Teaching your child how to cook or bake takes a lot of patience. Trust me, I know. I spend several hours a month planning out menus for our family and then at least 6-8 hours in the kitchen a week with the kids doing basic culinary arts. In our household, cooking and baking are synonymous with learning (we call it culinary world-schooling) and therefore we cook/bake on a daily basis or whenever we have free time.
There are very few companies or restaurants in Hawaii that have cooking classes for kids and when they do, it often fills up minutes or hours before registration opens. Therefore, I was surprised to find out there were still “openings” at the Williams Sonoma Junior Chef Classes held at Ala Moana Center.
There was one particular class that my daughter pointed out and was eager to participate in called “Breakfast with American Girl“. Not because she knew what American Girl was, but more importantly, she knew that American Girl was one of the supporters of the No Kid Hungry campaign, which she actively supports (we recently held a bake sale to fundraise for them). The class was held mid-October and taught girls ages 8-13 how to make delicious breakfast dishes. Excited, she made reservations for both herself and her friend. The morning of the class the girls were excited – her friend brought along all of her American Girl dolls! The girls were seated, name tagged and the class began on time.
Parents were asked to stay to “assist” their child and so my plan for a 2-hour shopping spree in the mall was quickly dashed. Realizing my daughter didn’t need any assistance, my friend and I decided to roam the store (great sales strategy) with the intention of not buying anything we didn’t need. But then slowly our baskets began to fill up and our Christmas wish list began to grow.
As we wandered back to the cooking area we were happy to see the girls eager to share their masterpieces with us. Pancakes with strawberries and chocolate, cupcake omelets and fruit skewers were all being consumed with smiles. They were given to-go containers for the items they could not finish and also a gift bag which included an American girl book and Williams Sonoma pancake molds. Somehow, I ended up buying the American Girl apron and rubber spatula for my daughter which she looks awfully adorable in.
Each month, Williams Sonoma has a new lineup of Junior Chef Classes, but space is limited and classes fill up in a flash, so call your local store to reserve your spot! For a full listing of classes, and local store information, check out the Williams-Sonoma Classes calendar.
A few things to note:
- These hour-long classes are FREE and include tastings of prepared dishes
- Participants enjoy 10% savings on select same-day purchases
- Available in all stores; class times vary by store location
- The American Girl Cooking Classes are $35 per child, this is the only class they currently charge for.
- Class sizes are limited so call your local store to register!