While we were in LA last week, we shot a video with Don Monopoli from The Learning Station, who is a very talented children’s entertainer. You’re probably thinking, how can a food based channel and a kids music channel doing a collab together? You put a Kindergarten teacher into the mix!
I first discovered The Learning Station a number of years ago while looking for fun songs to sing and dance to in my class. I had a couple of CD’s and subscribed to their channel when they started up on YouTube, so when I found out that Don was going to be in the same program we were in LA, I knew we had to do a collab. The kids in my class LOVE watching The Learning Station videos and LOVE dancing to the songs. They wave at Don every time the intro plays and let out a big “HI DON!” and wave to him excitedly. One of the girls really likes him as she thinks he’s “handsome”! If you have young kids, this is the BEST channel to subscribe to! Together with his wife Laurie, Don has created award winning songs, CD’s and travels all around doing live performances!
For our videos together, we decided to do a Rainbow Fruit Kebob on our channel and the Fruit and Veggie Hokey Pokey on Don’s channel. Since we were in LA, I wanted to use the fresh fruit that is available all year round there. It’s a nice healthy change from the regular treats on our channel, but I definitely won’t be sticking with it, sorry for those of you who are more health conscious!
Fruit Kebab
You will need a variety of colourful fruit, ideally ones that can be cut using small fondant cutters.
Some ideas for the different coloured fruits are:
red- watermelon, strawberries,
orange- cantaloupe, oranges, peach,
yellow- pineapple, pears
green- kiwi, honeydew melon,
blue- blueberries, blackberries,
purple- blackberries, grapes
You will also need:
wooden skewers
small fondant cutters
To assemble the fruit kebobs, slice fruit up as desired, and cut out any shape from the melons using the small cutters. Starting with the red fruit, slide it onto the wooden skewer, leaving about an inch from the end. Next, slide the orange fruit on, then the yellow, green, blue and finishing with the purple.
Watermelon Grill
small round watermelon,
wooden skewers,
celery,
blackberries,
clippers
To assemble the Watermelon grill, slice the watermelon in half, and you must first core out the watermelon leaving only a small thin layer of red fruit behind. You can use this for the fruit kebobs! Carefully carve out three or four small holes in the bottom of the watermelon half. Into these holes, insert celery sticks for legs to support the grill. Turn watermelon half back over and ensure that legs are supporting the grill. Place some blackberries in the bottom of the watermelon for the briquettes, and then insert wooden skewers about 1/4 of an inch from the top of the watermelon, making the “grilling” surface. Push the wooden skewers across the opening of the watermelon and insert into the opposite side. Using a knife or clippers, clip the excess skewers off. Place kebobs onto the grill and serve immediately!
Remember to check out Don’s video, and see me dancing the Fruit and Veggie Hokey Pokey.
