How long do you think it takes a first grader to make butter? About five minutes and a great deal of energy.

We found this out last week when we welcomed 130 Banfield first graders for a Day in the Life event at the Hormel Historic Home. The kids were divided into groups and guided through three activities meant to take them back in time.

A tour through the home was led by a ‘maidservant’ from 1901. The kids and their chaperones were told about the daily life activities of a family and its help before the invention of modern technology. In another activity, the children were told about popular toys of the early 1900s.

They made and learned to play with button spinners. In the third station, the science of turning liquid into a solid was demonstrated through the making of butter. Five minutes of shaking a small jar of cream tired both the kids and the adult leaders, but the reactions of our visitors were fun to watch when the jars were opened to reveal the freshly made butter. The Day in the Life visit is designed to give the children a hands on and immersive experience that helps meet their social studies and science standards.

Butter wasn’t the only food item made in the home last week.

At the Foodie Throwdown chef teams competed for votes from a crowd of 175 people. Take a look at the menus below to see what you missed if you didn’t attend.

•Chef Kristine Wolner of Mayo Clinic Health System Austin/Albert Lea won the vote for main dish with bacon wrapped scallops. She also won the dessert category for her sangria sorbet.

•Chef Anthony Panichelli created Sichuan dumplings with braised pork belly and for dessert, presented black sesame ice cream sandwiches.

•Chef Wade Kolander started the event with a bacon wrapped jalapeño filled with cream cheese and water chestnut. He then made a classic chicken slider with bacon and avocado aioli. For dessert he served Bailey’s Irish Cream mini cheesecakes.

•Chefs Leah Erickson and Kim Schulte smoked some macaroni and cheese and served it with zesty meatloaf. Their dessert was carrot cake topped in rich cream cheese frosting.

•The chef team of Varinh Van Vugt and Missy Toupin sampled a traditional hot roast beef menu complete with mashed potatoes and green beans. Lemon-honey cream cheese phyllo cups completed their menu.

•Chef Gareth Hataye treated guests to an Asian pork belly bun during the appetizer round.

The flavors of all the dishes were outstanding, creative, and memorable.

Food brings people together, it provides joy, and it teaches. Guests aging from 6 to 80 enjoyed a delicious visit to the Hormel Historic Home last week.

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What’s happening at the HHH

Kids’ Music In Motion

• 10-11:30 a.m., Saturday, March 2
• Featuring Austin’s Ecumenical Bell Choir. $2 per child ages 2-12.