2024 was our second year of offering cooking classes at The Learning Kitchen at Chocolates and Tomatoes Farm. We really appreciate all the folks who came out to try us for the first time and the many who came back again and again. In our two years of offering cooking classes, 300+ different people have participated! If you are interested in purchasing a gift card for 2025, click here.
Some Overall Cooking Class Numbers
63 different class sessions:
45 for public registration
18 privately booked classes
8 is the average class size
19 different types of public classes
5 new class types
2 "for life" nutritional classes (1 new)
7 different fruit and veggie-focused classes (1 new)
4 different art and science of chocolate and sugar classes
2 different dessert-making classes (1 new)
3 different breads and pasta classes (2 new)
2 Chef Inspiration Dinners (new)
New Cooking Classes and Events in 2024
We had 5 new class types in 2024
Two in the breads and pasta category: Making Pasta from Scratch and Making Pizza from Scratch (these were our two most popular classes and always had a waiting list no matter how many sessions we added)
One in the dessert category: Making Eclairs and Cream Puffs (this was another highlight in 2024 with waiting lists every time)
One veggie-related and one "for life" nutritional class: Pasta Pairings and Broths and Soups For Life
We also experimented with Chef's Inspiration Tasting Dinners (one for Valentine's Day and one for Mother's Day)
Partnering to Offer Private Classes
We offer a range of private class options. Some people book private classes that are the same as the public classes but where only people from their family or group can participate. It is a team-building and memory-making activity. Sometimes these are employers, sometimes families, sometimes clubs. Some people request that we develop something special for their group.
We are proud to collaborate in a special partnership with the team members at Beans and Dreams. The team members there have picked green beans and celery with us and then prepared them, made overnight oats, and rolled chocolate truffles.
The residents of Homewood also come over by bus for some special classes. Near Halloween, we had a trifles class with them.
Ongoing Cooking Classes and Events in 2024
One of the main reasons that we started The Learning Kitchen was to inspire people to cook and eat vegetables.
In 2024, we had to cancel most of our vegetable-related classes due to lack of sign-ups.
Folks generally don't want to sign up for a class about a vegetable they have not liked before.
Our experience is that often people will like them if they are prepared well (and of course veggies have many health benefits). So, we are working on some creative ideas for 2025 to help folks get over those bad childhood vegetable memories and make some new, delicious ones!
We did have enough registrants in 2024 to hold the following fruit/vegetable-related classes: Pickling & Quickaling, Salsa with the Pepper Rainbow, Seasonal Salads & Slaws, Celebrating Strawberries, Tasting the Tomato Rainbow, Cooking with Winter Squash.
We were also able to hold one "Sauces for Life" class -- low salt, low sugar, but flavorful sauces.
People continued to love the Art and Science of Chocolates and Sugar classes including:
Caramels and gummies
Coloring & filling chocolate truffles
Making rolled chocolate truffles (a favorite for parties/events)
Making chocolate snap and shine
And also the Berries, Curds, and Creams dessert class.
The Soft Pretzels & Pairings class was so popular that we added more sessions in 2024.
Dreaming Up New Ideas for 2025
We are taking the end of December 2024 and early January 2025 to dream up new ideas for 2025 classes. We are planning to have our first round of classes up for 2025 on January 21. Check back at the Chef's Hat on the homepage for a countdown to new classes.
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