A break from a hectic schedule - Cooking class with Phoebe Lapine

This quarter has been tough. Lots of homework, exams, grading and doing some research... So like anyone that has been working constantly I think I deserve a break before I can continue working and find myself at the finish line.

Each quarter we pay some dollars to our "Ohio Union" so that they can invite famous people to OSU, sell cheap restaurant gift cards, tickets to events, have movie screenings, give occasional free food samples, cooking classes etc. As a PhD student I think I am not able to take advantage of these activities as much as I would like to so when I got the email that there was going to be a cooking class this Friday, I said why not? I think I deserve a break, and since I love cooking what better way to spend my free time. Well, obviously it is not free time when I will have to work late the day before so that I can make my deadlines for work but I'm willing to work late the day before to attend a cooking class the next day :). It will be a great reward for me, I am sooo excited!

Ina Garten and Phoebe Lapine on Barefoot Contessa

The cooking class will be given by Phoebe Lapine. OK, I had no idea who Phoebe Lapine was when I first read about the cooking class. However, her face seemed to be familiar. I did some research and found out that she had made an appearance on Ina Garten's show, Barefoot Contessa, i.e. my favorite show on Food Network! I became even more excited about the cooking class. Also Phoebe is really young, just a couple of years older than me so I think hearing her experiences about her journey in the "food world" will be very inspiring. She created a food blog with her best friend (Cara Eisenpress) after she graduated from college. The blog is called Big Girls Small Kitchen and its target audience is 20-something's like me :). After that they also became authors of their first cookbook, In the Small Kitchen. I think I'm going to have a great time cooking with Phoebe. Hopefully I'll have some pictures to post afterwards :).

By the way, if you're curious our menu will include the following dishes:

1) Chickpea and Walnut Burgers with Mint Raita
2) Basic Fried Rice
3) Ginger-Honey Chicken Wings
4) Arugula Salad with Lemon-Cilantro Vinaigrette

and it will be around 10 bucks!