SUE AND JOYCE'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE.....cooking at the Viking School
What happens when you take two crazy bloggers......two Nikon camera's....and no shame.....
You have me and Joyce from "Flour Power" taking a cooking class at the Viking Cooking School in downtown Atlanta and trying our best not to be thrown out for causing a disturbance....
When you get two Italians from N.Y/N.J. who love to cook you can expect things not to be reserved and lady like.....
At the drop of a hat one of the two us had camera in hand while the other one posed like we were on one of those reality model shows..........I'm sure driving the other participants and the chef crazy.....
At one point Joyce got something greasy on the lens of her husbands new camera and I did see some panic..... it came right off...........luckily I was able to get off the bit of flour from the camera strap of the Boss' fancy schmancy D-200
The theme of the class was
The theme of the class was"From Farm to Table''
Using fresh seasonal fruits and veggies....
For all you Georgia bloggers that were invited to this event and couldn't attend you missed out on a fun filled day........
The Viking store on Peachtree Street in Midtown Atlanta is a gorgeous cooking retail store and cooking school with a fabulous kitchen.....
Come on......can we be any cuter in our matching Provence aprons.....
We started out "blind baking" puff pastry.....No...No...they didn't blind fold us and point us towards a hot stove but I'm sure after ten minutes of our hijinks the Chef considered it....
Blind baking for all you non cooks is baking your pie crust without any filling......We brushed the pastry with an egg wash...baked it at 400 degrees for a short while then placed a layer of parchment paper on top of the pastry......added some pie weights so it didn't puff up too much and continued baking until nice and brown......Then we made a wonderful Heirloom tomato tart.
We fought over who had the nicer looking free form pastry....
Here is neighbor Necie peeling potatoes for the Potato and Leek soup......
Hands at work creating a masterpiece using goat cheese....
This Mom of a 3 and 5 year old just seemed thrilled to be out of the house for the day......She had attended a different class everyday this week......Now that's fun!!
Here is Evan from Chattanooga ........his Mom and sister were in town for an event and dropped him off to take the class......At 16 years old I was very impressed how much he knew about food and he was just a sweet kid.....I hope he enjoyed himself....
Here's Joyce again putting the finishing touches on some healthy grain crackers....Notice she's wearing "non-regulation open toed shoes"......As I suffered for three hours with my feet stuck inside hot sneakers.....The only time in my life that I actually read the instructions that were mailed to us....
The crackers made with a bit of wheat flour and all sorts of grains and seeds were actually very tasty although a bit on the hard side.....I enjoyed their nutty taste and would certainly make them at home....
Always have to have dessert.......multi fruit cobblers with an oatmeal crumble on top....
made in little ramekins they were the perfect size......But what? No ice cream?
The ladies hard at work.....that is Donna the Chef in ofcourse the Chef's jacket.....
Donna believes in cooking with good healthy ingredients without going overboard...
visit Joyce at her blog......she's hysterical.....
Preparing Heirloom tomatoes for our tarts.....The purple-ish ones were delicious...
We had a great salad.....
Followed by a potato-leek soup.....Donna lightly roasted some fresh corn and placed it in the soup bowls first....then added the soup and drizzled it with Pesto and some truffle oil....
Here is the tart we made......
And just a note......when the Chef says...."Go ahead taste that flower thingie that's attached to the Basil leaves...it's good".......
A fun time was had by all.....sorry you guys out there missed it....Thank you Donna for a fun day and Joyce....Let's do it again real soon....
Here is Evan from Chattanooga ........his Mom and sister were in town for an event and dropped him off to take the class......At 16 years old I was very impressed how much he knew about food and he was just a sweet kid.....I hope he enjoyed himself....
Here's Joyce again putting the finishing touches on some healthy grain crackers....Notice she's wearing "non-regulation open toed shoes"......As I suffered for three hours with my feet stuck inside hot sneakers.....The only time in my life that I actually read the instructions that were mailed to us....
The crackers made with a bit of wheat flour and all sorts of grains and seeds were actually very tasty although a bit on the hard side.....I enjoyed their nutty taste and would certainly make them at home....
Always have to have dessert.......multi fruit cobblers with an oatmeal crumble on top....
made in little ramekins they were the perfect size......But what? No ice cream?
The ladies hard at work.....that is Donna the Chef in ofcourse the Chef's jacket.....She was a terrific instructor and we all wished her luck when we found out that she'll be trying out for the "Next Food Network Star" next week here in Atlanta.....
She did a great job and kept things moving right along...
Donna believes in cooking with good healthy ingredients without going overboard...She also had great basic tips ....She would be terrific on the Food Network...
Watch out Bobby Flay!!
visit Joyce at her blog......she's hysterical.....and she posts some terrific recipes....
Along with wacky stories.....
http://www.flourpowerjoyce.blogspot.com/
http://www.flourpowerjoyce.blogspot.com/
Preparing Heirloom tomatoes for our tarts.....The purple-ish ones were delicious...Ofcourse they don't rival "Jersey Tomatoes"....
You know they are the best in the World!!
Says who?.......everybody and anybody that lives in Jersey.
We had a great salad.....
Followed by a potato-leek soup.....Donna lightly roasted some fresh corn and placed it in the soup bowls first....then added the soup and drizzled it with Pesto and some truffle oil.... 
Here is the tart we made......Again...for all you Non-Cooks....that is NOT a huge bangle bracelet on her arm....
It's the side of a tart pan with removable bottom.....Just incase you were wondering.....
And just a note......when the Chef says...."Go ahead taste that flower thingie that's attached to the Basil leaves...it's good".......Don't believe them!!
A fun time was had by all.....sorry you guys out there missed it....Thank you Donna for a fun day and Joyce....Let's do it again real soon....and if you haven't already guessed the two of us LOVE to have our picture taken....
it must be a pushy N.Y./N.J thing.....
Comments
Hmmmm.......cooking classes......who would have thought?
Hugs!
Spencer
Susan
Looks like you two had a fun time!
Manuela
Yours looks like much more fun!
I would love to take a cooking class like this.
Joyce
Did you take home what you cooked or did you have to eat it all afterwards?
The tomato tart and potato leek soup reminds me of Julia Child recipes! They look fantastic!
To answer your question -- the cuttlefish is similar in taste to calamari, but because it is so big it cooks slower so it is more suitable for a bubbly rice dish. It has a pinkish purple skin like calamari that has to be peeled off, and it has a large bone inside which people put in their bird cages for their birds to sharpen their beaks on.
I like d the recipe but I think I'd use shrimp next tiem and just add them at the end to cook when the rice is almost finished.
Looks like loads of fun. I would have been there had I not been in NJ!
Thanks for your comments on my blog.
I've sent you an email-
Have a great day!
AND...I bought leeks at the farmers' market today because they were 50 cents each (bargain!)...is that soup recipe available? If so, I'll trade you for something. :-)
It was nice to meet Joyce too, we visit each others blogs..
She once lived in NY I think she told me..is that close enough NJ goil?? :)