Young cooks rock the kitchen with their sellout baked treats

A cooking company run by three little chefs is fast gaining a delicious reputation*, selling out their baked treats without fail.

At the helm* of Kids Rock the Kitchen (KRTK) is 11-year-old Lucinda Gabb, from the Brisbane suburb of Alexandra Hills.

The budding cook, who practices her craft daily and reads recipes in her spare time, is enthusiastically supported by her junior partners, nine-year-old twin brothers Elliot and Lincoln.

The trio have been cooking up a storm through KRTK for the past 18 months and have diversified* their business plan by going online since the coronavirus outbreak.

First spotted with their “delectable” offerings outside their home, the industrious* cooks were soon invited to set up a stall at Alexandra Hills IGA supermarket.

“We literally sell out every time,” said Lucinda.

“The local community is really supportive and we have a couple of regular customers, but unfortunately we haven’t sold there in a while because of the pandemic.

“Most of our sales now are through the Redlands College community and online orders from our Facebook page.”

Lucinda, who got the cooking bug from mum Chanel, said running the company had given them all new skills.

“It’s awesome and my brothers and I are all in it 100 per cent,” she said.

“We’ve learnt so much, not just the cooking, there’s marketing, there’s budgeting and shopping for all the ingredients.

“The boys are a great asset* to the business, they are a big help and come up with lots of fun ideas.”

The company specialises in baked treats, from chocolate brownies to all different shapes, sizes and flavours of cookies and slices.

“Our jam drops, lemon slices and choc brownies with a twist are our bestsellers. We do these in packs of 12,” Lucinda said.

“We also provide lunch box goodies, including ham and cheese and vegemite baked scrolls. These are super delicious.”

Mum Chanel has been overjoyed by her daughter’s gastronomic* drive.

“It’s wonderful to see Lucinda invest her energies into her passion for cooking,” she said.

“She pretty much cooks every day.

“Her attention to detail and organisation skills are really improving, as is the kitchen clean-up, which we are very grateful for.”

KRTK donates 20 per cent of its earnings to charity. The siblings are also saving to buy a tinny* for adventure-loving twins Elliot and Lincoln.

GLOSSARY

• reputation: what they are known for
• helm: controls of the business
• diversified: make more varied
• industrious: hardworking
• asset: value
• gastronomic: relating to the cooking and eating of food
• tinny: small aluminium boat

EXTRA READING

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QUICK QUIZ

1. What is the name of the siblings’ business?
2. How long have then been cooking for their business?
3. How have they changed they way they sell their products since coronavirus?
4. Name three baked treats the kids make.
5. What percentage of their earnings do the siblings donate to charity?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Where’s the maths?
Lucinda, Elliot and Lincoln are getting lots of hands-on maths practice through operating their business. Think about the process of making and selling their baked goods from beginning to end. Make a dot-point list of all the different times throughout the process that they would need to use mathematical skills. How many can you think of? Compare your list with a classmate to see if there were any either of you missed.

Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Mathematics

2. Extension
Solve the following maths problems:

• If Lucinda, Elliot and Lincoln want to bake 10 trays of brownies, and each tray requires 1 cup of milk, how many litres of milk will they need?
• 1 litre of milk costs $1.90, how much will the milk for their brownies cost?
• If they bake the brownies in a tin that is 30cm x 20cm, and cut the brownies into bite sized pieces that are 3cm x 5cm, how many brownie bites will they get from one tray? (Hint: do a drawing to work out the answer.)
• How many brownie bites will they get from 10 trays?
• How many packets of 12 brownie bites will they be able to package up from the 10 trays? Will there be any left over?
• If a customer buys $12.35 worth of baked goods from KRTK and pays with a $50 note, how much change will they get?

Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Mathematics

VCOP ACTIVITY
Punctuation Thief
Pick a paragraph from the article, or about three sentences together if that’s easier, and rewrite it without the punctuation. At the bottom of the page write a list of all the punctuation you stole and in the order you stole it. For example: C , . C .

Then swap your book with another person and see if they can work out where the punctuation needs to go back to.

Make it easier: Underline where you stole the punctuation from but don’t put the list at the bottom in order.

Harder:

• Don’t put the punctuation in order at the bottom.
• Underline where you took the punctuation from, but don’t tell them what pieces you took.
• Just tell them how many pieces you took, but not what they are.
• Don’t give them any clues!

HAVE YOUR SAY: What business would you like to start?
No one-word answers. Use full sentences to explain your thinking. No comments will be published until approved by editors.