Cooking is fun! Cooking is interesting!

Knowing how to prepare a meal is going to be useful for you at anytime and any place, and you can start learning right now. Tasty cooking can be done not only by adults, but also by children and I will show you how.

My name is Alexandra and I will teach you how to cook. Knowing how to prepare a meal is one of the basic life skills. Knowing how to cook will help to introduce a child to a healthy lifestyle, encourage independence, responsibility, and also help to understand the importance of caring for oneself and others. The more children are involved in the cooking process, the bigger the chances that in the future they will choose a healthy diet or a home-cooked meal over fast food take out, and when in a restaurant they will order a dish with a higher nutritional value rather than quick carbs.

Cooking is a process where our thoughts, feelings and actions interact. It is one of a few cases when a theory can be put into practice immediately, and we are able to try the result right away. When we prepare a meal the process itself is as important as the outcome. During the process of cooking we learn to understand what tastes we like – sour, salty, sweet, and what we don’t like. Cooking is also a very creative process and by learning how to cut vegetables in different shapes, how to decorate cookies and set a table we develop our creative side. It is also a social activity that brings people together and helps us make friends.

During our classes children will learn how to make healthy and easy dishes, how to read and understand recipes, to plan and organize the cooking process, follow instructions, use basic kitchen tools safely, learn about safe behavior in the kitchen, enrich their vocabulary and learn special culinary terminology. They will also get acquainted with various measurements, expand their knowledge about food and its beneficial qualities and nutritional value.

At our cooking lessons we try to incorporate seasonal fruits and vegetables and learn what you can make from what is available right now. We talk about favorite dishes, as well as traditional recipes from different countries. And most importantly, we learn how to cook simple and wholesome meals, like for example:

• healthy snacks and easy breakfasts
• green salad and fruit salad plus various dressings
• sauces and dips
• juices, smoothies, lemonade, tea
• warm salads
• basic side dishes
• pizza
• biscuits
• simple desserts

Food is part of our life and should bring joy. Joy has many recipes. Come and learn to cook with us! Classes are held on Saturdays and are designed for children of 6 years and older.

The classes will be conducted by Alexandra, who is a graduate of The Minsk State Linguistic University where she earned a degree in English She also earned her Master’s Degree in international and comparative education from Stockholm University where she wrote and published a thesis on the importance of life skills education for children.