1.	Build good kitchen skills from safety to knowing your way around equipment and tools.
2.	Learn to find, store, and follow good recipes.
3.	Start a “love of cooking (and eating) great food.”
4.	One of my good friends is an amazing musician. If he can listen to a song, then he can play it on his guitar and sing it. In the same way, restaurants serve a purpose to find great ideas and then, “if you can taste it, then you can figure out how to make it.”
5.	Cooking well is about planning, organizing, and critical thinking – so it’s all done at the same time, tastes great, and is hot. Cold food is no fun – unless it’s ice cream.
6.	You start cooking BBQ and cook in the rotation at home.

•	My first job was working at Jack in the Box. I was the strawberry shake in a pink Chewbacca furry outfit standing on the curb waving at people to come in. I got promoted after a few months to be the Onion Slicer for 6 hours a shift. Then I finally became the Fry Guy. 
•	I’ve always loved cooking whether it was for my family, or parties for 100, or a special occasion for 300. 
•	I taught my 2 sons to cook when they were in their teens. I told them when they were young that they need to learn to cook because lots of girls now just never learned to cook. They are both married now with their first son now. One of them does all the cooking in his family and the other loves to BBQ. 
•	I love to see cooking as a creative opportunity. In fact, today, I’m making stuffed mushrooms for a dinner party I attend every other week. It’s funny to see so many guys that are great cooks. It seems like for years now, many of my good friends are great cooks. I’ve been in several small group settings where our get-togethers have the guys all in the kitchen doing the cooking and the ladies are in the living room having a glass of wine and chatting.
•	I’ve often become the life of the party when I arrive with a few platters of sushi or bring homemade pizza. 
•	I love hosting a “slow Italian dinner party” that are 6 courses with breaks between each one while I finish up the next course. It doesn’t take many of these and those who attend reciprocate. These social settings have been some of my favorite memories.
•	Part of my goal with this class is to instill the love of cooking well and caring for others.
•	At 19 I had perhaps the most organizationally challenging job I’ve ever had in my life. I cooked for a restaurant. Every night I sent out 300+ meals. They were steaks, fish, prime rib, and plenty of other dishes. I would have a stack of tickets and 25-50 steaks cooking at a time. Every steak on the grill went to a specific order ticket. Getting everything done just right and hot to serve at the same time takes organization and critical thinking skills. Yes, the class is about cooking great food, but it also addresses the essentials of organization and thinking well – from planning the meal to cooking things just right, and leaving the kitchen completely clean when you’re done. “Mangia Bene!” (Italian for “eat well!”)

Homework Offered
I urge that students practice creating a BBQ rub and BBQ sauce from the recipes and then grill up something using them. Please post a few photos of your work in the Classroom. 
0 - 1 hours per week outside of class
Assessments Offered
Grades Offered