My First Cooking Class!

My First Cooking Class

When we were dating Doug and I made a deal.... if we were going to be an item, I was going to have to learn to cook. I agreed with the condition that he was going to have to learn to dance! Over the last 5 years I have been watching a lot of Rachael Ray and trying many recipes. I have gotten a lot better, but still have room to grow.

Thanks to Groupon, I finally did something I have been wanting to do for a LONG TIME! I took a cooking class - live, in person. You know with my very own cook station! Look how beautiful it was when I showed up! 

The class was at The Learning Kitchen in West Chester. Within the 2 hours we learned to cook three meals, each a "20 Minute Pasta". The classes are listed online, and upload the first of every month, for the next month. They fill up so quickly! I bought my Groupon (half off my class) in May and scheduled my class finally on August 1st. 

The Cooktop has room for 10-12 students, each with our own workstation. I took the class on my own, but I thought how fun it would be to share the experience with friends or family. 

We started talking about all the instruments and appliances we would be using. Then the instructor gave us a short knife skills lesson. I realized that I have been holding the knife wrong all this time (no one had shown me!) So I now know how to hold a knife more stable, and a how to cut to protect the knife as well as my own hands. We cut up everything that we would need for all three meals: onion, garlic, tomato, mozzarella, red pepper, green onion, basil, cilantro and parsley. 

Here are some pics from the cooking process:

Here are the finished meals:

1) Linguini with Roasted Tomatoes and Herb Panko Topping

2) Chicken Cutlet with Lemon Parsley Sauce over Angel Hair (pictured below on the left) 

3) Ziti with Steak and Chipotle Sauce (pictured above on the right)

I think that they turned out REALLY good. I was groaning as I ate them. There was no takehomasak, so I only had a little of each of them. I will have to make them for Doug, soon. 

If this was cheaper, I would love to do more classes. It was fun, easy and I could totally follow along. I can cross one more thing off my bucket list. My first cooking class, but hopefully not my last!