Alice decided to throw her sister, Sarah, a surprise cooking class for her birthday, which I thought was a genius idea. They told us that on the way over to our humble abode, Sarah kept guessing where she thought Alice might be taking her.
At one point she guessed, “is it a cooking class?” Alice was swift enough to flat out lie with a straight-faced, “no.” Haha… so of course Sarah was extra surprised to walk into some stranger’s home and see this set up.
As they waited for the rest of their friends to trickle in, I served them an appetizer of pesto pizza (made from basil I am growing on my deck), and we all sat around on the couch to get to know one another. Not everyone in the class knew everybody else, so it was a good introduction and bonding time.
But then we got to work. Sarah is already a seasoned cook who watches the Food Network a lot so she was the first one to roll up her sleeves.
Alice carefully documented the events of the class.
I let the class take care of marinating and then sauteing the chicken while I started plating up everything else for dinner. They did a poifect job.
We were amused by Esther’s (on the left) impressions of “Buddy” on the TLC show “Cake Boss.” I still remember her imitating him saying, “but at the end of the day, we’re still a family” in a Hoboken, NJ accent. Hahaha… ridiculous, but it was really good.
In the words of Lady Gaga, “Papa… Paparazzi…”
We munched on lemon & herb chicken with orzo salad (sadly not pictured…ahem… cough… Joe!),
a side of broccoli salad,
and surprisingly delicious marinated butternut squash.
We ended the night with 2 desserts. I made peach short bread with peach sauce and toasted almonds, and Jeannie brought a beautiful and delicious from-scratch red velvet cake for Sarah’s birthday. The cake was so nice that I thought she bought it from a bakery. Sorry, no picture because hello… my little shortbread can’t be upstaged dag nabbit!
I sincerely hope that Sarah had a fantabulous time and enjoyed the surprise.
I had never taken a cooking class so I was not sure what to exactly expect, but it was FANTASTIC~!!! Julie you are truly a gifted teacher and I learned so much about cooking that night~!! Have been putting pepper on everything to make my dishes more appealing since that night LOL. Everything was really delicious~!!! My mom had a taste of the leftover and commented that it was something from a 5 star hotel!!!!! 😀 Sarah I hope you had a great birthday~! Thanks for a great time~!!
This was my first cooking class and I loved it! Thanks again Sarah, Alice and chef Julie! 🙂 I really had a great time being with good company and good food~
I learned many good tips and facts that I will always keep with me for my future cooking adventures.
I think I’m going to visit this blog often! 🙂
I’m craving all the food we made during the class. Maybe I will make the orzo salad and the chicken again soon. 🙂
This class was so much fun (and a sweet surprise!). The food was so good that night that Esther and I already made the orzo pasta salad and chicken this week for dinner… amazing and so easy! I agree that Chef Julie is a natural and gifted teacher and put us all at ease being in the kitchen and trying *new* dishes. Awesome way to celebrate my birthday, with good food and friends!
I had a lot of fun learning how to cook the delicious dishes we prepared that night. I learned a lot and also had fun cooking with everyone.
I’m definitely going to use the butternut squash recipe for Thanksgiving! I’ve already made the chicken dish and it was delicious, and that’s saying something as I don’t really cook! The recipe was easy to follow, and your demonstrations really helped!
Chef Julie rocks! =)
I had so much fun cooking all these wonderful dishes! I learned so much about cooking and Chef Julie is awesome in being able to create a welcoming and down-to-earth environment in her cooking classes! Being my first cooking class, it was fun to learn how to make the recipes as well as learn about the science behind why we prepare things a certain way. Chef Julie is so gifted in being able to draw the group into the recipe and her foods definitely are homey yet new and interesting! I love how Chef Julie was so attentive to what I was asking for and how she subtly yet interestingly incorporated these elements into the cooking class! The food was amazing and they were so easy to make! I will definitely try making the orzo pasta again this weekend! Thanks so much Chef Julie! You are amazing!!!