Wednesday, April 6, 2011

New Cooking School In Town!

A friend of mine recently told me about seeing a new cooking school that was coming to town. She had seen it in a shopping center, and knows how much I like to take classes.  I have been cruising by every week or so, and last week when I stopped by, they were OPEN!!!  I went inside and met the new owner.  Her name is Connie, and she showed me all around and told me about it.  I went online to check out their classes and noticed that they had a kids class this week.  Since it is Spring Break and both Hannah and Noah are off school, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to do this with them.  I was so excited.  Probably way more so than they were.  They didn't know what to expect.  I arrived early today to pick up Hannah.  She was ready to go.  But first I had Jake take a picture of us.
Clairey didn't want to be left out.
She was coughing here I think.  After our pictures......off we went.
Here we are.
If you are in the Corona area, refer to above picture to go to website and find out what classes they offer. 
When we arrived, there were several little ones gathered, with carrots and ranch dip at the tables, while they waited for all of the kids to arrive.  Then they all put on their aprons, and lined up to wash their hands.
They took their places at the work tables and waited for the class to begin.
They were all the cutest little chefs.  I can't  believe I didn't get a photo of them with the fronts of their aprons on.  So cute.  But I was so busy helping!!!!
Chef Connie brought out a big bowl of dough for the first thing that they were making.  Pigs in a blanket.
Connie is Romanian.  She trained in Europe, and her mother in law lives next door to the chef of the Belagio in Vegas and she furthered her training while working under her. 
Everyone got a ball of dough, their own roller, and got to work with their creations.  They rolled the dough out, and then cut it in half.  One half to wrap their dogs, and the other half to make bread stick shapes.
 I just thought this was the cutest thing EVER!!
 So they rolled their dogs, and placed it on a piece of parchment paper they had written their name on.
With the other half of the dough, they got to use cookie cutters to cut out shapes for bread sticks.

 While those were baking, Chef Connie got busy making Apple sandwiches.  These were so clever.  I always cut apples into wedges.  Why I never thought to do it this way, I do not know. But she took a large crisp apple, and cut it very thinly while standing the apple upright.  So that she got little wafers of apple pieces.  Then they gave each child 4 slices, and a scoop of Nutella, and a scoop of peanut butter, and a little rubber spatula to make their sandwiches.  These were so fun and tasty!!!

Then it was time to eat their Pigs In A Blanket. With plenty of dipping sauce and ice cold fruit punch!
 After that, they got to decorate sugar cookies.  Each child got three colors and two cookies.  Some of them decorated each one carefully, and some (Noah) of them slapped a big dollop of icing onto the cookie, smashed the second cookie on top, and then enjoyed a cookie sammich!!  They got gummy bears and jimmies and m&m's too.  Noah took his on the side.
 They had a ball!  And I thoroughly enjoyed watching them do this class.  We thanked Miss Connie, and assured her we would be back for more classes. 
 Noah was apparently done with having his photo taken at this point.  On the ride home, we talked about all of the fun they had, and what their favorite part was.  They giggled all the way home.  At a stop light, I turned around and snapped this.
That smile just says it all for me!  Man I love being a Grandma!  Their Grandma!!!  
If you live anywhere near me, do go check out this fun new shop.   The owner Connie is delightful!  I wish her all of the best in her new business.  Happy Cooking!!!

17 comments:

Dawn said...

Kris, how fun. I want to go. LOL I did head over to your daughters site today and became a follower. I know we have discussed it in the past. Funny we have communicated in the past between other blogs about both being stylists with big hair. Thanks for referring me to her blog and Have a Great Night.

Lauri said...

What a fun adventure. You're making great memories with your grandchildren.

Katie said...

You are such a Wonderful Grandma!

Genn said...

Oh how sweet those pictures are!!!
Jake and I just read this post together and smiled the whole way through. I bet they had so much fun. I'm glad you blogged about it because I couldn't get much info out of her. :)
Thanks for taking her for such a fun day. She loved it. She even saved some leftover cookies/breadsticks for me and Claire to have.

Sue Pinner said...

Oh WOW!..that looks like fun l used to run kids craft classes once in a past life and they were always very interesting and fun
Was my lucky day don't ya think..any longer and l would have had a shower in the kitchen..ooops
Hugs Suz x

Kristi said...

Oh my gosh! This is so neat. I'm totally taking Riley, she is always helping me in the kitchen. The pictures that you got are priceless!

I love how Noah made a cookie sandwich with his! Smart boy!

Holly said...

You are just the best Gramma ever. You just have the best ideas. Looks like everyone had fun. Cute idea with the apple sandwiches.

Diane said...

Oh what fun.....

Could You and I go? You know, mother and child?

Your mama..............

~Niki~ said...

so adorable! love all the pics Kris!
what a neat idea for kids! You look fabulous btw ;)

Naomi said...

What a fun day! And I think you're right - that last picture of Hannah says it all. I had the same reaction that Genn did - I smailed all the way through reading your blog.

Cindy said...

Great way to spend the day with the little ones. Love the pics!!

Shorty said...

Looks like the kiddos had a blast! Kudos to you for enjoying life as a grandmother....you're definitely good at it! :)

Tawni716 said...

How fun! What a great time with your grandbabies! That place looks awesome, I am going to check out the website now! =)

Tammy said...

What an awesome grandma!!! That looks like so much fun!!

Amy said...

That place looks too cute! I want to take Taylor as soon as she's big enough. She would love it! What a fun day with them.

ain't for city gals said...

Gosh, I would love to learn how to make pigs in a blanket...I think I would start with the kids class and work my way up. What i would really like to learn to make is spring rolls ...not sure that is the term...

Maryrose said...

Hi Kris...how cute is that. You are the "Best" grandma. I will have to go onling and see where that place is.
I got my garden in and am still wanting to get together for birthday dinner. Maybe we can squeeze something in but probably not until after the 15th at this point....I hate Tax Season.
I am anxious to see your garden to get some pointers. Did you go to WW this morning....I had every intention of going and ended up having coffee with Kevin before he went in for another grueling day. Hope you were a loser...:)
Love
M