Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

Cookbook chapters are marked by quilt squares
designed by students; sewn by parents.

Students chart the
nation in recipes

By Betty Shimabukuro
Star-Bulletin

WHY not ask the president of the United States for a recipe? Aim high -- it's a good thing for children to learn. After all, the worst he can say is, "I'm too busy running the country."

At Liliuokalani School, the kids asked, and President Clinton sent them a recipe for Chicken Enchiladas. Vice President Gore offered Spiced Roast Chicken.

So now they have a cookbook, "History Comes Alive: A Collection of Favorite Recipes of America's Statesmen and Stateswomen," filled with recipes from current and former officials of the White House, Congress, the state Legislature and the City Council.

BUY THE BOOK Send: $15 plus $3 postage to Liliuokalani School, 3633 Waialae Ave., Honolulu 96816 Call: 733-4680

The project began with Julia McCullen's fifth-grade class in the 1997-98 school year. They wrote to the politicos, eventually collecting 250 recipes. When Clinton's arrived, McCullen says, "We just rejoiced in the classroom."

The cookbook was slowly compiled with volunteer parent labor and was just finished this year. It is being sold to buy playground equipment.

The students are now in middle school and McCullen is the school librarian. She's putting her recipe experience into play this year by challenging all grade levels to read cookbooks.

Students explore the many things cookbooks teach -- history (of cooking techniques), culture (through foods), geography (roots of ethnic dishes), mathematics (recipe breakdowns), etc. "I'm integrating the cookbook into the different disciplines. It's not just recipes."

BILL CLINTON'S CHICKEN ENCHILADAS

2 4-ounce cans chopped green chiles
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 28-ounce can tomatoes
2 cups chopped onion
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon oregano
3 cups cooked, shredded chicken
2 cups sour cream
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
15 tortillas
Vegetable oil for sauteing and frying

Saute chiles and garlic in vegetable oil. Drain and break up tomatoes, reserving 1/2 cup liquid. Add tomatoes, liquid, onion, half the salt and oregano to the chiles. Simmer uncovered until thick, about 30 minutes. Set aside.

Combine chicken, sour cream, cheese and remaining salt.

Fry tortillas in vegetable oil until limp; drain well. Fill with chicken mixture, then roll up and place in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Pour tomato sauce over enchiladas and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Serves 15.

Nutritional information unavailable.

Click for online
calendars and events.