Thinking About Trying A Cooking Class?

Whether you are a seasoned pro when it comes to the fine art of cooking or an utter novice there should be some cooking classes or resources in your area that can help you learn and improve your existing skills. Surprisingly few people manage to utilize the many wonderful opportunities that are available to them when it comes to cooking classes.

Large and small skillets (Photo credit: Wikipedia)If you are considering a cooking class you should be glad to know that many communities offer them for a nominal fee at night and sometimes on the weekend. These classes are rather basic and often designed to help women learn the basics of a few economical and healthy meals to prepare for their beginning families. If you fit the bill for this, then you should check out your local library for possible leads for these sorts of classes in your area. Even if they do not have the information available it is quite likely that they can point you in the right direction.

If you are looking for cooking classes that you can take with your children, check out your library once again for the first resource. There are also many gourmet food shops that offer cooking classes for parents to take with their children. This is a great opportunity to bond with your child while you both learn to prepare a new dish or two together. It is quite likely that you will be quite surprised by the things you can learn from your child as well as the things you can learn by simply taking the class.

For those among us who are seeking culinary experience with very specific cuisines you will have to search a little more for the perfect cooking classes in which you can achieve your goal. They do exist however, though your chances of learning Thai cooking are much greater in a larger city than in smaller towns throughout the country. If you are really interested in learning some exotic cooking techniques perhaps you should consider a vacation in which you can try out a few new cooking classes while you are there. If you prefer other things on your vacation to cooking A cook sautees onions and peppers. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)you could make a point of attempting one basic class in the cuisine of your choice for each vacation you take. This will give you a little more than the same old souvenir to bring back from your trip and an experience that in many cases is quite memorable.

Finally, if you are looking for a romantic idea, how about signing up to take a couples cooking class? Believe it or not, these classes are often offered in both big and smaller cities. They seem to be all the rage around Valentine's day, perhaps the hint is that the other partner in a relationship can share some of the cooking responsibility or perhaps the idea is that there is more than one way to steam up the kitchen.

Regardless of the reason for taking cooking classes they can bring not only a great deal of enjoyment to your dining room, but also increase your ease in your kitchen. If you've never taken a cooking class, there is no time like the present to do so. No matter how skilled you are in the kitchen there is always something that can be learned.

5 Tips for Cooking a Successful Meal From Scratch

Today I wanted to share a few helpful tips that may come in handy during your scratch-cooking endeavors. Obviously preparation is key, but here are a few helpful hints that can make your cooking experience easier, more fruitful, and fun!

1. Plan ahead.
Planning out your meals for the week ahead of time can keep you on track, save stress later on, and prevent falling into the common trap of eating quick and unhealthy fast food meals because you are pressed for time and can't think of anything to prepare. Typically (unless you have a very large family of hungry teenagers!) you can get away with cooking a large meal only 3-4 times per week, and using the leftovers on the other days. This can also help avoid extra shopping trips, as you can plan what ingredients you need, and shop for these all at one time, so you are prepared for the rest of the week.

2. Use simple recipes with ingredients you already have on hand.
This can mean the difference between frustrating, time-consuming (and costly) extra shopping trips, and an easy, quick, and stress-free cooking experience. I try to only shop once per week (less during the summer, when my CSA share provides almost all of my grocery needs).  It's great to try new and more complicated recipes from time to time, but if you try to plan a gourmet feast every day of the week, you're going to get overwhelmed and burn out before too long, and risk slipping back into the "quick-fix" convenience foods habit. I've been cooking for years, but some of my favorite tried-and-true recipes only have 5-7 ingredients, at the most. Keep it simple, and make it easy on yourself!

Image via Wikipedia3. Have all your stuff together ahead of time.
The easiest way to to cook a successful meal is to have all your ingredients and tools close at hand. This may mean you need to reorganize your kitchen, if you haven't cooked much before. Try cooking a meal and paying particular attention to every tool and utensil that you use -- how easy it is to get to it, and where might be a better location for easier access in the future. (If you're new to cooking and not sure what utensils you need, and which are essential to have on hand, visit our website for some recommendations: http://www.newholisticliving.com/cookingfromscratch.html.)

It is also helpful, especially if you are preparing something with a number of ingredients, to have all of your ingredients washed, peeled, and chopped before you begin cooking. Once you are more experienced and know how long everything takes to cook, you will be able to utilize cooking time to prepare the next ingredient, but if you are just starting out or getting used to a certain recipe, it can be a real time (and stress) saver to have all your ingredients prepped and in bowls, ready to add at the appropriate time. (If you have kids, get them involved in the process and have them help out with this!  There is little better that you can pass down to your children than the knowledge of how to prepare their own healthy meals.)

4. Experiment.
Once you get the hang of what you are doing, have some favorite recipes on hand, and have developed your own rhythm in the kitchen, it's time to get creative!  Cooking can be a great creative outlet, and it lets you test your talent out on your tastebuds, so you can always know what you need to improve on. Try adding your own twist to favorite recipes you've already tried. Or try new and more challenging fare. Or, once you really get used to combining flavors, cooking techniques, and timing, create your own recipes from scratch!  I just came up with a new one this week, which tasted like a creation from a 5-star restaurant, and only took 20 minutes (and had only about 5 ingredients).  I will post it later this week (to give you something to look forward to), so make sure to come back and check it out!

5. And above all, have fun!
Cooking doesn't have to be a chore or an ordeal -- it can be easy, simple, and even relaxing. It can be a great stress reliever, or even a good way to bond with your spouse or children. Preparing ahead and having a plan and everything close at hand will remove the element of stress and frazzle, giving you more time to enjoy the experience. So put on some music, open the windows, grab a glass of wine, and get cooking! You, your mouth, and your tummy will be glad you did.

Related articles on Simple Cooking Tips:

• Kitchen tips acquired along the way (anotherwineblog.com)
• Conscious Shopper Challenge: Learn to Cook (greenphonebooth.com)
• Creativity in the Kitchen (groupon.co.uk)
• Weekend Cooking for Week Long Eats (eatdrinkbetter.com)
• Ten Tips to Simplify Meal Planning (creativeorganizing.typepad.com)

Cooking Basics for Beginners

I thought I'd start off today with with some encouragement for new cooks....

When it comes to cooking, it is important to keep in mind that everyone started Image via Wikipedia
somewhere. I do not know of a single person who was born with a wooden spoon (though I've heard of a silver spoon, but that's another matter). There is a lot of learning that must be done in order to become a prolific cook and then there is always room for improvement. Not only do you need to begin with the basics when it comes to cooking but you almost need to begin again when learning to cook a new cuisine such as Chinese, Thai, or Indian food.

This means that at any given time in your cooking learning cycles there is quite probably someone somewhere that is better and/or worse at cooking than you. Take heart from this because even the best have bad days when it comes to cooking!  I can't tell you how many unpleasant results I've experienced over the years, and even now, when most people rave about my cooking, there is still the occasional miss. But it's nothing to get upset about - there's always a new and better recipe for tomorrow!

People cook for many different reasons. Some cook in order to eat and survive while others cook because they actually enjoy the process of cooking. Some cook during times of emotional upheaval and others cook out of sheer boredom. Whatever your reason for cooking or learning to cook you should always begin with the basics.

The first thing that you need to learn is what the different terminology you will find in recipes actually means. There are many new and sometimes foreign sounding terms that you will find in common recipes. These terms can mean the difference in recipe success or failure. You should be able to find a good section in any inclusive cookbook that explains the different definitions for unfamiliar terminology. If you aren't absolutely certain what is meant by "folding in the eggs" it is in your best interests to look it up.

Another great bit of advice when it comes to cooking basics is to try simpler recipes for a while and then expand your horizons to the more complex recipes that abound. Most recipes will have a little note about their degree of difficulty and you can read through the recipe to see whether or not it is something you are interested in preparing or confident that you can prepare. Remember Rome wasn't built in a day and it will take quite some time to build a reliable 'repertoire' of recipes to work into your meal planning rotation.

Image via WikipediaThe good news is that once you've learned the basics of cooking it is unlikely that you will ever need to relearn them. This means that you can constantly build up and expand your cooking skills. As you learn new recipes and improve your culinary skills and talents you will discover that preparing your own meals from scratch is much more rewarding (and MUCH healthier) than preparing prepackaged meals that are purchased from the shelves of your local supermarkets.

You will also discover as your experience and confidence grows that you will find yourself more and more often improvising as you go and adjusting recipes to meet your personal preferences. If you prefer more or less of ingredients or want to make a recipe a little more or less spicy in flavor you can make simple adjustments along the way in order to achieve this goal. In other words you will begin in time to create recipes of your very own. And that is something you won't necessarily learn when it comes to basic cooking skills for beginners but you would never learn if you didn't master those basic cooking skills.

Related articles on Learning to Cook:

• Conscious Shopper Challenge: Learn to Cook (greenphonebooth.com)
• Cooking; a Long- Standing Tradition of Grandmothers, Mothers and Daughters Recognized in the New Book Introducing a Young Lady to Cooking (prweb.com)