Come Home to Cooking

Come Home to Cooking

For beginners and experienced cooks

• Inspire your cooking.
• Master essential culinary concepts.
• Conserve your time, energy and resources.
• Share the joy of living and eating well.

NEW  A Fresh Season of Classes for 2013

• Current Class Schedule     Registration Information

Summer Classes Start on June 26

Come Eat and Learn How to Make these quick, cool and easy summer dishes:

• Roasted Eggplant Frittata
• Heirloom Tomato and Bread Soup with basil pesto
• Grilled Wild Salmon Bellies
  A Selection of Composed Summer Salads with green beans, squash, peppers and other goodies
• Peach and Berry Shortcakes 

CLASS 88: SUMMER SEASONAL MENU & PANTRY STOCK.
See our Current Class Schedule for class day details and registration information. 

I look forward to seeing you for this delicious celebration of the Summer Solstice and Midsummer's Eve, Day, Week...

Bon Appetit! Kay

Casual Recipe for Aperitifs

To Whet Your Appetite for Summer—

Here comes the sun! With the solstice stretching forward into midsummer’s day. It’s easy to work up a thirst when the heat’s on high. When you leave the windows open all night long and get up early to walk the dog. To water your garden before everything wilts. When you daydream about a hammock under the trees, complete with light reading and a cool breeze. Then once you’ve drained the iced tea or lemonade pitcher, and you need to start thinking about what you might grill for dinner, you'll find that summer is the best time of year to treat yourself to a little aperitif. Especially when so many fruits are just dripping with juice to sweeten and expand the moment even more.

Casual Recipes for Two Marinades

To Set You Up for Grilling, Roasting and Broiling—

Never underestimate the power of even a simple marinade. Created to extend the life of fresh seafood, poultry and/or meats while also adding flavor, moisture and tenderness, marinades buy you time and flexibility along with their taste and texture bonuses. They can also turn into a glaze or be reduced with pan juices for an instant sauce. That’s why there are aisles and aisles of commercial brands lining grocery store shelves, but when you already stock your kitchen pantry with their basic, multi-purpose ingredients, you can easily concoct your own personal favorites at a moment's notice. And then keep them on hand in the fridge for the whole season long, ready and waiting to serve each immediate need.

Learn How

To Eat Well at Home with Ease—

We could all use some help. More time, energy and resources. New ways to feel healthy, happy and satisfied at the end of each day. But sometimes the old tried and true ways, or at least what’s behind them, remain the best. And since our ancestors first hunted to gather and eat around the open fire, and later settled down to plant their gardens, orchards, fields and vineyards, we have always had to find ways to make and save things for more challenging times. To put up the harvest for winter, because our survival depended on it. When we couldn’t just run to the store or opt to eat out.

It's May Day!

But There's No Cause for Alarm—

With only a few days left before our son’s wedding, this May Day it only makes sense for me to send you flowers instead of words. Hopefully these photos will feel like the childhood May baskets we delighted in running around with to hang on our neighbor’s doorknobs with ribbon. Then ring the doorbell and run shrieking with laughter.

A Feast of Family and Friends

For Memories in the Making—

If right now you hit the pause button to even quickly skim back over your life so far, what are the moments you imagine would rise to the top? I often find myself compelled to ask that question at the beginning of each class, because considering what matters most in any given situation is always so illuminating. And the answers students share around my kitchen table keep confirming the fact that for most of us, it’s the simple, timeless things that continue to offer true happiness and contentment. Things more fundamental than flashy. And I can’t help loving how often these cherished life highlights involve cooking and eating together, both of which remain at the heart of le joie de vivre.