Sharping my Kitchen Skills with Baking as Proof

Recently I began teaching as the lead chef for cooking classes at Home - JAX Cooking Studio. Cooking has always been a passion of mine. My parents always cooked, so I began young. At first, I would just cook for myself, then for friends. I received wonderful feedback, for the most part. Cooking was fun for me, but I never imagined myself doing it as a career. The idea of cooking for a living made me think I might lose my passion for it. On the contrary, teaching it has sparked more passion for cooking and baking. Maybe it is because teaching is a completely different vibe than cooking in a restaurant. Although I have always enjoyed cooking, I never really attempted baking. My assumption was that it was too technical, and I wouldn’t enjoy needing precise measurements. However, now I really enjoy being accurate and using a food scale Amazon.com: Food Scale, CHWARES Rechargeable Kitchen Scale with Trays 3000g/0.1g, Small Scale with Tare Function Digital Scale Grams and Ounces for Weight Loss, Dieting, Baking, Cooking, Meal Prep, Coffee, Black: Home & Kitchen instead of measuring cups. Who knew that would make such a difference? I think my frustrations before were initiated from the recipe not turning out as well as I had expected. Learning to use a scale helps your end product turn out well consistently. Sure, I can tweak the ingredients some and record the outcome to know if that small tweak is worth keeping or not.  However it is most rewarding to adjust something and have the product turn out better than before. Bit by bit, this is what I have learned while working on perfecting my sourdough bread recipe.

Furthermore, what began as a Sous Chef position definitely helped me become much more confident in the kitchen. Not only has it sharpened my cooking skills, but it has fine-tuned my baking skills as well. Before I started working at the studio, I would have never had the urge to just wake up in the morning and bake blueberry muffins or execute a Dutch Baby Pancake. Both of which I have done, and successfully according to my four-year-old daughter and my husband. Now, it is something I look forward to doing when there is time in the morning. Another aspect I love is finding a recipe, making it and then adjusting it where I can to make it more nutrient dense or just use organic ingredients. Most of the recipes we use at work are tested and pretty much fool-proof. However, there are a few that I like to adjust for my taste or my family's preference while I'm cooking it at home. The end result is usually very rewarding for everyone.

On occasion the recipe will not turn out as I hoped it would during my demonstrations. Instead of fretting, I use it as a learning point for the class. It can feel somewhat embarrassing, however, I can usually turn it into a “what not to do” situation and the class appreciates that even the lead chef will make mistakes. We are all human and some of the greatest chefs in the industry blunder. The students become more confident, knowing that if they muck it up the first time, it is all part of the process. I like to remind them that recipes don't always turn out as expected, and not all mistakes are bad mistakes. For instance, Chocolate Chip Cookies were meant to be just chocolate cookies. Ruth Wakefield ran out of baker's chocolate when she was supposed to bake chocolate cookies for her guests. So, she used a bag of Nestle’s chocolate morsels, she thought they would melt and blend into the cookie dough, she was wrong, and that is how chocolate chip cookies were born. This is always a good story to tell if something doesn’t turn out exactly as planned.

In some instances, I will change things up on purpose. At home, I use a muffin recipe when baking cupcakes for my daughter, it has less sugar and she doesn’t even notice because of the frosting. Also, I found that date confectioners' sugar and coconut sugar are a great substitute for refined cane sugar. They both have a lower glycemic index and have more nutrients than the refined sugar. That all started because I wanted to bake some cookies and I didn’t have brown sugar, but I did have coconut sugar, so I substituted it, and it tasted even better. I used powdered date sugar for my frosting, and it turned out to be delicious. These are just a few things that I would have never attempted before working at the studio. There is no doubt that this opportunity to teach cooking has been a game changer.

Successfully executing a recipe is not the only reward I get with this job. Teaching others, especially children, how to enjoy cooking is also valuable. It is quite gratifying to instruct someone how to make something that they never thought possible, then watching their faces light up as they taste it and realize how wonderful it is. The moment they realize that what they created tastes delectable, is priceless. Moreover, the adults are always extremely appreciative when they learn a new trick or tip for making the process easier or more effective. As for the children, I know that teaching these little minds a life skill this young, will stay with them for life. Teaching them something that can absolutely help them in the future, not only with their health but their confidence and their future as young adults. Whether they go on to be chefs, or just prepare meals for their families and save money by cooking at home. The confidence it builds for these young humans is beyond anything else I could teach because it will be with them as they grow. Cooking is something that will carry on through other aspects of their life and that is super gratifying.