Making Love in the Kitchen

Back in the day, long before Facebook and MySpace and Linked In, there was Friendster. And on Friendster you could write testimonials about your friends. Back in 2001, my friend Vanessa wrote the following about me: “Meghan is the kind of person who will pretend like she can’t cook but then go ahead and roast the best chicken you’ve ever had”.

I did pretend like I couldn’t cook and didn’t like to cook. My first ever cook book was called “Help, My Apartment had a Kitchen”. For some ridiculous reason, I thought that, being a fashion student and working in advertising, also enjoying time in the kitchen went against my image- whatever that may have been. The other thing that’s funny about that comment is that I don’t ever remember roasting a chicken.  (I definitely wouldn’t now, after all, I <heart> chicken).

It is amazing how things happen in our lives that cause us to change perspective. At this point in my life, there is no where else I would rather be, or that is more important for me to be, than in my kitchen, crafting up some sweet whole foods nutritious goodness. My mother’s generation of women fought hard to escape the floral wallpapered, Betty Crocker kitchens and be welcomed out in the real world with a ‘real’ job. And here I am, trying to get people, most often my peers and clients,  professional women ranging from mid-20′s to late 30′s, back into the kitchen. What I am discovering is that, most of them, they truly love to be there.

Even people who wouldn’t consider themselves cooks, will recognize that the party always ends up in the kitchen. Food is always at the centre of social gatherings and the best food, is typically, the food made at home, with the freshest ingredients. What is it that we all crave when we’ve been away for a stretch of time or just too busy to cook? A home cooked meal. There is really nothing better.

So for your next social gathering, invite your friends over and organize your own cooking party. Sitting down to a meal that was created together, is a really wonderful way, not only to celebrate holidays or special occasions, but to simply celebrate the simplest of pleasure: good friends and good food.

I have provided below a simple ‘Recipe’ for a cooking party. You could, of course, always hire me to do the work and all you have to do is collect the peeps to cook with.

Cooking Party Recipe

• Select Six Recipes: 1 appetizer, 1 soup, 1 salad, 1 side dish, 1 main, 1 dessert
• Invite 4-5 of your favourite people over
• Either assign 2 people to 2 recipes in advance and have them bring the ingredients, or collect them yourself
• Have people work in pairs to create two of the recipes (a good tip is to have the appetizer ready or made first so you can snack while you cook).
• Spend about 75 minutes cooking and cleaning up as you go.
• Sit down together for your delicious meal of fresh home cooked food.
• Make a toast, take a moment to appreciate the goodness, and dig in!

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Tags: cooking class, Cooking Party, Meghan Telpner, whole foods