This is your Grandmother’s kitchen: Classes

THIS IS YOUR GRANDMOTHER’S KITCHEN:

CLASSES 2013

Classes have a 5 student minimum / 8 maximum.  I’ve listed all the dates I will be available for classes (see dates below); I also want to encourage couples or friends or groups to reserve private class time.

Registration and payment: Unless otherwise listed all classes are $65 per student. For all our convenience I prefer to accept payment via PayPal. 

Class fees are non-refundable.  If you cannot attend a class for which you have registered, you must call or email at least 48 hours prior to the class in order to receive a class credit (434-960-8439 / lenithecook@gmail.com).  24 hour cancellations or no-shows will be billed in full.  This applies to gift certificates as well. You may send someone in your place if you cannot make it to class.

Putting By #1: Hot Water Bath Canning: $65 per student

The students in this class will have a hands-on canning experience whether they grow their own vegetables or buy local produce.  They will explore the history of food preservation as part of the delightful resurgence of saving the bounty of the summer harvest in jars.  The students in this class will learn the basics of the boiling water bath method of canning tomatoes and peaches and applesauce later in the season when the peaches are over.  Students will leave class with full jars for their pantry.  Class 9 am-2 pm.

June 29; July 6, 13, 27; Aug 3, 24; Sept 28

Putting By#2 Pressure Canning: $65 per student 

The students will learn the use of the pressure canner, issues of safety, and recipes for the more complex foods that can be preserved by this method.  We will process green beans and sweet corn.  Large pressure canners became a tool of the prosperous farm kitchen as early as 1917.  But the pressure cooker, as we know it today, was perfected for home use in the late 1940s.  It allowed cooks to prepare meals quickly and when used as a canner to put up low-acid vegetables and meats in safety.  Class 9 am to 2 pm.

NOTE: Class #1 or previous experience with the boiling water bath technique is necessary to take Class #2

Aug 17, 31; Sept 29 

Flat Breads: $65 per student   

Students will create – and eat – examples of some of the most ancient of breads created throughout human culinary history; pita and naan.  Some of these breads are baked and some are griddle-fried but all are simple and fun.  Unleavened and lightly yeasted breads make great additions to meals of soup or salads, summer or winter.  We will also create a fresh hummus to enjoy with our fresh breads. Students will take home samples of their baking and recipes to continue in that baking tradition.  Class 9 am to 4 pm.

June 30; Sept 14 

Yeasted Breads: $65 per student  

Producing a beautiful sandwich loaf is the ambition of many a family cook and that will be the student’s goal in this class.  Whether a simple loaf or one dotted with sprouted grain, a braided eggy Challah, or a French-style baguette students will mix, knead, form and bake a variety of loaves to take home along with recipes for more baking.  Class with be from 9 am – 4pm

April 20; Oct 12, 26  

Mexican Tamales: $65 per student   

Tamales are an ancient Mexican creation.  Students will prepare both bean and chicken filled tamales and also the red sauce that goes so well with them.  We will make enough for each student to take home samples of hand-crafted tamales to share with family and friends.  The recipes for the fillings, red chili sauce, and the masa dough mixture will help the student recreate this wonderful menu at home.

May 11, 25; June 28; July 12, 19, 26; Sept 13; Nov 8 

The Aztecs, the Spanish and Us: Hand Made Chocolate Craft: $65 per student  

Our day will be spent exploring all things chocolate.  The students in this class will start by making a basic chocolate paste using authentic New World ingredients and the same lava-stone tools as the Aztecs; metate and mano.  The Aztec rulers drank their chocolate dark and bitter but after 1530 the Spanish added sugar and spices creating a drink for the European aristocracy.  We will enjoy an Aztec-inspired mole sauced lunch.  Heading back to the metate we will add European inspired spices and sugar to create that modern sweet essence we all love to drink and nibble.  Everyone will take home a sample of our class chocolate production.  Put together a group and contact me to schedule a date.  Classes on demand with 5 student minimum.

Kitchen Garden 101; 

This class examines garden planning, care, and harvesting through the seasons; parsley, sage rosemary and thyme.  Lettuces and spinach.  Sweet cherry tomatoes.  Sounds good, yes?  Create your own kitchen garden plans for the new season or seasons to come.  The class will cover the basics of kitchen garden planning, soil needs, cultivation, raised beds, and plant sources.

On demand with 5 student minimum in April, May, Oct

Southern Foodways: A Journey:

Long before the 1960s invention of the phrase ‘soul food’ black cooks were primary innovators of the Southern plantation culinary tradition; in this class we’ll make our own lye hominy and cornbread, explore the great traditional greens, prepare candied yams, and cook a Southern-style chicken or pork dish.  Having cooked our lunch the students will leave with the recipes for those dishes to add to their repertory.  On demand with 5 student minimum.

Dairy: making butter, ghee, yogurt, and soft fresh cheese.  By request.

Thinking Ahead: meal planning, efficient use of freezers, large batch cooking.  By request.