11/07/2008

Hi Everyone,
Several of you have been reaching out to us trying to figure out what happened to the cooking classes that were online less than a week ago.

Unfortunately, we've shut down the class registration temporarily until we know DEFINITELY when the doors will open because two Monday's ago, our equipment vendor called with the news he'd made a huge error, and now, we are staring down a 3-5 week delay. Ouch.

We understand your excitement and your frustration to get out and do something new, but I promise you no one is more disappointed than I am to be delayed once again. I've been at this since April and it's been riddled with stops and starts almost every month. According to my original plans, I should've been open September 15.

But I can't go back.

It is unfortunately, the nature of the beast. For anyone whose ever built or remodeled their home, you feel my pain.

That's ok. An old boss of mine used to say, the only way to get past it is to go through it.

So onward!

I sat down with Doug, my executive chef, today and we packed the January schedule with even more interesting classes than the December schedule. We have Barton Seaver once a week! Brad Race from Mini Bar is teaching kids classes! We have the Etiquette School of Virginia teaching us about the Art of Mingling and Dining Savvy.

Chef Gretchen Gates is going to show us how to cook for health by keeping all the bad stuff out of our food: sugar, white flour, preservatives. She's also going to show you how to sneak veggies in your kid's food, a la Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook, Deceptively Delicious, but Gretchen goes one step further to teach us about "superfoods" : how to cook them and how to get your whole family eating well. Gretchen owned a catering company in Arizona, and through a series of interesting twists began helping people manage their Fibromyalgia and multiple sclerosis through their diet. She has seen amazing results with very simple changes.

Doug is tackling our I Hate To Cook! skills class series, for all of you who would like to enjoy cooking but don't, we'll fix that. He's also offering an amazing bread class, Asian inspired cuisine classes and wine tastings. Doug is an internationally trained chef, whose patient enthusiasm will not intimidate you. He's a masterful chef and a very nice guy.

Chef Tabetha Martinez is hosting couples nights with her personal trainer husband. Bring your significant other, and they will show you how to get dinner on the table in record time by splitting tasks, working together and at the same time eating good, healthy food.

We're hoping army chef and now personal chef, Chris Morse, swings by to teach the men's cooking class, "MAKE. EAT!" Hoo haa. No ladies allowed. We promise not to make you wear an apron unless you want one and if you want to bring your own knives, that's cool.

There's singles night, of course.

Then there's FAMILY NIGHT! Imagine this...you and your husband/partner or best friend, take your kids to Cookology. The adults spend the night making braised Moroccan chicken with parmesan polenta and wilted spinach and finish with creme brulee, all in the professional kitchen. And the kids, with one of our kid's instructors in the kid's kitchen, make wheat pizza dough, pizza sauce from scratch and top it off with veggies, meats and a variety of cheeses. Don't forget the parfait sundaes for dessert! Then miracle of miracles everyone sits down to eat together! How fun is that going to be?

In January, we will have 80 unique kid's cooking classes all taught by chef/school teachers.

Alas, I am forever hopeful that we will, by some miracle, open the doors by December, but if not there's always January! Hang in there my new friends, we have so much to share with you.
The best,
Maria Kopsidas
Owner
Cookology
maria@cookologyonline.com