Cooking Class - Would It Be Worth It To Take One?

[buttercreamsunshine]

So I have always always always wanted to learn how to cook, but I grew up in a family of microwave dinners, and never got a chance. Now, I'm gluten-free, so that is even more reason to learn. I want to take a class so I can get the basics down, at the very least, but I'm not sure if it would even be worth my time/money to go to a regular cooking class? As far as I've seen, there aren't any gluten-free cooking courses anywhere near me (South Orange County, CA), and I haven't had any luck finding one online.

What do you think? Should I take it anyways, and endure the gluten-filled foods I'll have to make and not eat (not to mention the fact that I'll most likely be touching the stuff)? Or can anyone provide me with a link to an online gluten-free cooking class?

Thanks!

Kara

[Takala]

Hmmm. I know that Azna Bakery said they were offering baking classes, but that's up here in NorCal in El Dorado County.

If you can, try to find a copy of a Betty Hagman baking book, since that is really a good, basic text to use for reference.

What I would do is start googling:

Gluten free orange county california

and

Gluten free cooking orange county california

and following those links.

Also, by checking out the web ring of the gluten free bloggers, you can find other blogs that have a lot of cooking information. One of the best is Gluten Free Girl and the Chef, by Shauna Ahern and her husband, James. Open Original Shared Link and their fan's facebook page, which has links Open Original Shared Link

I also tried googling gluten free cooking, and came up with this: Open Original Shared Link go to the "Basics" tab at the top and it has more links Open Original Shared Linkod/glutenfreecookingbasics/u/userpathsglutenfreecooking.htm

such as About Gluten Free Cooking, Living the Lifestyle, Getting Started, Cooking and Nutrition, etc.

Once you find one website, you can keep clicking on their links and find more.

Gluten free cooking is very much like regular cooking, except the ingredients are gluten free and the baking is a bit more detailed, because we typically use flour blends to get a better result, instead of just grabbing the wheat flour. So we may be mixing up containers of gluten free mixes that we keep in the refrigerator, to use in the recipes that work for us. Other people might just buy a bag of Pamela's gluten free mix, and go from there.

And a lot of quick breads for gluten free can be made in a microwave, sometimes for quick breads they come out even better than in a conventional oven.

Recipe:

[Juliebove]

You should look into seeing if you could do some sort of one on one thing. My mom hired a woman who used to be a school dietician to teach me how to cook. I didn't want to do it. So she let me bring a friend. She didn't want to do it either. We wound up going twice. It didn't work for us because the woman wouldn't listen to us and wouldn't let us make what we wanted to make. Instead we had to make foods that we hated and/or already knew how to make.

But you're not 12 years old so you might have better luck getting through to someone. And a chef that doesn't normally cook gluten-free might not know all the ins and outs of it but if you make some suggestions, he or she can teach you how to cook specific things. Like chicken and rice.

[luvs2eat]

I'd go w/ the private cooking teacher like mentioned above... only because if you're not a regular cook... substituting things might be daunting. I'd look thru some gluten-free cookbooks and look for a basic one... not one that's going to want you to have lots of different versions of flour mixes. Then experiment! I have friends who are really great about letting me "guinea pig" them w/ a new recipe!

[Keela]

Open Original Shared Link

I love this site... most of the recipes are very easy to follow and she has an on line course. All the recipes I have tried have been amazing.

[AngieH]

I think the best way to save you money is to go on Youtube. There are tons of videos on cooking gluten free. Save your money and don't sign up for anything until you check that out first. Just type in gluten free or gluten free cooking and you'll get all the cooking classes you need. I do hope this helps you!

Angie.

[buttercreamsunshine]

Thanks for the advice, everyone! I think I'll start with youtube and the gluten free cooking school, and then maybe work my way up to a private teacher! I'm really excited to get started!