Getting Started (pre 2016)

Assuming you have contacted your scout leader and received a blue card for the Cooking Merit Badge here is some information to help you know what to do next.  

1. ORDER: It is part of requirements 5- 7 that you use the information you learn in requirements 1-4, therefore you MUST do 1-4, FIRST.

We've also learned from experience over the last year that while it is not necessary, it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you also do 5-7 IN ORDER since they get progressively more demanding as you go.

2. WORKSHEETS: To print the Cooking Merit Badge Workbook go HERE (please do not use the ones links from BSA). This will take you to the Document Center for this blog that has several documents to help you with this Merit Badge. It will take a bit to familiarize yourself with them, but they will save you a LOT of trouble in the end.

3. REQUIREMENT INFO: Posts to help you with each requirement can be found listed in the "Requirement Posts" Box. These are meant to guide you through and offer you some clarifications, and address frequently asked questions, but do not just give you all the answers.  

4. BSA RESOURCES: To access a list of helpful links from the BSA go HERE.

Sadly this is not a well-maintained list so keep in mind the following tips to make it more useful.

--The BSA video links, put out by the BSA don't work so you have to google the video title to find it and it seems you have to download it in order to watch it

--The ehow videos automatically go to whatever their featured video is so you have to type the name of the video you actually want into their search box.

--Also they haven't updated and it has MyPyramid instead of MyPlate links. I have details on finding what you need on the entry for MyPlate, HERE for requirements a & b and HERE for c & d.

If you are in unit 1826 view the flow chart for blue cards HERE.

Here is a step by step list for this merit badge.  If you want a printer friendly version of this chart click HERE (it can also be found in the Document Center)

	Scout	Parents and/or Leader
1	Scout lets his leader know he’s interested in doing the cooking merit badge. Scout keeps blue card in a safe place	Leader gives scout Merit Badge Counselor’s (MBC) contact information.  He also fills out, signs and dates the front of the Blue Card and gives it to Scout.	Parents make sure he doesn’t lose the card.
2	BEFORE he begins to work on the merit badge the Scout contacts the counselor and schedules a meeting. This 1st meeting (and preferably all) should include a parent (whichever one will be most involved in the process)
3	Scout comes to meeting with the Printed Workbook and a parent.  This first meeting is just an introduction to explain all that needs to be done and to make sure they understand the process.  It takes about an hour.	Parents come to meeting.
4	After we have met the scout can begin work on requirements 1-4.  The information they learn doing these requirements are to be integrated into requirements 5-7 so they really must be done FIRST.  This blog is to help you with these requirements so use it.  You may do requirement 8 whenever.
5	When finished with requirements 1-4 contact the Counselor again for a meeting.
6	Meeting.  This one will also be about an hour. We’ll go over what you’ve done for 1-4 and discuss what needs done next.	Parents come to meeting.
These next few steps will be repeated as needed to get requirements 5-7 completed.  It is recommended that you do these requirements in order, but they may overlap some.
7	Plan your menus using MyPlate, also keeping in mind food restrictions of any you are cooking for. (wait to do quantity and cost).
8	When you have planned your menus and made a shopping list and double checked that you've actually done the entire requirement up to this point . . . email that menu and list to me or meet with me again briefly for a quick check that it’s sufficient.  Make sure all food groups are well-represented.  You don’t need to do quantity or cost yet.  This way if you need to tweak it you don’t have to redo as much.
9	Once I’ve approved your menu go ahead with quantity and cost.
10	Meet with me again to pass off all you’ve done so far.	Parents come to meeting.
11	Actually prepare the meals using the safe handling practices and consideration of the outdoor code and leave no trace as discussed previously	Parents let them use your kitchen and drive them to the store as needed
12	Get an evaluation from those you served the meals to (best to do this in writing at the time)	Offer real feedback.
13	Do requirement 8, if you haven’t already.
14	Meet with me yet again with your evaluations and I’ll sign off on those and we can discuss requirement 8 if we haven’t before.  I complete your blue card and keep one portion of it.	Parents come to meeting.
15	Scout returns completed, signed Blue Card to Leader.	Leader reviews and returns to Scout.
16	Scout delivers final approved Blue Card (2 parts) to Advancement Chairman (Sister Thurman).	Unit records & reports advancement, secures awards, retains Unit copy of Blue Card, and prepares award for Scout Court of Honor.
17	Scout receives his portion of blue card and an award card with his merit badge and must keep them for his records.	Beam with pride! (and make sure the blue card is stored safely)