Instead of doing the usual date night dinner out, do something different. My husband, Gary and I did an Oktoberfest cooking class at Out of Thyme Kitchen Studio in Symmes Township.
We were a little apprehensive at first but quickly relaxed when we were greeted by Shannon, the friendly bartender, who offered a warm welcome and a choice of cocktail. We were then instructed to choose our work station. The studio looks like the kitchens on the television shows with plenty of work space for each couple. There were also separate burners for each couple and set tables in the corner for us to enjoy the food we cooked.
Sue and Gary Sullivan gearing up for class at Out of Thyme
Chef Jaime, owner and instructor, welcomed the 4 couples and quickly knew each of us by name, and her friendly encouraging manner quickly made us all friends. She started with a quick lesson on safely using a knife to chop. She had us chopping, mixing, forming and sautéing before we knew it.
We made pretzels with beer cheese, (yes we need a little more practice on forming the pretzels – it has been a while since we have done play dough), cooked red cabbage with onions, apples and bacon, potato pancakes, pork schnitzel, and a wonderful apple crisp. The neat thing about it was we actually did all the chopping, flouring, mixing sautéing. We didn’t watch as is often done in cooking classes.
We were amazed at the organization and flow of 8 novices cooking a full German meal. Jaime and her staff had everything setup and a method for knowing which food was who’s when items were baking or cooking. There were 3 other staff
members to answer any of our questions and help when needed.
After our meal was done, we plated our food and went over to a beautifully set table to eat our dinner with our new cooking
friends. The food we cooked was very good – we impressed ourselves. The evening was fun and went extremely quick. We had fun, learned a new skill and plan to do it again with a group of friends or/and family.
Chef Jaime does cooking class of all kinds and will customize for your group.
