Strawberry Pretzel Dip (Beginner Dessert) - Cooking Confidence With Kristy

I am a mom of teenagers that lives in the Omaha, NE area. I homeschool/unschool my kids. We enjoy exploring the world, asking questions and then seeking out the answers, travel, reading, crafts, building forts, roller skating, dancing to loud music (while singing at the top of our lungs), board games, imaginary games, rearranging  furniture, inspecting insects, cooking & baking and anything else that comes across our path and looks interesting.

I am something of a research geek. My tendency to question EVERYTHING causes me to go deep into my research to find the truth of things. My favorite things to research are historical events, particularly obscure history. This research is the basis for my history classes, sharing what I find remarkably interesting with others.

I enjoy trying new recipes along with creating my own recipes and perfecting them. We play Chopped in our house, having fun putting together odd ingredients to make tasty (and, I'll admit, some not so tasty) dishes. My kids do a lot of their own cooking as I want them to have confidence in themselves and their capabilities. I want to pass this passion of kids becoming self-sufficient adults by creating cooking classes that teaches technique, but also how to mix flavors and try things out to figure out their own taste profile. Being free to experiment in the kitchen, having mishaps and triumphs, helps build the confidence and self esteem that I so long for our young people to have.

I understand that everyone absorbs information in their own way. Some are visual, some are auditory learners, some learn best through reading, some discussion and for some hands on is the only way to go. Because of this, I work to incorporated each of these styles into my classes, so that everyone has the best opportunity to gain insight and information.

I want to get to know my learners and tell them little bits about myself throughout class. For me, this is integral to having a learning environment in which students are comfortable asking questions and sharing their ideas due to the trust we build. For this reason I keep my live class sizes fairly small, with a max of five to seven students in most classes.

Below are what the levels of my cooking classes mean:

Beginner classes are for students with little to no experience in the kitchen. Class will focus on teaching and reinforcing the basics of measuring, different types of mixing, cooking of ground meat and chopping skills along with kitchen safety.

Beginner to Intermediate classes are for students with some experience assisting an adult in the kitchen. This means that the student has assisted with mixing and simple cutting and possibly assisted in cooking ground meat. Class will focus on teaching and reinforcing the basics of measuring, different types of mixing (beating, folding, well combined, etc), proper cooking of basic meats, slight multi-tasking, cutting and dicing skills along with kitchen safety.

Intermediate classes are for students with some experience in the kitchen, making simple dishes on their own (boxed macaroni & cheese, boxed cake mix, etc). Students should have experience mixing and some chopping. They should also have an understanding of what it means to cook and crumble meat. Class will focus on practicing mixing types (beating, folding, well combined, etc), cutting and dicing, proper cooking techniques, slight multi-tasking, and learning culinary terms along with kitchen safety.

Intermediate Plus classes are for students with fairly regular experience in the kitchen. Students should have experience making complete dishes without assistance, understand the meaning of culinary terms (fine dice, cooked through, fold, etc), capable of slight multi-tasking and be comfortable using basic kitchen appliances. Class will focus on practicing basic and more advanced cooking techniques & ingredients, cooking different types of meat to proper doneness, more advanced multi-tasking along with kitchen safety.