It's going to be a busy fall season at both Common Ground Food Co-op and Urbana Park District's Phillips Recreation Center as we've scheduled a full season of six cooking classes starting in September.  The first class will be "A Taste of Palestine" on September 21 at the Phillips Recreation Center's James Room Kitchen . For the first time, I will step back and assist Fairouz AbuGhazaleh who be the chef du jour and cook up several of her family recipes. According to Fairouz, "Palestinian food begins at home with recipes that evoke feelings of homesickness, happiness and nostalgia that have been passed down by generations." This class is part of my continuing series called "Flavor Principles of Ethnic Cooking" where we travel around and sample the best tasting ethnic cuisines available ( see full menus and details ). If you want to attend this class or the other classes in this series, please register today . From past experience, we know...

As we wrap up the summer season of my "Flavor Principles of Ethnic Cooking" series, I'm starting to test recipes for the fall season which starts on September 21, 2023. But here's a more important date: August 2, 2023 . Mark your calendar as this is the first day registration opens for all fall events at Urbana Park District. From past experience, we know that this series sells out fast. Even though we've increased the seating to 12 people per class, we anticipate this series selling out within days.  The "Flavor Principles of Ethnic Cooking" is a very popular long-running series of classes at Urbana Park District's Phillips Recreation Center. The class meets on Thursdays from 6–8pm and the tuition is $40–$75 per person which includes a full two-course dinner along with wine and beer tastings.  The sixth season of these long-running "dinner party-style" cooking classes will continue in the fall when we visit Palestine, the Czech Republic...