Behind the Scenes at a Taste of Home Cooking School
Recently, I was lucky enough to be invited to help behind the scenes at a Taste of Home Cooking School. I have done this once before, and it was incredible! Five women and Guy Klingzing, Taste of Home’s Culinary Chef met at the convention center at 8 AM the day of the show.
Behind the curtains!
We spent a short period of time unloading all of the items we would be using for the show. The sponsors brought all of the food, and Guy brought all of the cooking equipment. He also does his own sound and videos. It is really quite something to see! He has this down to a science. He trucks around the United States in his van with exactly what he needs for the show. He has the exact amount of forks, spatulas, etc… And no more!
Now we’re cook-in!
Once everything is set up, we all take two recipes to prep for the evenings show. Once a dish is prepared during the show, it becomes a delicious door prize. It usually goes with a sponsors package. For example, the torte that was made went with a cool cake plate/dip bowl/punch bowl!
Yummy chicken!
Food safety and hand washing are VERY important, as these are gifts for the audience! The chicken that was made was cooked over orange halves with a plum glaze on the top. It smelled heavenly!
The audience
We finished all of our prep work about 12:30 PM, and did not have to return until 5:30 PM. The show started at 7 PM. The audience started arriving at 3:30 PM! So many groupies! Some came in matching aprons or t-shirts. It was a very festive group!
Last minute preparation.
We all had last minute things we needed to prep before the show began. This was the steak that we used in the bread salad. It was done to perfection on a nifty grill pan. I think I need one of these!
My version of a selfie!
We all were taking pictures of each other before hand in our hot looking aprons!
Audience view
Finally the show started. It lasted a good two hours, and so many people went home with tasty foods we had made, and great culinary gifts!
The Omaha crew.
The women I worked with were incredible, and fun, and it was an experience I will soon not forget. One of the women made all of us a dish towel to remember this experience by. Mine was perfect! It had a picture of a red Kitchen aid mixer on it! Looks just like mine!
And it’s red!
