Instructor Jan D’Artri helped us by cutting up the White Chocolate English Toffee I made with my neighbor during a cooking class at Sweet Basil Culinary Center.
Are you a spur of the moment person?
I’m not. I plan out my weeks and I like to follow a schedule. I make to do lists and enjoy crossing off items with a red pen.
My neighbor texted me and invited me to an Ina Garten cooking class. She said her friend couldn’t make it and would I like to take her place. I hesitated. It wasn’t on my schedule. It wasn’t on my list.
Then I said yes.
I had to look up who Ina Garten was. She had a show on the Food Network called the Barefoot Contessa. I watched her show occasionally, but I didn’t know her real name.
It was a hands on cooking class called Cooking Ina Garten Favorites (no she wasn’t there in person). Then we got to pick what we wanted to prepare out of the following recipes:
Spinach & Artichoke Dip with Garlic Bread
Truffled Mac & Cheese
Crispy Chicken Parmesan with English Roasted Potatoes
Ina’s Chicken Pot Pie Soup with Puff Pastry Croutons
White Chocolate English Toffee
Beatty’s Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream
Paloma CocktailFYI, you can google any of these recipes and they show up from Ina Garten.
Crispy Chicken Parmesan with English Roasted Potatoes. Delicious.
Chicken Pot Pie Soup with Puff Pastry Croutons. This was my favorite and I’ll try it at home. Here’s a LINK to Ina’s recipe.
One of my neighbor’s friends making the Paloma cocktails.
A photo of the cooking area. We were assigned to stations with our ingredients, pots and pans, burners, ovens and recipes.
My neighbor and I chose White Chocolate English Toffee because it looked super easy. However, we couldn’t get our white chocolate morsels to melt. The instructor added vegetable oil and whipped it into shape. Here’s a LINK to Ina Garten’s recipe.
When we were done cooking, we sat down to a delicious meal. Everything was so good!
Sweet Basil’s is also a kitchen store with all sorts of fun gadgets, beautiful dishes, serving platters, knives and everything under the sun for cooking.
Have you tried any of Ina Garten’s recipes before? If so what ones?
From my list of recipes from the cooking class, which would you most likely want to prepare and eat?
Are you a spur of the moment person or a planner?
This sounds like a yummy adventure.
Yes. Everything was so good.
Awesome experience. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
My neighbor introduced me to this kitchen center plus two of her friends. That was a plus, too.
It was a nice thought
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I am such a planner and, yes, I just finished making my list for today (after consulting my monthly “To Do” list, of course). Kudos to you for saying yes and not sticking with the program, though–your cooking class looked like fun and every single recipe was something I would eat. Probably because cheese.
Thanks for commenting. Yes, there is comfort in making a list and getting things done. I’m glad I said yes, and I’m looking forward to cooking these things at home.
I like to be asked to do things, but I’m very much a structured, know-well-in-advance kind of person. I’m actually pretty crazy about this. My wife jokes that I like to schedule my spur of the moment spontaneous events. She’s not wrong. Ha ha. We all like what we like EA. Good for you getting out of your comfort zone. The class sounds interesting!!!!
I like your wife’s comment. That’s so funny. There was a time in our marriage — before kids — that’s we’d go camping at the beach spur of the moment. We’d also wake up, decide to go skiing and play hooky at work. Those were the days.
I can be both: go with things when the need arises or something (like this class) seems fun and too good to pass up but mostly I am a planner/organizer and like to stay in that lane. Some people/activities allow the spontaneity to come through more easily for me.
I’m with you. This sounded like so much fun. At first, I also thought the Barefoot Contessa would be there. My daughter made the point that there wouldn’t have a last minute cancellation if that were the case. 😂
LOL! That is so very true 🙂
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That sounds like fun!
Off to check on those tasty recipes…
I loved every recipe, but the soup really hit the spot. The crispy parmesan chicken I’ll also make.
Oh my goodness! Delish! 🥰❤️🥰
Not only was it delicious, it was so much fun!
Love it! 🥰❤️🥰
👍🏼 My neighbor is the president of the woman’s group I joined that supports victims of sex trafficking. She’s taken me under her wing and drives me to board meetings, luncheon’s, etc. I’ve gotten to know her a lot better this past month. I was flattered to be included for a purely social event.
I’m so glad you went. Sometimes those spontaneous things pay off in splendid ways! 🥰
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Wow – that looks wonderful! I love that you said “yes” even though it wasn’t planned! That English toffee looks great! I want to try that!
It’s pretty easy to make except for having trouble melting the white chocolate morsels. We tried over a double boiler. Maybe the microwave would be easier! It was such fun afternoon!
Yum!
I’m excited to try some of the recipes at home.
I’m tickled you said yes! What a great opportunity. No, I’ve never tried her recipes, but they do sound good. Maybe I’ll find some time in the next couple months to try some new recipes. I’m a fairly spontaneous person, though I do have to-do lists.
I’m so glad I said yes, too. It is fun getting to know a neighbor I only said hi to a year ago. She asked me to join a BOD for a nonprofit that supports sex trafficked women. I said yes to that too, because it’s a good cause.
All good, all around.😊
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I want a Paloma cocktail. That’s my takeaway from this post. I like Ina’s Beef Bourguignon recipe. We’ve made it for our official Christmas Day dinner. It’s that special.
Wow. That sounds delicious. I’ll have to look for the recipe. The Paloma cocktail was yummy. Very refreshing.
White chocolate English Toffee! I’ve never heard of it, but it sounds delicious. I love Ina’s recipes, and her show is so lovely—I can have it on in the background, and it’s just so soothing. It looks like you had a great time! ❤️
Oh, and I’m definitely a planner, too. I actually learned how to make homemade whipped cream thanks to Ina Garten! (It’s super easy!)
The toffee was topped with cashews, pecans, dried cherries and crystallized ginger. You should try it!
It sounds heavenly!
It was so good!
What a fun time, and everything looks delicious! The white chocolate english toffee would be a must for the holidays!
Thanks. Yes, I’ll make the toffee for the holidays!
I am not exactly spur of the moment more of a organized one. It is different personalities. Yummy food stuff thanks for the post an yummy food 🙂
Thanks for commenting. The food is delicious. It’s nice to have some new recipes.
its an amazing moment