to Ob1's fingernails....
I did an afterschool program yesterday with 5 6th-graders. We made a pico de gallo style salsa and a black bean & corn salsa. They had total control of how much heat went into each salsa. One group put 4 jalapenos in with 4 cans of beans/corn plus the onion/garlic, the recipe called for 2-3 jalapenos. The other group put 2 jalapenos in with 2 pound of tomatoes (plus the onions etc) BUT!!!! I had some orange habaneros available if anyone wanted to use them. The pico kids took about 2 cups of their salsa and added 1 habanero.
The hab pico was totally eaten by those 5 kids (and a LITTLE for myself...I was letting them eat as much as they wanted). A couple kids started picking through the salsas for big chunks of jalapeno to eat. 2 girls put some of the extra salsa into tubs to take home and then chopped up another habanero to add to their (about 1.5 cups) of salsa.
Tomorrow- Salsa Class with 3rd and 4th graders!!!!!
Same scenario, sans the sharp knives. The younger kids will have to deal with serrated table knives to cut their tomatoes and onions.