In Helen's Kitchen

I did it--I taught a cooking class in my own kitchen! After teaching at CCAE for several years, I decided it would be fun to offer classes to groups of 6-8 people who know each other and like playing with food. It was also a welcome change to cook with my own equipment without having to drag it somewhere else. We cooked, we drank wine, we laughed, we took pictures, and we had a great time. The only problem was that we ended up with too much food.

The theme of the class was "Fall Harvest". We made:

• Salad with pears, candied pecans, and blue cheese
• Butternut Squash Soup
• Potato Gnocchi with Mushrooms and Sage Butter
  
• Swordfish Provencal

Here we are enjoying our salads, wine, and cheese


Gnocchi (left) and Swordfish (right)

We learned all kinds of cooking techniques: from infusing butter with sage to testing fish for doneness. The most important tip was using the "claw grip" to cut veggies and herbs -- that's how we made sure to slice the onions, not our fingers.

Thank you so much to Kristin, Mike, Loren, Helen, Audrey, Carly, and Greg! I loved cooking with you guys.

For more information, check out the Helen's Kitchen website.