Classes etcetera

Contents:

• Cooking classes 
• Children's or mixed children's and adult classes
• Adult classes
• Dinner parties
• Additional services for individuals, small business, and corporations
• Cakes for all occasions
• Contact me
• What can cooking classes accomplish?
• Further information

Cooking classes:

Classes tend to run three to four hours. Class size is limited by such factors as age, space, choice of recipes; usually best is eight students or fewer(onlookers/tasters welcome). You supply a kitchen, I supply food - mostly organic - and any equipment not already available. Each student has the opportunity to take home some of what was prepared (baked goods, soup, rising cinnamon rolls to finish at home, etc.). Cost per student varies with materials (wine not included) and complexity of the class, usually from 15 to 35 dollars.

Your range of possible projects can be cooking, baking, or dinner parties and includes but is not limited to: soups and sauces, breads, pastry, holiday baking or gifts, cakes (wedding,  cupcakes, etc.), candy and chocolates, meats, fish, vegan entrees and vegetable cookery, cooking for a diet, knife skills, ethnic adventures, full course meals, wine or beer tastings and pairings... and combinations. You can learn something new or take the familiar further. 

Children's or mixed children's/adult classes:

Children tend to approach cooking as play, to take on anything, need fewer prompts than adults to indulge in sensual messiness, and seek a more direct route to get at a finished product(hopefully something involving chocolate or high calories). They subscribe to Mae West's dictum that too much of a good thing can be wonderful. I address safety issues first, and distinguish these as non-flexible. Beyond that, I stress that questions are good, mistakes are okay, and that cooking is not too hard. 

Most important, I believe, is to allow children to approach cooking as fun and easy -not hard and not work. They then own the process, explore the physics of food materials, employ finesse, or let too much waffle batter bubble out of the iron ...and learn. Learning is best when having fun, being curious, making choices, and enjoying ones' competence. And it is far more likely kids will enjoy veggies when they prepare them themselves, rather than being tricked into or pressured to eat them.

I demonstrate techniques to get things going and provide ongoing support on options and easier ways to do things; and tell tiny stories about food, but the kids do mostly everything themselves. They take home whatever might be leftover, plus confidence to repeat at home not only what they did in class but to try other things. 

I meet students where they are as cooks of any age, ability, or background. I like to stir interest in food's history and qualities, and the surprising power of even small decisions each of us make about food to effect not only the outcome for the particular dish being prepared, but also the health of our planet and it's people. 

Adult Classes:

Other than adults' desire for more challenge, different tastes, and broader experiences with food, adult classes work in much the same way as kids classes. In practice, I have found adults less willing to do things they imagine are "too hard". Getting beyond this tends to be a big ice breaker, and allows more relaxed appreciation of the class. As with children's classes, multiple batches of things are often being prepared; this provides opportunity to do a 'post mortem' on the results, analyzing where each choice had an effect. Mostly everything ends up with a range of qualities and appearances, as unique as the person who made it, and therefore good to eat in its own ways.

Dinner Parties:

Dinner parties can be a class and involve more or less hands on involvement, as chosen by students. Often, some people prefer to watch others work, or are interested in only certain things. In fact, a class can involve dessert only, for example, if everyone has already eaten or if prepared foods or appetizers are brought in. Alternately, I can work with you to prepare a dinner party, so you are not too exhausted from doing it yourself to enjoy your own party, and I can leave before your guests arrive. Finally, I offer full service dinner parties: fine dining and service in the comfortable context of your own home.

Additional services for individuals, small business, and corporations: 

• Independent living support for elders, children with special needs, and others.
• Behind-the-scenes support for events that challenge your schedule or skills.
• Dinner parties with full service and clean-up.
• Diet and menu support for weight maintenance. 
• Cooking for vegans, celiacs, and diabetics.
• Consulting - menu and recipe development, quality and cost control.
• Staff training, food service.  
• Corporate team building classes.   
• Customer service and marketing analysis.
• Time and money saving techniques for individuals and businesses.
• Sanitation and "green" cleaning consultation.
• Proficient in ASL and tactile ASL.

Cakes for all occasions:

The very best cakes for weddings and other celebrations. My cakes are high in flavor, incorporating ingredients of organic, precious, and extreme high quality. As works of

flavor art, even though larger than standard  serving size, my cakes are eaten down to the last crumbs and are long remembered. 

Contact me:

Please contact me via email with any questions. Please include the following information with your event or class request: 

• Name, telephone number (s), email address, event address.
• Event type, date, and time requested.
• Number of participants and pertinent information about participants.
• Basic information about the kitchen, equipment and space available, parking, etc.

What can cooking classes accomplish?:

• Broaden your menu options, enjoy time saving strategies. 
• Save money; enjoy a great dinner cooked for you at home.
• Save even more by increasing your confidence and learning to do it yourself. 
• Make a night-in with friends unique - no need for television.
• Support educational goals for typical and special needs students.
• Improve reciprocity and communication in your work group. 
• Show you how to cater your own wedding, or make your own wedding cake.
• Allow yourself or children to enjoy vegetables, honestly, without hiding them.
• Benefits are as individual as your need.

Further information:

Those I teach include individuals with learning and/or executive function problems, downs syndrome, mobility issues, sensory issues such as blindness, sensory integration disorder, and autism spectrum disorders. I also build and recommend physical adaptations for disabled cooks. 

I've taught classes at Harvard University's Signet Society, Whole Foods Markets, The Boys and Girls Club, The Deaf-Blind Contact Center, elementary and middle schools, adult education, and private homes. As a professional chef on job the I've taught scores of individuals over the years in various day to day kitchen and cooking tasks. At Harvard, I prepare four or five course lunches, dinner parties, and other meals at Signet, a long established and exclusive society of arts and letters. Past experience includes fine dining seafood, French, Tex-Mex, and  Japanese restaurants, old fashioned confectionary and chocolate making, "high-end" catering, wedding cake production, and university dining services. I trained under James M. Berrini, CEC, AAC and Arthur P Buccheri, CEC, AAC.