The start of cooking class
My mother and I get to the front of the apartment building. The building says residential all over it and we are nervous about entering for a mother-daughter cooking class in someone’s home. We don’t want to feel as though we’re intruding! But from the moment we step into the Verlocal host named Michelle’s apartment we are treated like old friends.
Pepper, a pint sized black puppy greets us at the door. We put our coats down and Michelle gives a brief overview of what to expect. She shares that she has been teaching cooking classes through Verlocal for about a year. She likes to teach intimate groups of 1 to 3 people how to whip up crepes, cupcakes, or a mean risotto.
On days when she isn’t hosting a Verlocal class, Michelle can be found mapping out the start-up company she’s launching. Or running around Manhattan for the family owned company whose east coast accounts she manages. And on top of all that she enjoys hosting guests for events, because of how much she loves to cook!
Our third classmate arrives shortly after. Michelle continues to tell tales of how she discovered her passion for cooking. She learned to bake from her grandmother, and how to cook from her father at a young age. With stories interwoven through our cooking class, Michelle made us feel like we’d known her for ages!
My mother and I hardly get to cook together anymore. We’ll treat each other by making a dish for dinner and surprising the other person. Time typically doesn’t allow for much intentional and slow cooked meal preparation together during the week anymore though. This class allowed for us to laugh and try to make an unfamiliar dish together.
Time to talk about the dish
At first we made crepe batter from scratch in preparation for the main dish—vegetarian crepes. I had the chance to roast poblano peppers straight from the stove-top. It was the first time in my life doing it this way. No pan needed!
We got the peppers ready for the special crepe sauce. Then we cooled them off, mixed in some cream, onions and a dash of salt before mixing it all together in a blender until it was mint green. After making a yummy cheese and corn filling and got to roll all the crepes we made together casserole style for a 15-minute bake.
When it came time to enjoy the first round of our creations, we sipped on some wine at a communal table. It was an excellent opportunity to reap the benefits of our hard work, and to get to know the host, as well as the additional classmate.
Comfort food in the form of chocolate
Michelle made it easy to giggle, follow along and remain upbeat instead of feeling pressured in the kitchen. She said, cooking isn’t that hard once you break it up into small steps. In moments where I struggled to mince the onion just right, or when my moms crepe flipped in a funny way we were still so at ease. Michelle offered up tips on where to find well made ceramic knives for cutting vegetables and fruits, and best practices for creating variations of the recipes.
The final dish was a chocolate crepe! I’m talking a crepe MADE OF CHOCOLATE! Her father created this recipe so the dish felt extra special to make and enjoy. Michelle shared that growing up her father would make these crepes nearly every morning! We made the special batter and filled them with chocolate syrup and berries.
It was an extra refreshing way to end the day. An added bonus is that Michelle sends over the full recipes for the dishes you have made once the class is over. This was my first official cooking class, but the relaxed nature and friendly instructor made it something I’d look forward to doing again.
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