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05/08/2014
~ Here Comes the Bride: A Cooking Class Memory ~
A Bridal Shower + A Cooking Class = A Great Gift Idea!
Like all of you, a trip to my hair salon is something I look forward to. It's always relaxing. For an hour or two, I am the center of pampering and spoiling attention. I forget my problems du jour, and, on a good day, if I just sit in my chair quietly and listen, I can tune my antennae into some very interesting small town gossip. Admit it. You've done it too and you know I am right!
For those of you not local to Happy Valley, the salon I go to is a trip back to a kinder, gentler time. Located in a restored residence on Main Street of Historic Boalsburg, PA (the birthplace of Memorial Day), every room is a mixture of high-tech services combined with a loving trip to your grandmothers house. It is an antique-lovers dream!
Did you ever wonder how a close knit group of salon foodies pamper and spoil each other?
This past Sunday I taught a cooking class, and, it was special on many levels. It was for the folks from Elaine's on Main Street here in Boalsburg, PA. I've known Elaine and her band of merry-making hair-stylists for years (I've known Elaine for over 30 years). They are all foodies at heart and weren't in my kitchen to learn how to boil water or chop an onion. This class was a mini-bridal shower and they were here to learn how to prepare some special dishes for them to serve at the big bridal shower next Sunday.
Elaine (in pink) sitting next to Jen (the bride-to-be), asked me to come up with a menu and demonstration that would allow her group to present Jen with appropriate, useful, kitchen gifts that I had used in my demonstration to prepare the food. For instance: Jen received a Calphalon chef's pan to match the one I cooked the bolognese sauce in, a Cuisinart food processor, to match the one in my Caesar salad demo, and, a pair of Kyocera ceramic knifes, identical to the pair I chopped vegetables with. The bride-to-be was gleeful!
There's more. When Andrew, the director of my camera crew from WHVL-TV found out I was teaching a class, it was his idea to bring the cameras over to film the entire thing. Once edited, it's going to be my next, regularly scheduled Kitchen Encounters w/Melanie Preschutti cooking segment on their Centre of It All Show, which airs every Sunday at 11:30AM on local Comcast channel 14. Did my guests enjoy this surprise? If my instincts are correct -- you betcha!
In case you've never taught a class, that is a lot to demonstrate in a 3-4 hour period of time. If I could have taught one more thing, I would have added ~ My Rosemary & Cracked Black Pepper Focaccia ~ recipe. Why? It goes so well with this menu. So, why didn't I? Even though it gets mixed in the food processor, which saves time, two+ hours of rising time prohibits teaching bread baking unless a class is devoted specifically to baking bread. Stay tuned though, foccacia is going to be my next post!
The cake was made by Happy Valley's Kim Morrison, Cakes for Occasions. Jen's wedding, in June, has a Summer, "picnic outdoors" theme to it. Right down to the edible sugar-art flowers, ribbon and fireflies, Kim provided a buttercream tasting of happy times ahead:
"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti
(Recipes, Commentary and Food Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2014)
(Photos of Cooking Class in Progress, courtesy of the cell-phones via the folks at Elaine's)
Comments
Rose Marie. You are the Queen Mother of "Brava"! Thank-you so much for the wonderful comment on my blog! Hugs. ~ Mel.
Everyone involved seemed to have a great time. The Bride, bridesmaids, friends, tv staff, the cook, and, of course, the Chief Bottlewasher! The event evolved into something completely different, and special.
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Rose Marie. You are the Queen Mother of "Brava"! Thank-you so much for the wonderful comment on my blog! Hugs. ~ Mel.
Posted by: Kitchen Encounters | 05/09/2014 at 10:18 PM
Perfection Melanie . I wish I had been there.
A wonderful gift . Brava!!!
Posted by: Rose Marie | 05/09/2014 at 09:11 PM
Everyone involved seemed to have a great time. The Bride, bridesmaids, friends, tv staff, the cook, and, of course, the Chief Bottlewasher! The event evolved into something completely different, and special.
Posted by: Joe Preschutti | 05/09/2014 at 07:27 PM