Cooking is good for your body, mind, and soul. But a lot of us don’t know how to cook. In fact, a recent survey found that 28% of respondents didn’t cook because they don’t know how. In fact, that’s probably an underestimate, because more than half of the people who participated in the survey said their partners did the cooking (51%…coincidentally, that’s the percentage of men living in America). Some of those folks probably don’t know how to cook, either.
But home cooking has some serious advantages:
- It costs less than restaurant meals — even fast food.
- It’s healthier, and you have control over the ingredients you choose.
- It’s fun and satisfying instead of rushed and stressful.
So how can you learn how to cook? If you didn’t learn these skills growing up and you’re not ready for culinary school, one great way to hone your culinary skills is with online cooking classes.
How do online cooking classes work?
When you take classes by Zoom, you actually cook in your own kitchen. I will send the recipes and a shopping list and all you need to do is have the ingredients prior to class.You follow along in your kitchens. You get the hands-on practice you need with the support of a live instructor — for a fraction of the cost of in-person classes.
You’ll receive a link. Click on the link and you will join the class. It’s that simple!
Who’s teaching?
I’m Colleen Clifford, a professional chef with training from the Ferrandi Culinary school in Paris and the Institute of Integrative Nutrition.
See what others I’ve taught have to say about these classes:
Amy Buckley
“I loved taking Colleen’s knife skills course – it was practical and fun, and I left having learned multiple valuable skills. The best part was being able to interact and ask questions. As someone still building my skills, getting confirmation that I’m on track, from an expert, while practicing with my own knives and kitchen tools, from the comfort of my own home, was totally priceless!”
Kathy Lewis
As a case manager at Jubilee Women’s Center I contacted Colleen Clifford to offer cooking classes for the residents. She graciously accepted, and introduced several dinners for the women to have an interactive part in preparing.
Jubilee Women’s Center is a beautiful residence for homeless women with programming designed to enable them to live self-sufficiently in permanent independent housing. The programming includes case management to assist residents with medical and legal issues, prepare them for job interviews, and accompany them when they apply for permanent housing. The Center offers classes, educational preparation for school, and work-related assistance. Residents may live at the Center for two years. We promoted anything that would guide them to become independent. The Center boasts a very ample kitchen.
Colleen’s credentials as a chef are both very impressive and remarkably broad. She graduated from a prestigious cooking school in Paris and has been the head chef for years on a fishing boat off the coast of Alaska.
Colleen would arrive at Jubilee Women’s Center, laden down with all the ingredients for a feast. She would engage the residents in the preparation for the meal with humor, intelligence, and encouragement. Our women would respond in kind, and it was always a fun evening.
Colleen has an outstanding ability to teach in a manner that promotes understanding and confidence. Not only does she introduce healthy and delicious meals, but with joy that is infectious. She brings her enthusiasm for cooking in a way that has all who receive her passion wanting to emulate her and continue to learn cooking on their own.
I will always be grateful to her for her expertise, charm, and humor in providing a rich experience for the women of Jubilee Women’s Center.
Kathy Lewis, Case Manager
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