Mommy's day off

Today I shirked my mommy duties and left the house right around 10:00 A.M. and didn't return until 3:00 P.M. Spa day? Not exactly. I joined a couple of friends for a cooking class/demonstration at a great place in Reno call "Nothing to It Culinary Center." (http://www.nothingtoit.com/) This is a great place to go and learn how to cook a new cuisine, practice cooking techniques, and relax. So far I've taken classes including Thai cooking, Crepes, Gourmet Crock pot, Tex Mex, Tapas, and today....Fix, Freeze, and Feast(http://www.fixfreezefeast.com/).

Each class has come with an accompanying cookbook and delicious food during the class time. Today's class was all about fixing mass quantities of entrees to freeze and then pull out at a later date to enjoy. The cookbook was written by two women who started one of those Dream Dinners/My Girlfriend's Kitchen sort of places where customers show up, use the pre-chopped, pre-measured ingredients to put together a meal, package it up, and take it home to their freezer. A couple moms I know swear by these sort of places and were sure since I love to cook that I had to go. I guess they didn't realize that when I cook, I COOK. I make lots of different things, I try new recipes all the time, and I don't need someone to cut everything up for me and send me through an assembly line. That's not cooking.

I will definitely give credit to these savvy ladies who came up with the scheme. It's brilliant and a great way to help busy and or inexperienced cooks get something other than take out on their families' dinner tables. As far as my new cookbook goes, I am thrilled to have some tried and true recipes for meals that will freeze well for future use. That's been my biggest challenge. I like making lots and having meals ready to go for hectic days but I wasn't always sure that I should freeze the things I was tossing in the freezer. Now I have a great guide to help me stock up. And I got almost an entire day off! Thanks, Brian :)