THE RELUCTANT GOURMET COOKING COMMUNITY

[iansmom]

Hello All... my first post here.

A little background... My mother didn't cook and my grandmothers were gone before I was old enough to walk, so I had no role models in the kitchen. My father worked as a manager in a restaurant and he is the one that taught me most of what I know in the kitchen.

That being said, I LOVE to bake! The Toll House Cookie recipe on the back of the package of chocolate chips - Easy! Boxed mix cakes - Voila! But when it came to anything more than that, I was intimidated. Watching shows on TV, the chefs would say stuff like, "Oh, you'll know the consistency when it gets there." Well, no. I won't know the consistency, because I've NEVER done this before.

So when I wanted to learn how to make pies, I took a "Chef's Choice" weekend class at Johnson & Wales University. Now, I'm the one that provides dessert for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

That class was so helpful, I enrolled in more! Breads, Cupcakes, Cake decorating and, venturing outside of baking, I'll be taking a sauces class in January.

Now, as I said before, my mother does not cook. But she sees me taking the initiative to seek classes that are going to make me a better cook. And she wants to join me. We live in different states on the East Coast and have tried to begin an annual Mother/Daughter trip in the fall. So she suggested that next year, we spend out M/D weekend in a cooking class.

So, my reason for posting is, where can I find weekend culinary classes that we can have a "girl's weekend" and head off and enroll in these type classes together? We're both willing to travel to get there with an extra day or two to explore the area (if we've never been there before.)

Here's hoping that some of you will have some excellent suggestions for us to investigate!

[jfield]

That is a great story! I know that lots of country inns offer cooking weekends--you might look into that on bbonline.

Good luck, and welcome to the forum

[Dilbert]

iansmom -

certainly attending some 'cooking lessons' will be of great help, but don't overlook 'learning by doing'

"you know the...." well, if you observe what you are doing, and observe what the results are, somewhere between the second and third attempt, by golly, you _will_ know when you've gotten there.

don't be afraid to experiment - if you did it once and it didn't look quite like the picture, next time push the edge of your comfort zone.

the best example I can think of is "browning meat" - well, there's turning red meat the color brown, and then there's developing a crispy edge dark browned really yummy bit of meat. you just have to be willing to "let it ride and see what happens" - it's not likely the last time you'll ever get to eat, so push a little. and yes, now and then it doesn't work out . . .

[wokstar]

Wonderful thing to do together, people have come from as far as Seattle. Many mother/daughter/sons have come to my cooking class. If you ever want to visit South Florida, Miami's weather is GORGEOUS this time of year, sunny during day, cool in evenings where you can sit out on Lincoln Rd, enjoy a meal and people watch.

I focus on using fresh ingredients to make home style, delicious, weeknight dinners cooked in a lightweight cast iron wok with little cleanup and eliminates all the "what's for dinner?" syndrome.

You don't need any cooking experience, it's a great way to meet people in a social environment and you're learning at the same time.

Hope you'll consider this.

[ninjabut]

Wokstar, I hope you are going to be offering us some wok tips, and aren't just "selling" your classes!
How about a couple of "favorite recipes" or offering up a "what's for dinner" to get you (and us) rolling on some healthy stir fry tips?

[Reluctant Gourmet]

I just wanted to let everyone know I have been speaking with wokstar and and hope to be able to persuade her to offer up some tips and ideas for those of us who want to learn more about stir fry. There may even be an interview that will be full of great suggestions. Stay tuned.
RG