The children were keen to cook something again this week. Javeria said she would like to cook something in the kotlich (cooking pot) as we had when her mum and dad came to Forest School.

We decided that we would make potato and leek soup.

Whilst Shanade and Shafique set about lighting the fire, Javeria and Nimrah began preparing the vegetables. Javeria told me that after her Mum had seen her using knives safely at Forest School, she is now allowed to help out more with preparing things using sharp knives at home.

Nimrah’s parents joined us again this afternoon. Nimrah and Javeria showed her Mum how to prepare the vegetables whilst Shanade and Shafique let her Dad help them to tend the fire.

At one point, a passing shower threatened to put a dampener on our soup making but luckily, the children managed to shield the flames by building more wood around the edge of the fire until the rain cloud passed over. The children have developed a good understanding of how to the use different amounts and thicknesses of wood to regulate the temperature of the fire.

Whilst the vegetables were bubbling away, the children set about winding bannock bread around our freshly whittled sticks. Nimrah’s Mum commented on how good she had become at whittling. The children have all become very competent at using tools and fire lighting over the past year.

After checking the soup a few times, my chief tasters decided it was ready to serve. A quick blitz with our new toy (a cordless stick blender) and it was ready to dish out. Whilst we were chatting over our soup, Javeria said she would like to visit another school to demonstrate her Forest School skills. I said I thought this would be an excellent idea.

I am so proud of how far they have come and I hope they will have the opportunity to continue to build on their skills when they move to high school in September.

If you would like to make our soup (based on Jamie Oliver’s recipe) you will need:

• 2 large carrots
• 2 sticks of celery
• 2 medium onions
• 400g of leeks
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 400g of potatoes
• 2 vegetable stock cubes
• salt and pepper

To make:

• Peel and dice carrots and onions.
• Slice the celery.
• Peel and quarter leeks and slice into 1 cm pieces.
• Mince the garlic.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in the kotlich and add the carrots, onions,celery, garlic and leeks.
• Cook with lid on askew until the carrots are starting to soften.
• Peel and dice the potatoes to a 1cm dice.
• Mix the stock cubes with 1.8 litres of boiling water.
• Add the water and potatoes to the kotlich and bring to boil.
• Raise the kotlich slightly to bring the soup to a simmer for ten minutes.
• Season and serve chunky or blitzed with a stick blender if preferred.
• Serve with bannock bread (see session 28 for recipe)

This recipe will serve 6-10 depending on how hungry you are!

The rest of our soup was polished off by the school staff. Mrs. Rowe wished to pass on her compliments to the chefs. She said it tasted beautiful and asked for our recipe (see above Mrs. Rowe!)