The Taste of Home Cooking School ROCKS!!

I developed a love of cooking while living in France. I always enjoyed cooking before, but now I love it! I am not terribly confident about creating my own master pieces, but I can follow a recipe. It may not come out looking like a magazine-worthy meal, but I am having fun and we are not starving. I like to challenge myself though, and I appreciate the opportunity to learn from a Master, so I couldn't pass up a chance to attend the Taste of Home Cooking School when it came to my town.

I managed to convince one of my good friends, and cooking buddies, to pay the VIP price and go with me for the evening. Now, the big draw for me for the VIP price was that we would get reserved seats for the 2 hours cooking demonstration/school. I wanted to be able to see everything! I wanted to get every cooking tip that our chef had to offer. Little did I know that we would get so much more!

We were able to get into the show an hour before the general public. That gave us time with the vendors to ask questions, sample stuff, and generally just poke around without a crowd. After all, there were only about 100 of us in there. Cool huh? Oh, and they had special door prizes just for the VIPs. The best was part of the VIP thing came at 5 PM when the general public came in the door. The VIPs were segregated into our own special room for a special cooking demonstration and tasting by Jason Ellis out of Atlanta. I now have some new ideas for cooking pork tenderloin and sweet potatoes. YUM!

Then came the actual cooking school. We were on the second row and could see everything. Even better, we could hear stuff sizzling in the pans on the stage. The chef was funny and engaging, and she offered all kinds of tips and short cuts. Most of them applied to the recipes she was making, but some were just general suggestions like - soak your beans with baking soda and they will soften faster. They will also cause fewer "side effects," as she put it. She cooked 10 recipes in 2 hours then gave the food and serving dishes away to audience members.

I have so much running around in my head that I need to organize all of the stuff we received and the notes that I took. I will happily share some of the recipes and tips once I get it all together. In the meantime, check out the website and find a show near you. It is worth the time.