Private cooking lesson

As you can probably tell, Channing was enjoying his cooking lesson, which was a birthday gift from his wife.

"All of the food was very good and everyone who came over for dinner enjoyed it as well."
..............................Channing F., Wayland, Massachusetts

Private cooking lesson

Family from Vienna gave Sarah and Patrick a gift certificate for a cooking lesson as a Christmas present.
"We thoroughly enjoyed cooking with Ellie! The recipes we prepared were easy, yet with a certain twist and will become standards in our kitchen! Ellie's cooking expertise as well as the fun we had chatting with her about cooking and beyond really made the evening a memorable experience and a great Christmas present for us!

We really had a great time, and I already wrote a glowing email to my sister-in-law who was very happy that we enjoyed her present!

I need to have a closer look at the cook book you gave us, and if I have any questions on the recipes, I might get back to you!"
...............................Sarah & Patrick W., Cambridge, MA

Private cooking lesson

Elaine and Frank enjoyed their cooking lesson, which was given to them by their children.

"Thanks so much for a wonderful experience! The lesson was interesting, fun, informative and best of all left us with some great food. You have awakened our taste buds and we are looking forward to trying the many interesting receipes in your cook book."
............................Frank and Elaine C., Topsfield, Mass.

Susie's 'French Picnic' shower

Since Susie has studied in France, and teaches French, her friends and family surprised her with a 'French Picnic' in February - in Wellesley! Here she and her fiance are working on cheese soufflés.

"Thank you so much for all of YOUR help. Everyone enjoyed it immensely, even more than I had hoped!"
.............................Janeen H., Wellesley, Massacusetts

Raspberry Brownies

© 1991 "From Ellie's Kitchen to Yours"
2 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 stick butter or margarine
2 eggs
2/3 C sugar
2 tsp raspberry liqueur (Chambord, or Framboise (optional)
1/2 C seedless raspberry jam
2/3 C flour
1/4 tsp salt, or to taste
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 C chocolate chips

Confectioners' sugar, for sprinkling on the top
In a double boiler, melt unsweetened chocolate and butter or margarine, stirring until smooth; cool slightly. Whisk in eggs, sugar, jam and liqueur. Fold in flour, salt, baking powder and chocolate chips. The mixture will be thin. Pour into a greased, 8 or 9-inch square pan. Bake at 350° or 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick, inserted in the center, comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Cut when cool.

Hint: You can melt the butter or margarine and chocolate in a microwave instead of a double boiler. To serve, sprinkle confectioners' sugar on the brownies or, to make them look spectacular, cut them into small squares and make a rosette of whipped cream in the center of each square. Place a fresh raspberry on each rosette. Serve on a platter lined with a white doily. The brownies may be made up to 2 days in advance or frozen. Decorate with whipped cream and berries 1 hour in advance.

Private cooking lesson

"Thank you so much for the lesson!!! I really enjoyed it and look forward to scheduling some more with you. All of the food was delicious! We are enjoying it and I'm sure my parents will too when they visit this weekend.

Thanks so much again!"
.............................................Danielle D., Needham, MA

Fish and Spinach in Foil

4 C (6 oz) fresh spinach leaves
4 salmon, halibut or cod fillets
½ tsp cumin
¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 T orange juice
1 to 1½ T olive oil
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
2 scallions, chopped

Spread out 4 rectangles of foil, approximately 10”x12” each. Divide spinach among the pieces of foil, mounding it at the center. Season fillets with cumin, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and place on top of spinach. Whisk the orange juice, oil and ginger together and drizzle over the fish. Sprinkle with the chopped scallions. Bring the 2 longest opposite ends of the foil together and fold over tightly. Then seal the other 2 ends. Place foil packets on a cookie sheet and bake at 450° for 10 to 12 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish, until fish is cooked through.

Private cooking lesson

Camp friends since their teens, these 7 women still get together often, especially to celebrate each others birthdays. They surprised Amy, the ‘birthday girl’ by giving her a cooking party.
"We had a great time. All of the recipes were great. I am going to make them again. Have a Happy New Year!! Thanks again."
..................................................Laurie S., Andover, MA

"As you could tell, we all had a fabulous, fun time and enjoyed cooking with you! Our dinner turned out great! Love the photos on your blog."
..................................................Carolyn R., Acton, MA

Culinary Team Building

These teams from Alkermes Pharmaceuticals were busy preparing parts of the meal which they all got to enjoy a little later in the evening.

Kid's Cooking Birthday Party

As you can see, these 7 year olds are busy decorating the dessert at Constance’s birthday party.
“Thank you so much for Constance's birthday party. All the children enjoyed it.”
..............................................Karine D., Belmont, MA

Culinary Team Building

Massachusetts Dental Society
...Leadership Institute Team Building

Mini-Pepperoni Cheese Rolls

© 1991 "From Ellie's Kitchen to Yours"

1 pkg Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
4 oz pepperoni, sliced
4 oz Cheddar cheese, shredded
1 egg, beaten with 1 tsp water

Open Crescent Roll package. Press 2 triangles (a quarter of the dough) together and roll out slightly with rolling pin into an oblong shape. Spread a quarter of pepperoni slices on dough. Cover with a quarter of the cheese. Roll up, jellyroll fashion, and pinch ends to seal. Place seam side down on a greased cookie sheet. Brush with egg mixture. Bake at 375° for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden. Allow to cool for about 2 to 3 minutes before slicing. Serve hot.

...................................................Yield: 32 pieces

Hint: Slice each roll into about 8 pieces to serve as hors d'oeuvres. If you want to serve these as sandwiches, do not cut them and you will have 4 sandwiches. These pepperoni rolls make a hit with "kids" of all ages.

Private cooking lesson

Carol wanted to show the strudel she made to her friends, who had given her a gift certificate for her birthday cooking lesson.
..............................Carol K., Sudbury, Massachusetts

Kid's Cooking Birthday Party

Since Ben loves to cook, his parents treated him to a private cooking lesson for his birthday. His 2 sisters joined him and they all seemed to enjoy themselves.

"Thanks so much for the lesson--we all had a terrific time. Ben was very happy and felt that he learned a lot. We also had 2 terrific dinners."
..................................Lisa S., Westboro, Massachusetts

Private cooking lesson

In Jessica and Matt 's kitchen...

"We definitely enjoyed the "fruits of our labor". We were quite full for several days following our class. The afternoon gave us much more than we anticipated! We had so much fun, and really the time just fly by! We have used the chicken with lemon and soy sauce since then, and intend to use the others, but need to wait till after Thanksgiving for room in our tummies! Because of the raving I did after the class and the leftovers I brought in for lunch, several co-workers have asked me for the recipies, so 3 of them got copies, and one has even made the chicken with lemon and soy sauce already! We highly recommend you to those we know, and will potentially in the future call you up for another lesson. I also wanted to say thank you for the cookbook! I have already done 2 other dishes out of it, and they were huge successes too. Thank you so much for the wonderful afternoon and everything that followed!"
....................................Jessica B., Ayer, Massachusetts