After a week of learning how to chop, slice, season and grow ingredients, 17 attendees of the Wylde Culinary Arts Camp at Wylde Center Oakhurst Garden were putting their skills to the test in a high-stakes competition.

The four groups, each made up of four to five kids, received baskets of ingredients they were required to incorporate into a complete and composed meal, along with whatever they could find in the pantry. The required ingredients included plums, farro, a can of chickpeas, summer squash and a baguette.

They had two hours in Wylde Center’s Decatur kitchen to create a set of dishes that would impress the eight judges who waited outside with empty plates and stomachs.

Lifestyle reporter Olivia Wakim had the great honor of being one of them.

“I’m not a parent, so I haven’t spent much time with kids as an adult and really had no idea what to expect from this group of knife-wielding 10-year-olds,” Wakim writes. “After reading so many doom-and-gloom articles with headlines predicting the collapse of learning, mass illiteracy and the death of critical thinking in young people at the hands of technology — in other words, the epidemic of ‘iPad kids’ — I wasn’t too sure what I’d find.”

Wakim adds, “I’m happy to say the success of this competition chipped away at those pessimistic predictions.

“All four groups of children delivered multiple dishes that were not only edible, but downright tasty.”

In the end, team “Non-Chilantro” took home the overall prize, but Wakim says the entire competition proved the upcoming generation knows a thing or two about throwing down in the kitchen.

🍽️ Read more: When Wakim arrived for her judging duties, she recalls thinking, “It was like stepping into a hurricane.”

We are rounding up pop-up residencies with schedules consistent enough to earn an “every” on your weekly calendar. These recurring takeovers offer set hours each week or month, taking the pop-ups one step closer to their own brick-and-mortar dreams.

Note: This list strictly features indoor residencies; residencies at farmers markets were not included.

Here are a few to check out:

🫓 Lebanese flavors from Habibi’s

Who: Habibi’s (@habibisatl) from Fadi Alkaasamani.

When/Where: Mondays-Fridays, 7-11:30 a.m., and Wednesdays, 11:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Chow A La Carte (@chow_a_la_carte). 2440 Piedmont Road NE, Buckhead.

Why you should check them out: Born in Russia and raised in Lebanon, Alkaasamani leverages his classical Swiss fine-dining pedigree to elevate everyday comfort foods, infusing approachable breakfast bowls and pizzas with authentic Lebanese flavors. Try the Lebanese breakfast bowl loaded with batata harra potatoes, eggs, housemade sujouk (a dry, spicy fermented sausage) and feta or grab a fresh-baked mankoushe flatbread topped with cheese and za’atar. For the pizzas, consider the sujouk pie with fermented pepper tomato sauce and olive oil sourced straight from Alkaasamani’s father’s 500-year-old trees back in Lebanon.

🥟 Polish food from Beksa Lala

Who: Beksa Lala (@beksa_atl) from Basia Piechoczek.

When/Where: Mondays, 5-9 p.m. Breaker Breaker (@breakerbreaker_atl). 921 Wylie St. SE, Reynoldstown.

Why you should check them out: Born in the U.S. to Polish immigrants, Piechoczek launched her pop-up to connect with her heritage and share the traditional methods she learned in her grandmother’s kitchen. Her current theme is “Baltic girl summer,” featuring Polish coastal dishes. She often collaborates with other pop-ups to create unique cross-cultural menus.

🍖 Atlanta-inspired Texas craft barbecue from Misfitsss

Who: Misfitsss (@misfitsssbbq) from Bryan Hull and Tyler Heath.

When/Where: Saturdays, noon until sold out, and Sundays, 1 p.m. until sold out. (Misfitsss will be on vacation the first two weekends of August.) Round Trip Brewing Co. (@roundtripbeer). 1279 Seaboard Industrial Blvd. NW, Underwood Hills.

Why you should check them out: Hull and Heath blend Texas craft barbecue with Atlanta’s identity, incorporating global spices from Buford Highway and occasional collaborations with local chefs. Saturdays feature limited quantities of ribs and their signature deep-cut platter (beef cheek, pork steak, sausage and several sides), while Sundays swap those out for a pork belly plate with cheesy grits and a smoked cheeseburger. The rest of the lineup, including the weekly specialty sausage and rotating desserts, is available both days.

📋 Read more: Check out Punk Foodie’s running list of reoccurring Atlanta pop-ups.

Sandwiches for dinner are an easy weeknight win any time of year, but especially over the next month amid back-to-school chaos. (Or, if you don’t have school-age kids to feed, the regular chaos that the end of summer brings.)

The sandwiches don’t need to be boring in order to be quick and simple — consider gyros. Made from flavor-packed ground meat (in this case, lamb), plus creamy and crunchy toppings and warm toasted pita bread, gyros are a crowd-pleasing, DIY dinner that comes together quickly.

💡 Double-duty ingredients build flavor in ground meat and make perfect toppings for lamb gyros

One trick to cooking with limited ingredients is to choose ingredients that can do double duty. Using a sauce or a seasoning in multiple places means you can take full advantage of its flavor profile and create a well-rounded dish without using half your pantry. In this recipe, three key ingredients are used twice: onion, tzatziki and dried oregano.

💡 Large lamb patties cook quickly and slice easily for gyros

Gyro meat is usually cooked on a rotating vertical rotisserie (hence the name, which in Greek means “turn”), but this is impractical in a home kitchen. Luckily, there are other ways to achieve a similar result, and the simplest is to form the meat into patties, then cook and thinly slice.

💡 Build-your-own gyro sandwiches make a kid-friendly dinner

When it comes time to eat, you can assemble the sandwiches in the kitchen or, do as I do with my kids, serve the meal like a taco bar. Bring out the meat, onions, pita and sauce, along with any other toppings you can wrestle up (chopped cukes and diced tomatoes work well). Let everyone build their gyros just as they’d like.

🥙 Get the full recipe for this easy, kid-friendly dinner.