The thought of bringing my children to a cooking class seemed a bit indulgent at first.  Why should I spend money on a class when I can cook with my kids at home?  Well, I must admit that I am a lazy cook.  I probably do not set a good example for my children when we cook together.  I take shortcuts, don’t know anything about knife skills, and very rarely pay any attention to presentation.  Leah is my aspiring foodie, and I sometimes think my lack of effort in the kitchen disappoints her.

So, a cooking class at Williams-Sonoma seemed like a good experience for all of us.  When I learned that the class was actually a benefit for No Kid Hungry, I was happy to spend the money as it all went to a cause my children and I support wholeheartedly.

When we arrived at Williams-Sonoma, our instructor, Susan, was already prepping the cauliflower for soup and welcomed us warmly.

Susan began to demonstrate making cauliflower cheese soup from The Mom 100 cookbook and explained everything right at the children’s level.  Since my cooking skills are only a tad better than my children’s, this meant that everything was at my level, too.  I learned quite a few tricks.   There was only one other child in the class, which was great.  All three children had the opportunity to help chop onions in a nifty little chopper and press garlic using a garlic press.

While Susan was demonstrating the immersion blender, she asked the kids if they had ever used a blender or food processor.  My children stared at her blankly. I nudged them and whispered, “C’mon, guys!  You are making me look bad!”  They got the hint and nodded in compliance, but they still had that blank stare.   Even though they love to make smoothies, they somehow seemed to forget everything they knew about small appliances.

While the soup simmered, Susan cut pitas in half.  Each child spread olive oil on one and sprinkled salt, cheese, and chili powder to their liking.  Next, the children made lunch wraps.  Luke made a peanut butter, apple, and banana wrap while Leah made a turkey and avocado wrap.

Finally, the soup and pita chips were ready to eat and all 3 little chefs munched happily.  I was shocked that Luke actually liked the cauliflower cheese soup.  He usually refused to eat soup because “it’s too hot”.  I think he liked that it was served in a little cup.  I plan to make this mild soup with the kids soon and serve it in mugs.

As soon as we left the store, Luke asked if we could take another cooking class.  I was surprised.  He was so unusually quiet during class and had that strange blank stare during the demonstration that I had wondered if he was bored.

“No, Mom, I wasn’t bored.  I was concentrating!” he exclaimed.

Seeing my children as serious students was a new experience for me.  We’ll definitely try another class at William-Sonoma again.

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