Helen Puckett DeFrance learned to cook under her grandmother, Helen Todd, creator of the Camp Blackberry cooking program for kids at Blackberry Farm near Knoxville, Tennessee. DeFrance followed in Todd's footsteps, using her Montessori training and love of food to start her own cooking program for children, THYME to Cook!—which she presents in schools across the country—at the Everyday Gourmet in her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi, and at Viking Cooking Schools nationwide.
Q. Tell me a little bit about your cooking classes for children.
A: I teach around 100 kids a week, from ages 3 to 13, through my cooking program, THYME to Cook! They learn cooking essentials: how to follow recipes, measure, mix, and chop—and to always put safety first. We stir up something new and delicious each week while learning important life skills.
Q. What's the most memorable meal you've eaten or prepared?
A: Boiled, fresh-off-the-boat shrimp served on paper plates with a cold Barq's Root Beer and corn and new potatoes cooked in crab boil. I've enjoyed that meal around the kitchen table with at least 15 family members and friends.
Q. What's your biggest cooking disaster?
A: When we were living in Dallas. We had just moved in to a new home, and we invited neighbors over for a cookout on the grill. We had two big Collies, and they ate the steaks off the grill!
Q. Guilty food pleasure?
A: Anything chocolate.
Q. What do you cook at home?
A: My 16-year-old son loves to grill fish. Being near the Gulf of Mexico, we have access to fresh seafood, so we grill a lot of shrimp and fish along with vegetables, and toss them with pasta.
Q. Who inspired you to become a chef?
A: I learned to cook at the apron strings of my grandmother, Helen Todd.
Q. What is your best cooking tip?
A: Mise en place—this is the first thing I teach the kids in all of my classes. I tell them having your mise en place—your ingredients ready to use as the recipe directs—helps to make following a recipe easy and fun, and if you do this, your parents are more likely to let you cook more often.
Q. Favorite kitchen tool?
A: Viking Hand Blender with chopper attachment. It is great for making sauces, salad dressings, and chopping and mincing.
Q: Do you have tips for getting picky kids to eat?
A: When they are involved with the meal-making process, they tend to try it.
Q: If you haven't shopped in a week and need to prepare a quick family meal, what do you make?
A: Angel-hair pasta with vegetables and herbs from my kitchen garden.
Q: How often do you cook and how often do you get takeout?
A: I usually cook at least five nights week, Sunday through Thursday. Friday and Saturday I cook if I am entertaining. Otherwise, those are nights out with friends.
Q: Do you have favorite food-related charity or cause?
A: My favorite cause is the St. Andrews Lower School Kitchen Garden. I helped create this garden a year ago in hopes of teaching children where food comes from and to eat locally.
