Today I’m thankful that the Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center took a chance on letting an  untrained, unknown, first timer teach a class in their kitchen.

I totally went out on a limb on this. It was a passing comment about wanting to cook on their Viking range that led to be putting together a proposal, using friends as testers, and finding myself teaching a class on how to create a two week menu, create grocery lists, quick/easy sourcing of recipes that are really good, and tips & tricks on shortcuts, tools, and ways to make 30 minute recipes even quicker to get on the table.

I so strongly believe that you do not have to be a trained chef (I’m so thankful for trained chef’s because they are the ones that create the recipes I love, and provide us with fab dinning experiences!) to cook good meals. You don’t even need a ton of experience in the kitchen. As my Grandpa said to me once, “If you can read you can learn anything. You can do anything”.

Cooking really is that simple, and it makes me sad when I hear people say I don’t cook or I can’t cook. If you can read a recipe, and as needed use google to find out about ingredients or cooking technique you don’t know about, then you can cook. And, quick 30 min recipes with simple ingredients can be really good….something you will be proud to put on the table!

I’m so thankful to those that encouraged me to submit a proposal (and kept asking me about it over and over so I couldn’t be lazy and let the opportunity slip away), that sat through my test class…helping to shape the final class, to my family who purchased tickets to a class they probably didn’t really need to take…but they wanted to be there and be supportive, to the students who participated in the class, and to the Clore Center for letting me teach a class in their kitchen.

“You must be the Chef for tonight’s class”…for a few hours I felt like one.

P.S. Next time you’re in the Prosser area stop by the Walter Clore Tasting Room, and enjoy the wines they have to offer!