Romance meets food

I finally kept a surprise. I set up for K and I to attend the "Hands On Romance Cooking Class" ...continued at Flavour Cooking School in Forest Park, IL, while we were in the Chicago area for the weekend. Even though she pressed me for clues, she didn't know what we were doing until we got to the place.

And what a place it was! Walking in the front is a cooking supplies store--everything from quality pots & pans to whisks to fondue pots to knives to measuring devices--and further back are some specialty ingredients--oils, seasonings, baking decorations, and more. The center of the store was a large countertop island, a nice stovetop and oven, industrial-sized fridge, and two big sinks. In the back they had set up dining tables.

So it's early-afternoon, and we arrive at the class right in time. We're one of five couples around the counter, with the instructor at the front wearing an apron and a smile. Each couple gets a knife and a scraper, a booklet of recipes, and nametags. We survey the menu to find that each course has at least one aphrodisiac ingredient: ...continued

• Oysters Rockefeller soup
• Arugula salad with vinegarette and truffle dressing
• Pork tenderloin sauteed in mustard sauce
• Chocolate fondue with dipping foods.

Such great fun! We cooked the courses one by one, eating each as it was finished. Everything was surprisingly easy to prepare under Denise's expert guidance, and we had a great time making our meal. (Apparently most of the classes at this place are demonstrations, not hands on.) There was so much food, and we wanted to savor every bite even though we were stuffed. The time involved in cook-eat-cook-eat-cook-eat helped make it manageable to clean our plates for the most part. Not to mention that each dish was positively delicious.