Cooking Class

In the introduction to Jamie's book, he challenges the apprentice cook to learn a recipe and then sign a "pass it on" pledge, promising that you will teach that recipe to a friend. Last year, soon after I started my food revolution, I thought a fun way to do this would be to have a cooking party. But, the more I talked about it, the more people wanted to come and the next thing I knew I was trying to figure out how everyone would fit in my kitchen. I started to make some calls to see if I could do it somewhere else and one of those calls was to my local Whole Foods. They have a culinary center and have classes and demonstrations in there weekly. My contact there, Frances, told me that they didn't really rent out the space but that my idea was very cool and asked what I thought about teaching a cooking class. I remember saying, "You got the part that I can't cook, right?" She thought it might be a great experience for their customers and it would help me fulfill the pass it on pledge. So, last Tuesday, my class was held. I was a bit nervous which is unlike me. I speak in front of people quite a bit so that part wasn't what was causing my insides to shiver. I was nervous about the cooking part. But, once I got there I met Robert who would be my helper for the evening. A graduate from the Culinary Institute of America, Robert had my back and I could tell. He made me feel right at home and I had a blast. I demonstrated three of my favorite recipes to my class: Quick Salmon Tikka with Cucumber Yogurt, Shrimp with Marie Rose Sauce and Pot Roast Meatloaf. It was fun to make these favorites again and everyone Oohh-ed, ahh-ed and MMmmmmm-ed there way through the evening. My class was a great mix of people and it felt as if my worlds were colliding that night. I'm so thankful that they all took the time to come. I had dear old friends and new friends, work friends and mom friends, new faces in the front that I was meeting for the first time and the face of my sweet husband cheering for me in the back. I guess I did well enough, Robert said I did great and they'd love to have me back!