baking 101

If you follow me on instagram or twitter you know my love/hate affair with pie crusts.  It doesn't matter if the crust is homemade or store bought, I screw it up.  Enter my sister-in-law.....

She found a new cooking school that Heavy Restaurants is doing in Bellevue, Washington in what used to be Barrio.  The restaurant group decided to convert that space for private dining, catering, parties and cooking classes.  If you live in the area, you must check out their workshops.  Anyhoo, my SIL wanted to sign up for the Baking 101 class and I said sure.  Now, I don't NEED baking 101 by any stretch of the imagination as I can whip out flaky biscuits and quick bread like the seasoned baker I am, but the real reason I went was the pie crust.  Yup, I need some help in that department.

The class was killer awesome!  For $50, I had the opportunity to learn from the head pastry chef how to make savory cheddar biscuits, lemon poppy seed quick bread and enough pie crust to keep me busy for quite a while.  I could ask questions galore, get my hands dirty mixing up butter and flour and they fed us yummy pub food from Lot No 3.  I also took home an apple pie in a pie tin that I get to keep and use again to make a deep dish pie or a cake.  Score! My boys were thrilled they were able to eat apple pie and the quick bread.

I have been keeping an eye out for other classes I want to take. My problem is I have vacations planned for most of the Saturdays of the classes that interest me. Overall, I thought the money spent was worth it. And I will be taking other classes in the future.