In this sweet class you’ll experience a bit of history while making two different styles of sweet bread.
Boston Brown Bread
This bread will be steamed in a can as done for generations. It is a dark bread rich with molasses and raisins.
Streusel Kuchen
This Germanic bread begins with a yeasted bread dough as a base and then a streusel is baked on it. You’ll learn the options for adjusting it to have fruit and/or custard instead of streusel.
With our Retail Food License upgrade comes great responsibility. 🙂
For three weeks we have published a menu for the next week. It is going quite nicely! Prepared food can be ordered hot (for immediate consumption) or cold for eating later (all reheat well in microwave or stovetop).
I keep the foods reasonably priced (which is a challenge in todays skyrocketing food prices 🙁 )
The Meal Kits are designed for you to have a hot meal that is unique. Kind of like the boxed meal kits (like Hello Fresh, etc.) but with most of the work already done. Not a box with whole potatoes, carrots, onions, you discover veggies chopped and in some cases, par-cooked. The sauces are already made. You will have some heat and/or assembly but not much.
Charcuterie boxes require at least 24 hours notice as they are made fresh for each order. 48 hours is best.
See this week’s menu below.
Cooking Classes Are in Full Gear
Our cooking classes are at pre-pandemic levels.
An expanded kitchen results in classes that occupy more space. Lots of new tools/topics have been added, like Tagine cooking.
A Moroccan class set up to learn how to use a tagine.
Old Handwritten Recipe Cards
Yesterday, I found an old recipe card box that has traveled with me in life’s journey for forty years. Apparently is was always to valuable to part with as I moved and/or transitioned through life.
As a teenaged bride, I wrote down my mother’s popcorn ball recipe and went on to use it many times over (as supported by the stains) to treat my own children. Then, there were my mother in law’s gumball bread (at every Christmas celebration) and Mac and cheese (at every 4th of July) in her own hand. She is gone now. But these are fond memories and go beyond simple recipes. My Aunt Rose brought a meatball dish to a family reunion in the late 1980’s…I HAD to have the recipe. I didn’t make it much but I remember the feeling of family and fun when I look at the recipe card. 🙂
I hope you have memories like these tucked away somewhere. They are a time capsule treasure.
Have guests coming for the weekend? Here is a recipe that is sure to please! Enjoy some “down-time” and relax with friends or come meet new ones while spending time in the Art of Cookery kitchen. You will learn to make Country Scones.
Included are great tips and tricks for baking pastries…and scones in particular. Students will make and bake scones and take theirs home.
This recipe is great for adapting to any seasonal fruit, dried fruit, chocolate chips.
There truly is a difference in flavor when making a pumpkin pie from natural ingredients…and we mean the pumpkin too. Learn how to easily make a pumpkin pie by opening ZERO cans of anything.
Upon arrival, participants will be putting a pie in the oven to bake while they learn all of the steps to getting to that point.
Start by making the pastry and learn tips for keeping it from getting soggy under the wet custard. Next, see how easy (and hands-off) it is to roast your own pumpkin, then. Finally, make the pie filling using items normally on hand, as well as learn a few ways to adapt it to your tastes and bring it to another level. At the end, get the pie from the oven while learning what it should look like when it is finished baking. Bring a pie home with you.
$35 per person or $60 for a team of 2 making one pie.
Want to learn how to make a great pie from scratch?
Does pie making challenge you? Chef Valerie says it shouldn’t, and she should know, she was named one of the top 6 Pie Makers in Michigan!
Join us for a pastry session that will make you famous. Learn to make pie crusts and follow it up with baking a tasty pie using in-season fruit. You’ll take your pie home to enjoy (and brag about)!
Truly with a few good tips it is easy to get rid of store-bought and be the pie maker that is famous in your family. Bring your beverage of choice if you wish.
You will start by assembling a pie and getting it in the oven. Then, while it is baking, learn all of the steps by making the pie pastry. Examples would be tips on adapting the recipe to any fruit pie, how to finish a great pie with various top pastry adaptions (lattice crust, cut-outs, rustic), and finishing options (egg wash, cream wash, etc.) Even learn about some tools that would be helpful.
In each box below, click on the name of the class you are interested in to see it’s description and schedule. Remember you can request a class to be scheduled at a time/date that suits your calendar. Use the Select by Category box to jump around by various topics. Don’t see a topic of interest? Make a request, the Chef loves a challenge.
Do you have a Dutch Oven? Do you know what one is? If you only have one pot in your kitchen, the versatile Dutch Oven is the one to have. Participants will learn how to bake bread, braise meat, bake a skillet cookie, and fry chicken. WHEW. Yes. You can do this and so much more. Ideally your Dutch Oven will be cast iron, but less durable ones work too.
Want to impress someone with a fun and thrilling skill? This class is for you! (Ages 21 and over only)
Flambé is the French word for “flamed” or “flaming. Spend some quality time with as a couple or with a friend learning to finish a dish with flair. This class starts with a demonstration of how to safely and properly conduct this technique and then participants will prepare a dish in teams of two. Finish by enjoying the dish you make together. Feel free to make it a date night by bringing your favorite wine or other beverage.
The dish prepared will vary so you can keep coming just for the time together and the great food. One time it will be Bananas Foster, another Steak Diane, or Greek Cheese Saganaki (OPA!), perhaps you’ll learn to prepare Cherries Jubilee or a Fish Flambe. Since the ingredients are different, as are the necessary liquors, the pricing will be determined by the dish. If you are the first to book the class, it is ok to request a specific dish from those named above. This a booking that is for 2-person teams. One booking and ticket price is for two people.
Make doughnuts so good and light no one would believe they are vegan and gluten free! You will learn baked and fried methods. History suggests that donuts (aka doughnuts) are a true American creation. Dating to the 1800s this pastry with a hole has developed over time into many varieties. In this session, learn the basics of making these vegan donuts and of course, make and eat donuts! We will using a deep fryer so long sleeves would be in order.