Returning back to ‘normal’ programming has been wonderful in the 4-H world, but there are some programs that have continued to work in a virtual manner. After much debate, the Grayson County 4-H Agent has continued to do cooking virtually through the 2023 program year. Pros for continued virtual cooking include: 1) allows youth to become more comfortable cooking in their home kitchen and learning to use their home tools; it also allows them to cook by themselves with parent monitoring, with siblings, or full parent involvement. 2) Food allergies and recipe modifications- it is much easier for a family to adjust recipes for their own need rather than the agent modify and by many separate items, especially for food allergies. Also, the recipes provided allow the youth(s) to prepare a meal for their family. They can work with their adult(s) to increase the recipe ingredients if needed for larger families. 3) Afterschool transportation to the Extension Office is difficult from the schools, especially for bus riders. Offering virtual cooking allows time for the kids to get off the bus at home, get supplies ready, and parents are not having to make multiple trips, take off work or leave farm work they may be in the middle of.

The agent emails the list of ingredients to the participants one week in advance to allow time for the families to shop/gather supplies, the day of, the recipe(s) are sent out with any pre-prep instructions. The intention with the recipes selected are simple enough the youth can prepare on their own (or on their own over time with practice) or limited adult assistance, and to have a recipe bank of easy to make meals to carry with them over the years. Families that have participated have enjoyed this method of cooking classes and continue to ask for them; virtual cooking will continue, as well as plans for in-person foods workshops/day camps.