Home Cooking

Last weekend I went to New Paltz for my best friend’s 21st birthday. I was very excited once I heard how we were celebrating: a professional cooking lesson! As per my last post, I am trying to polish up my cooking skills before I make it to wife-hood, so I was pumped, and it was a great way to celebrate a birthday with some good friends and good wine. We rented out bakery on Main St in Beacon, and it was a perfect, quaint spot to host our dinner party. There was 7 of us in total, plus our wonderful chef-instructor Jennifer Clair, founder of Home Cooking NY. We were greeted with personalized aprons from the birthday girl, as well as the mouth watering menu for the night:

Appetizer: Crostini with Pesto-Roasted Portobello Mushrooms and Fresh Goat Cheese
Main Course: Crisp Duck Breast with Plum Sauce, Butternut Squash and Sage Risotto, and String Beans with Almond Shallot Butter
Dessert: Gingered Pear Crisp

The menu was perfect for the chilly fall night we had, and it wasn’t long before our hands and aprons were dirty. We had the music going, pictures snapping, and got to taste test our creations along the way (my favorite part). It was an all around great experience, and when we finally sat down to the dinner table with our perfectly plated meals, we were proud.

Jennifer did an amazing job, and I would certainly love to do another class with Home Cooking NY. Home Cooking NY offers private cooking classes or group classes in their Manhattan and Hudson Valley schools. Or you can do what we did- host a cooking party in your own kitchen or rent a fully equipped culinary studio. Check them out on their website, and follow them on for the latest class schedules!

Happy Cooking!

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