So you think you can cook

"It cracks me up that you're so into food and cooking now," G said to me when I was visiting her and her husband in Texas earlier this summer. "I remember when you didn't know how to chop a green pepper!"

It's true. As a kid, I was unsure in the kitchen. And even as a young adult, I picked up knives with trepidation, sure I'd chop off a finger; and only rarely experimented with recipes, certain that I'd mess something up and wind up having to order a pizza. (G, on the other hand, is a natural in the kitchen -- I think she was born knowing how to whip up her dad's red sauce, her mom's jambalaya...)

But somehow, over the last couple of years, I've picked up some confidence in the kitchen. Maybe it's because what I've learned is, there's no better way to become more proficient in the kitchen, than to just get in there and cook. Helping me along with that are cooking classes at L'Academie de Cuisine's recreational school in Bethesda. There, aspiring home cooks learn everything from basic knife skills, to Asian appetizers, to risotto. The combination of a great instructor, tasty recipes, and the camaraderie of classmates makes the evening fly by.

Take enough classes, and you may just find yourself comfortable enough to jump into your kitchen one summer Thursday night, and throw together a dinner of salmon with fresh basil, and a summery tomato-corn-mozzarella-basil salad. And peach sorbet for dessert. Mmmm.

L'Academie de Cuisine
5021 Wilson Lane
Bethesda, MD
301-986-9490