Here's what you missed at our last cooking party

These pictures were taken by Jennifer Ashley, one of the students who attended last week's hands-on Georgian cooking class. On September 11, a small group of foodies gathered at Urbana Park District's Phillips Recreation Center for a "cooking party," and we made a Georgian feast featuring a beef stew, three minced vegetable appetizers, an herbal lemonade soda, and meat dumplings from scratch. This event was part of our long-running series of cooking classes called PRINCIPLES OF ETHNIC COOKING (see more pictures). 

Since its inception in 2022, we have traveled the world, enjoying the best that each country has to offer. So far, we have explored 24 different cuisines, including some that are hard to find in Champaign-Urbana. Last week's class featured popular dishes from Georgia, a former Soviet state nestled between Europe and Asia. Coming up next is a taste of some unusual dishes from Oaxaca, the southernmost state in Mexico, to be followed by guest chef Kayla Lammy's take on her favorite healthy vegetarian Italian dishes. Details and full menu is here: www.cooking-with-paul.com/upd-2025-fall.html

If you missed last week's class, you can still make these Georgian dishes at home. Kitchen-tested recipes from all my classes are online, organized by cuisine. There are now over 150 streamlined easy-to-follow recipes for you to download and try -- including exotic dishes from Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Iran, Ukraine, Indonesia, Morocco, and the Czech Republic. Tell your friends to subscribe to this email newsletter and you will always be the first to know about upcoming classes. 

More information about my cooking classes and pop-up events can always be found on my website, where you'll also find over 200 recipes from my classes (no ads!). You can also subscribe to my email newsletter or follow me on Instagram or Facebook and like my posts. Bon appétit!