California's Cannon's California Rolls

California!  The Golden State.  The very adorable, eight year old Cannon Meiers won the 2016 Healthy Lunchtime Challenge for his home state.  He was one of the few kid chefs who was featured in the White House's video about the event.  Cannon has been featured in his home state's several newspaper articles and TV news broadcasts.

And, after the trip to the White House - it was so cool to see that he was part of the Sonoma County Fair and paired with California's celebrity chef Laurie Figone to make his award winning "Cannon's California Rolls"

Cannon's demonstration at the fair was sponsored by La Tortilla Factory - it looks like he had an amazing experience participating at the fair!

Part of our journey trying out each new recipe from the 2016 Healthy Lunchtime Challenge, we are learning about the state the recipe came from.  We learned about the year-round mild climate which helps California's growing season for many varieties of produce.

We experienced this comfortable weather in southern California when we lived in Arizona.  We took annual trips to visit the Pacific Ocean and our family who lives near Los Angles.  At Campland in San Diego, Jude learned to ride a bike without training wheels, he met Spiderman on the Hollywood Walk of Fame,

experienced Jedi Training at Disneyland during the holidays,

and we all watched the sunset at Zabriskie Point in Death Valley National Park:

California is a HUGE state and there is so much more to learn about it than a from a few visits.  So, we went to our library and found a few books about this great state and picked up some Pepperidge Farm Sausalito cookies on our way home to learn more about it.  

In "America The Beautiful: California" by Tamra B. Orr, we learned that the state capitol is Sacramento and how the "Great California Gold Rush" helped this territory to become a state. In "Letters from Home: Yosemite" by Lisa Halvorsen, we learned more about this wondrous national park, its inhabitants and touristy landmarks.  In "A Child's California" by Dan Harder, we looked at pictures of different plants, animals, cultures and attractions.  And in "Little California" block book, my two youngest read about the fun beaches, mountains and cable cars that can be found there.  

Now, onto the main event of making Cannon's California Rolls!  First, we assemble the ingredients: 

And we get to work! 

And then we plated it, set the picnic table outside and enjoyed this yummy meal!  In fact, the kids didn't even wait for me to take a picture before starting to dig in and eat.  And we added grapes on the side, just like Cannon suggested. 

Thanks Cannon!  We are so glad we tried your delicious recipe and we hope to make it again soon.  Keep up with your culinary creations and healthy eating - we look forward to seeing what you come up with next!