A Cooking Class Adventure with Caleb

Last Saturday, Caleb and I participated in a wonderful parent-child cooking class together in San Francisco. The class, Empanadas and Dumplings, was taught by our friends through the blogosphere, Simran and Stacie, who write a fabulous blog that I’m fond of called A Little Yumminess.

Caleb and I rode BART into the City and arrived at the 16th Street BART Station just minutes before our class was to begin. I practically covered Caleb’s eyes as we hurried past a gaggle of friendly neighborhood prostitutes and drug addicts. Good times! I wouldn’t have done a double take in my twenty-something days when walking through the Mission, but now that I’m a careful guardian of two young children, I feel incredibly protective and don’t want the world to appear seedy through their eyes.

We let the wind blow us up the street to a cozy studio space in the Mission District dedicated to bringing community and food together, called 18 Reasons. We walked in to find about eight other families sitting around a family-style table waiting for class to begin. Sprinkled around the table were little bowls of empanada and dumpling fillings, such as chocolate chips (yes…I caught Caleb’s hand in there a few times), banana puree, apple sauce, and diced apple, as well as more savory fillings like chicken, ground beef with onions, queso fresco, black beans, and creamed corn.

Simran and Stacie had pre-made the dough and provided us with little balls to roll out at our workstations. Caleb was a master roller and had even volunteered to help demonstrate how to make the dough in front of the class.

After making a handful of empanadas, Simran did her demonstration of “Easy-Peasy Dumplings” and we tried our hand at those. Very similar to the potstickers Caleb and I have made together, and very yummy.

Our favorite part of the class was when the pre-made empanadas came out of the oven and we all got to pass baskets of sweet and savory hot pockets of goodness. There wasn’t an empanada that Caleb didn’t like (although his favorite…wait for it…was filled with chocolate), so I feel very inspired to make these at home with him sometime soon.

As we were getting ready to leave to head back to the East Bay, Caleb asked me, “Momma, what other fun things are we going to do now?” I was pleased to hear that my little guy was having such a good time and that my idea to take him to a cooking class in San Francisco was well received.

I really enjoyed my special date with Caleb – riding into the City, walking over to the class through my old stomping grounds, running to the class hand in hand as the wind was pushing us up the street, and sitting next to my sweet-pea around a huge table, surrounded by other parents who are also passionate about exposing their children to wholesome, home-cooked ethnic foods. I especially enjoyed, riding back on BART with Caleb’s head on my shoulder and hand on my lap. We had fun talking all about the food that we had made together and gobbled up during the class. This was definitely a memorable food adventure and I look forward to our next one.

Recipe: Chocolate and Caramelized Banana Empanadas (from A Little Yumminess)

For more fun food adventures, recipes, and more, please check out Cooking with Caleb: www.cookingwithcaleb.wordpress.com