Cooking Class

Cody gave me a neat and thoughtful gift for Christmas: 2 cooking classes at Central Market. I had my first class last night which was about hearty soups. The class is hands on, so about 2 dozen of us were split into 2 groups, each with a teacher, to dice, stir, peel, etc as we made 5 soups together. It was so much fun! The staff poured wine liberally to the students as we cooked, the smells of the food were mouth-watering, the teacher was smart and informative, the fellow students jovial and enthusiastic. I picked up at least a dozen great tips on kitchen techniques throughout the 2.5 hour course. One of the coolest was learning how to completely seed a roma tomato in about 3 seconds. At the end of class, we all feasted on our creations. And I do mean feast. It was almost more than I could eat.

The beautiful French Onion Soup topped with crouton and Gruyere cheese...

Other soups we made: Italian Wedding, Turkey Tortilla, Butternut Squash Bisque...

And my absolute favorite of the evening in the front bowl...Cream of Asparagus. It was so creamy and delectable, but the best part was the baked prosciutto chips we dropped into it before serving. Oh. Man. Sooooooo yummy.

As we finished up our bowls of soup, the staff set up an ice cream sundae bar for dessert. I didn't think I could possibly eat another bite, but the words "Spiced Rum Butterscotch Sauce" got my attention and caused me to fix a bowl. I was glad I did.

I get to take another class in February on Thai Food. I am super excited about that because I love Thai food but have no idea how to prepare it. This has turned out to be a perfect gift for me...Cody did a good job! Of course, he gets to sample all the wonderful dishes I learn about then make at home, so it's a bit of a gift for him, too.