA FARM TO SCHOOL FOR SUPPORTING AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD EDUCATION

    Pilot Light is thrilled to share that we have been awarded a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm to School program. The grant will leverage our experience in food education lesson development, our partnerships, and our Food Education Center to deliver agricultural education to students across the country in an engaging way. Through curriculum and videos, we will connect students with food, build on food-related competencies, and help expand access to fresh, local foods and hands-on agricultural learning for children. This is Pilot Light’s second Farm to School grant, and we are one of only four Illinois-based organizations to receive a grant this year.

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  • Chef Wood Porter joins students and families at Chalmers Elementary for a virtual, educational cooking demo!

    Chef Wood Porter joins students and families at Chalmers Elementary for a virtual, educational cooking demo!

    As an organization founded by chefs, it’s always been at the heart of what we do to provide opportunities for local chefs to partner with teachers to share their love and knowledge of food with students. This past year during the pandemic, we continued to connect chefs with teachers so that they could lead cooking demonstrations and experiences in a virtual format, which had the added benefit of engaging entire families!

    Most recently, our teacher Fellow Tamara Leachman, who teaches at Chalmers Elementary in Chicago, partnered with local chef, Wood Porter, to provide a cooking demonstration for families. Together, they made Sweet Chili Shrimp Tacos with Jalapeño Mango Coleslaw. Along the way, students also learned about health by identifying the different food groups in their tacos. They also learned math through discussions on the different forms of measurement, fractions, and scaling in the recipe. Chef demonstrations have the added benefit of inspiring future career paths: students learned about Chef Wood’s journey to being a chef from studying telecommunications to restaurants in NYC to culinary school to now being a private chef!

    This year, we were also thrilled to partner with talented Chefs Jonathan Zaragoza from Birria Zaragoza, James Martin from Bocadillo Market, Lisa Thompson from Blue Sky Bakery, Michael George and Nate Kuester into Pilot Light classrooms this year. As we finalize plans for 2021-22, we look forward to partnering again with these chefs and others to create inspiring and impactful food education experiences for students. 

    Recipe: Chef Wood Porter’s Sweet Chili Shrimp Tacos with Jalapeño Mango Coleslaw

    Ingredients:

    Sweet Chili Shrimp

    • 1/4 cup vegetable oil, or more, as needed
    • 1/4 cup cornstarch
    • 1 tablespoon hot sauce
    • Kosher salt, granulated garlic and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
    • 1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined(21-25 count)
    • 12 6-inch corn tortillas
    • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves

    Jalapeno Coleslaw: (Could sub pre packaged Cole Slaw Mix)

    • 1/2 small Head Napa Cabbage – thinly sliced (about 8 ounces)*
    • 1/2 Head Purple Cabbage – thinly sliced (about 8 ounces)*
    • 1 small Red Onion – thinly sliced, rinsed in cold water, and drained well
    • 2 small Carrots – peeled and shredded
    • 2 Jalapenos – seeded and minced
    • 1 Bunch Cilantro – roughly chopped 
    • 1 Firm Mango – Peeled and roughly chopped 
    • 1/2 Cup Mayonnaise or more to taste*
    • 2 TBS Spicy Brown Mustard
    • 1 TBS Apple Cider Vinegar
    • 4 tsp Granulated White Sugar or Honey
    • 1/4 tsp Cumin
    • 1/4 tsp of granulated garlic powder 
    • 1/8 tsp EACH: Cayenne & Black Pepper
    • Juice of 1 Lime

    FOR THE SAUCE:

    • 2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
    • 1 tablespoon honey
    • 2 teaspoons Frank’s Hot Sauce

    Instructions:

    • Jalapeno Coleslaw: Combine Mango, Cabbage, Carrots, Jalapeno, Red and Cilantro in a mixing bowl.
    • In a separate, small mixing bowl combine remaining (dressing) ingredients. Whisk well to combine.
    • Pour 1/4 cup of the Dressing over Cabbage mixture. Toss to combine. Add more dressing until desired level of creaminess is achieved. OPTIONAL, but recommended:  Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to allow flavors to incorporate.
    • To make the sauce, whisk together sweet chili sauce, honey and Hot Sauce in a small bowl; set aside.
    • Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
    • In a large bowl combine cornstarch, hot sauce sauce; season with salt and pepper, garlic powder to taste, coat shrimp.
    • Working in batches, add shrimp to the skillet and cook until evenly golden and crispy, about 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
    • Serve immediately with warmed tortillas and slaw at bottom, drizzled with sweet chili sauce and garnished with cilantro, if desired.

