Cooking food is second only to eating food, in my book, and when you find a place that allows you to do both well AND be social at the same time, you just can't beat it...
I conned my husband and two friends into taking a couples cooking class with me at Northshore Cookery up in Highland Park. It's a Chopping Block-kind-of-place in the 'burbs, where every class is hands-on. On this particular night, our instructor helped us make an entire meal on grill pans: we smoked a brisket and grilled chicken skewers (and made yummy BBQ sauces for each - chipotle for the meat, cherry for the poultry).
We grilled seasoned corn, and then for dessert we grilled peaches with brown sugar to go with toasted pound cake. The store's owner spiked lemonade at the bar in front, though I enjoyed the red wine they had available, too.
At the end, we feasted! We shared a big table with classmates from as far away as Iowa, as well as our friends and some really nice people from the area. The food was delicious, and my husband is confident he can make it again at home (they gave us the recipes). The instructors were great, too, peppering reasonable instructions with good humor and their own personalities. We'd all go back in a second.
Northshore Cookery is OUT OF BUSINESS folks. Sign out front says as of early May, no longer open for business.
Posted by: TBD | May 13, 2008 at 09:05 PM