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Foundation
Hosts
Mother/Daughter
Cooking Classes
Making Something Special
8.7.08
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Dozens
of young women and their moms stepped up to
the plate this summer and hit some mighty
big home runs -- with their cooking.
The big hits came in the
form of a scrumptious fruit salad, tasty homemade
pizzas, tantalizing cheesecakes and more,
thanks to “Batter Up!,” a series
of cooking classes sponsored by the Pujols
Family Foundation. These classes were held
at two of the Dierbergs School of Cooking
locations.
“I liked learning how
to do this,” said Samantha Fritz, 18,
after she attended a July class at the West
Oaks Dierbergs in Creve Coeur.
“I like how it’s
hands on, with the measuring and pouring,”
added her mom, Karla Kramer. “I need
to let her start doing more of this!”
The nine classes, held throughout
July, not only provided mothers and their
daughters ages 13 and older with Down syndrome
a chance to gain some handy recipes and cooking
tips, but to also spend some good quality
time together, say hello to old friends and
even meet some new ones.
Deidre Pujols, who’s
gained renown for her own culinary skills,
and the Foundation wanted to find a way for
girls and their moms to cook and bond. The
Dierbergs cooking schools provided a great
home for these classes. About eight mother-daughter
combos were able to attend each of the nine
two-hour classes and create a full-course
meal that they were then able to enjoy while
chatting with everyone. And while there were
lots of smiles and girl talk, some no-nonsense
cooking took place too.
Upon arrival for each class,
the mothers and daughters were ushered into
a cozy, well-equipped kitchen and each was
given a red apron embroidered with the PFF’s
“Batter Up!” logo. Two instructors
then immediately put twosomes to work creating
mini cheesecakes for everyone.
Within minutes, flour was
whirling for the pizza crust, a huge bowl
was quickly filling with melon balls, grapes
and more for the fruit salad and others were
busy preparing an Italian salad. And each
duo took a turn preparing potato skins.
“Awesome,” giggled
Barbara Behlmann, 15, after she and her mom,
Karen Behlmann, made one of the pizza crusts
and shared a high-five with each other.
Meanwhile, the instructors
shared cooking tips, such as:
• To avoid making a
lumpy cheesecake, be sure the ingredients
are at room temperature when mixing
• For the perfect pizza crust from scratch,
the water temperature must be about 110 to
115 degrees before it’s added to the
yeast
Minutes quickly turned
into an hour and suddenly scrumptious smells
filled the air. Root beer floats with a perfect
frosty foam were poured, dirty prep dishes
cleared and the fruit salad sweetened with
a touch of pink lemonade was served. Everyone
then went to fill their plates with homemade
pizza and the many other freshly made delectables.
At the end of the class,
each mother-daughter pair received a gift
bag and everyone was allowed to take their
new apron home. Among items included in the
gift bag:
• Matching necklaces
for moms and daughters
• $5 Build-A-Bear gift cards
• Chocolate from Crown Candy
• Pink Cardinals bracelets made from
the same material used to make baseballs
• Scrapbooking albums
• Coupons to a number of local businesses,
including McAlister's Deli, McDonald's and
Burnswick Zone
Click
here for photo slideshow.
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