Maryann and I have gone back to school.  Not as students, but as teachers at a local cooking school – Alice & Louise Catering and Cooking School.  This is new territory for us and we were a bit nervous about it.  Would anyone come?  Would our first subject be of interest?  Could we work the kitchen equipment?

We planned extensively.  We decided to feature whole grains and selected two dishes for our students to cook: Quinoa with Bacon and Roasted Apples and Kamut with Rosemary Roasted Parsnips and Grapes.  We developed a learning strategy, class plan, lesson plan, and talking points.  We held a mock class for friends and received valuable feedback.  We shopped, crosschecked our ingredient list several times over, packed and checked supplies again.  We were definitely prepared.

The class went off without a hitch.  Nichol (the Alice of the business) was there to assist and guide us through our preparation, answering questions along the way.  We were organized and ready when our students began to arrive.

The students worked in teams of two to create the dishes.  Several of our students had never tried our featured grains and some had never had parsnips nor considered pairing grapes with a savory dish.   Once the cooking was completed, we all sat down to enjoy their creations.  The dishes were wonderful, the students great fun and we all walked away feeling like we learned something new.  We had a blast.  We were at ease in A&Ls wonderfully well-equipped kitchen.  Now we feel like old pros and can’t wait to tackle our next class.

We invite you join us as we will be making it a monthly event the second Thursday of every month.  If you don’t live in the area and would like to experience a Mother Earth cooking class, drop us a line and we’ll see what we can do to accommodate you. We are all about spreading the love of healthy cooking and healthy eating wherever you are!