When Meredith Coiner lost her job as a food service administrator for a school, she didn’t fiddle around long before she launched The New and Seasoned Cook business.“I had to find some way to support myself and sons,” she said. “So I started my cooking school in March.”She started by offering adult cooking classes, but when summer neared and kids were going to be out of school, she started Children’s Cooking Summer Day Camps. Parents can choose a three-day or five-day camp for up to eight students ages 8 to 17. The camp day starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 4:30 p.m.“We always do three recipes each day,” she said. “The first thing in the morning we do a recipe, then take a break. Maybe go down to the park or play with water guns in the backyard. I break up the day with different activities so they are not cooking the entire time they are here.”A bonus for parents is that their child takes home leftovers.“Parents really like this since they don’t have to cook a meal,” she said.The most exciting day is the last day of camp, when children use the cooking skills they have learned to compete in an “Iron Chef”-style competition. This contest has a pantry of foods that the contestants can select from. There’s also a mystery ingredient they must use.We visited Coiner’s camp on July 23, when one of the Iron Chef contests was under way. Four campers — McKenna Ramsay, 11, Haley Marsh, 10, Seth Duran, 10, and Logan Ramsay, 11 —were busy chopping and dicing ingredients to be used to create a wrap. Haley and Seth had each won the “Iron Chef”-style contest at previous camps they had attended this summer. For this day’s contest, the mystery ingredient was cilantro.“I have them prepare two recipes that they have learned to make during the camp,” Coiner said. “For today’s contest, they will make a wrap and a hamburger.”Coiner judges the contestants based on how well they practice the cooking skills they’ve learned and how well they execute the dishes. The winning camper takes home a trophy.It’s not surprising to learn that these kids got interested in cooking after watching the Food Network.“I love ‘Ace of Cakes,’” Seth said. “I’d probably like to be a chef someday.”Haley is a “Food Detective” fan.“You learn all of sorts of things on that show,” she said. “For instance, the three-second rule is not true. Food that hits the floor has the same amount of germs whether it’s picked up in less than three seconds or not.”Out of all the recipes they had prepared that week, Rosemary Chicken and Lemon Chicken got two thumbs up.“Touching the raw chicken was creepy,” Haley said. “It’s like this different texture. But once I got used to it, it wasn’t so bad. And it really tasted good. My mom was glad I brought some of that home.”Chocolate truffles were another winner.“They were hard to do, but definitely worth it,” McKenna said.A self-taught chef, Coiner moved all the furniture from her living room to the basement to make room for her cooking classes. She put in some metal storage shelves for holding equipment and hung some colorful pictures of food. Four white 6-foot-long, plastic work tables with folding chairs complete the classroom.With summer drawing to an end, she will have one more Children’s Cooking Summer Day Camp, which will be held next week. It’s a five-day camp for ages 10 to 16 and costs $270. Registration is required by today. Visit thenewandseasonedcook.com for a complete list of classes, or call 964-4443 for details. See a video of the “Iron Chef”-like contest, which McKenna won, at gazettedev.gazette.com in the Local Videos area.

McKenna Ramsay, center, won a trophy in the “Iron Chef”-style competition at a cooking camp for kids. Each camp ends with a competition. Photo by JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE