Since middle school, I was responsible for cooking for my family. Actually, it wasn’t really cooking. It was putting a frozen dinner in the oven and preparing some vegetables on the side. Over the years, I continued to cook (and attempted to bake) out of familiarity, but then it became a necessity. I started paying attention to how my body and mind reacted to the things I ate and drank. I realized that I had a hard time digesting certain items that were staples in packaged food. Cooking has allowed me more control over what I consume. All of this is great, except, I couldn’t really cook. I wasn’t good at it.
I promised myself that I would take classes and keep a journal of my evolving recipes, tips, and lessons learned so that I would become a better home cook. The problem was that I said this for years but never put anything into action. I never took any classes, and never created any documentation that recorded my adventures in the kitchen…until recently.
At the end of February, I started a beginner’s baking class, and it saved my life. Just kidding. We met every Tuesday for 3 hours at a middle school home economics classroom for 8 weeks.
Schedule
Week 1: Grocery tour (no baking)
Week 2: Valentine’s Day Cookies
Week 3: Tiramisu
Week 4: Basque Apple Tart
Week 5: Flatbread & Raspberry Crostata
Week 6: Baklava
Week 7: Bread Pudding & Sweet Potato Quiche
Week 8: Cocktail Party Assortment (I chose a fruit tart)
What I Learned
- How to create various types of crusts and dough (for pizza, crostata, cookies, tart shell, pie shell, etc)
- If you do not let your dough rest long enough, it may shrink and the sides may pull away from the pan
- How to work efficiently in a small space in a kitchen other than my own
- That I need to take a knife skills class
The Aftermath
Long story short, this was the most fun I’ve had in a while. It was incredibly helpful to have Cherisse Byers, the culinary instructor, guide me and teach me how to fix my mistakes and “save” a recipe. After taking more classes, I may decide to enter a culinary program. In the meantime, I will keep cooking and baking, while documenting what I am learning in my many notebooks and here on the blog!