     

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  • Supporter Spotlight: Peter Flesvig

    Supporter Spotlight: Peter Flesvig

    This summer, we’d like to highlight the incredible folx who support Pilot Light with their time and energy on our Advisory, Development, and Young Professional Boards! We are so grateful for their dedication and passion for food education day in and day out!

    Featured today on our Feeding Minds Blog is Peter Flesvig of our Development Committee, and I’ll pass it over to him to kick us off!

    Tell us a little bit about your background and journey with Pilot Light:

    Peter’s 20+ year career includes a diverse set of consulting, strategy, and sales roles. His resume includes more than a decade as a strategic sales executive with PepsiCo as well as an accomplished stretch in the marketing agency world where he led a culinary marketing business through long-term strategic partnership development and work with the James Beard Foundation. Today Peter leads Strategic Partnerships for toldright, a first-of-its-kind on-demand production resource.

    I first got involved with Pilot Light a few years ago while I was working in the culinary marketing world.  I was introduced to Pilot Light and immediately realized it was the exact type of local, purpose-driven organization I wanted to be involved with.  

    What is a favorite food or childhood food memory? 

    My favorite childhood food memory is walking into my grandma’s house to the smell of homemade chicken noodle soup for lunch each time we visited. It was a seemingly simple dish that she spent hours creating – and it was always delicious. That memory is why my favorite Pilot Light food education standard is ‘Food connects us to each other.’  I love that food is such a powerful tool to share stories, culture, history, and hospitality with others. 

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  • Supporter Spotlight: Robert Teinowitz

    Supporter Spotlight: Robert Teinowitz

    This summer, we’d like to highlight the incredible folx who support Pilot Light with their time and energy on our Advisory, Development, and Young Professional Boards! We are so grateful for their dedication and passion for food education day in and day out!

    Featured today on our Feeding Minds Blog is Robert Teinowitz, and I’ll pass it over to him to kick us off!

    Tell us a little bit about your background and journey with Pilot Light:

    Pilot Light is an outstanding charitable organization doing some amazing things with food education, and I’m proud to be a member of Pilot Light’s Development Committee and Advisory Board.

    I was introduced to Pilot Light by Board President and Co-Founder Matthias Merges back in 2014 (approximately) and have been happy to watch Pilot Light grow ever since. It has been exciting to be part of an organization that has worked hard to expand its programming — starting with a few schools in Chicago to rolling out nationwide reaching thousands of students. It is truly inspirational to be part of their mission:“kids make healthier choices by connecting the lessons they learn in their classrooms to the foods they eat on their lunch trays, at home, and in their communities.” My years of television, film, and commercial production along with my experience in marketing and entertainment have helped me to help Pilot Light with the annual fundraising gala Feed Your Mind. I was happy to be part of the team that drove success against the fundraising goals of the organization. 

    Food and food education has always been important to me as if you teach people about food, people tend to make better choices with regards to their health and other cultures.  To me, the key part of Pilot Light’s mission is being able to show students that there are many food choices available to them. Whether it’s in the food or the preparation, Pilot Light provides students with an introduction to different customs which ideally creates more acceptance of the differences we share. It’s a small step that may change a student’s life or the lives of the community around them.

    If you created a Pilot Light lesson, what would the title and topic be?

    If I was creating a Pilot Light lesson, I would call it “Mashed, Baked or Fried: The Potato: Only the Beginning.” The lesson would be about how many uses we can have for a potato. Kids could learn different preparation methods: mash/bake/fry and apply both math and science skills. In addition, students could learn how potatoes are used throughout different cultures to demonstrate how we all have a common bond through a single ingredient.

    In addition to my time on the DCAB Board at Pilot Light, I am President and Owner of a sports marketing company named Live Action Media. Live Action is a high-end graphic design company that focuses on in-arena content for sports teams, sponsors, and advertising agencies around the world. For fun, I also get to be the Chicago Bears Orange Sleeves (TV Time Out Coordinator) which puts me on the field for every Bears home game.  

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