Cooking Classes at the Culinary Institute of America

Cooking Classes at the Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, NY

Are you a beginning cook looking to make your big break in the family kitchen? Are you an experienced cook interested in broadening your skills? Are you any kind of cook just interested in spending time with other cooking enthusiasts and having some great meals? If so, then check out the Continuing Education program at the Culinary Institute of America. I have taken two courses there-- Pizza and Pasta and Healthy Cooking. My daughter took Cooking for Teenagers.

I learned about the Continuing Education program at the Culinary Institute of America from my friend Ian Carrol, the Executive Chef at Sunnydale Country Club. During the off-season when the greens are snow covered, Ian takes courses to see what the latest interests are in food and cooking. While Ian is a professional chef, he often encouraged me to take a course. Finally, my wife Cheryl bought me the Pizza and Pasta course as a birthday present.

The Pizza and Pasta course was taught over three Saturdays. The other course I took, Healthy Cooking, was just a single Saturday. The daily routine was the same for both. You arrive and report to the assigned classroom in the Culinary Institute of America Continuing Education Center. After a brief lecture, you move into the kitchen with your chef instructor who breaks the class into groups of three. Each group is then given several recipees to complete. As the groups work on the recipees, the chef instructor occasionally gathers the class for a demonstration of a particular technique for each recipee. Around 1:30, everyone begins to wrap up their cooking and around 2:30 the food is plated and garnished. Then the whole class sits at a long table with the chef at the head and enjoys a meal of all the recipees. The chef selects a wine to accompany the meal.

The courses are lots of fun and I have met restaurant owners, physicians, high school students, newly-weds-- there is no limit to who can attend except that you need to be older than 16 (except for the cooking for kids programs). BIG TIP: If you take a class, don't make the same mistake most new attendee's make and come unprepared. There are loads of leftovers, so bring plenty of Tuperware!!!

A Dinner Club with a Web Twist!

Lin Tarrant and Cheryl Tomaino didn't let the fact that they no longer worked in the same office get in the way of their friendship, and over the years they met regularly for lunch. Eventually, they were joined by their husbands Richard Tarrant and Joe Tomaino for dinner at various restaurants in the New York area. The four of them share an appreciation for good food and an enjoyable setting. The gatherings became monthly, with the couples taking turns selecting a new restaurant and occasionally revisiting a favorite "oldie". In conversations they began referring back to favorite meals and places, and soon they began recording their culinary adventures in a journal. It seemed a shame to collect valuable information on these wonderful (and sometimes not so wonderful) places and not share them. So began this web site...a place where everyone can join 4 for Dinner! So have a seat at our table and see what's on the menu...at www.4fordinner.com