Recipes for life: Lackawanna Trail educator shares hands-on learning with students
Oct. 23—Whether she's with family or students, Samantha McDonnell sees the value of making memories together in the kitchen.
It started when the Falls Twp. resident learned how to cook and bake as a child with her grandmother, the late Kitty Geary. Then, while studying abroad as a college student in Spain, McDonnell spent time in the kitchen with her host mother as they swapped recipes popular in their respective countries.
Now, McDonnell shares her expertise not only at home with her daughter, but with students as a family and consumer science teacher at Lackawanna Trail Junior-Senior High School. It comes as no surprise to McDonnell that a lot of her students call the kitchen their favorite room in the house.
"Sometimes it's about the food and sometimes it's about a lot more than just the food," she said.
That's how McDonnell feels when she bakes Breakfast Muffins with her daughter, Mia. She found the recipe a few years ago from a registered dietician while looking for a healthy breakfast or snack and it quickly became a favorite in her family.
McDonnell mastered the recipe and made it her own, even changing up the ingredients from time to time. The recipe calls for zucchini, carrots and apples, but McDonnell sometimes puts in bananas, too. When her daughter doesn't want chocolate chips, she uses raisins or cranberries.
Bakers also can substitute whole wheat flour and chop the apples to their preferred size. McDonnell likes how it's a versatile recipe, and she usually makes a big batch of muffins to freeze and take out as they want them.
Though Mia happens to love vegetables and fruits, McDonnell said it's the perfect way to sneak them into a picky eater's diet.
"My daughter still loves to have them for breakfast," she said. "They're filling enough because they have so many different vitamins and nutrients in them, but they don't taste like they do."
McDonnell recommends using a gravy ladle to fill the muffin tin to avoid making a mess. She also applies nonstick spray to the liners.
"I like to try to simplify it, especially because when I'm having a kid help me, I don't want anything that's going to be too hard," she said. "I want her to be able to help me in the kitchen and feel like she can do it so that she wants to keep trying to build on that."
Originally a Spanish teacher, McDonnell transitioned to family and consumer science this year and likes being able to show students important life skills through hands-on learning, like cooking and maintaining a budget.
She also looks forward to teaching sewing, another skill she picked up with lessons from her grandmother. When she isn't at school, McDonnell sells her handmade purses and accessories through her small business, Sammy Lammy. This year, she's teaching interior design, food science and nutrition, and two levels of consumer science. Going forward, she hopes to incorporate dishes from around the world into the classroom so students can experience other cultures, just like she did while living in Spain.
"You're bringing in different backgrounds, and it brings people together and it gets them sharing," she said.
Contact the writer:
bwilliams@scrantontimes.com; 570-348-9100 x5107;
@BWilliamsTT on X.
