Kristy Stille

I am a mom that lives in the Omaha, NE area. I homeschool/unschool my kids. We enjoy exploring the world, asking questions and then seeking out the answers, travel, reading, crafts, building forts, roller skating, dancing to loud music (while singing at the top of our lungs), board games, imaginary games, rearranging furniture, inspecting insects, cooking & baking and anything else that comes across our path and looks interesting.

I enjoy trying new recipes along with creating my own and perfecting them. We play Chopped in our house, having fun putting together odd ingredients to make tasty (and, I'll admit, some not so tasty) dishes. My kids do a lot of their own cooking as I want them to have confidence in themselves and their capabilities. I want to pass this passion of kids becoming self-sufficient adults by creating cooking classes that teaches technique, but also how to mix flavors and try things out to figure out their own taste profile. Being free to experiment in the kitchen, having mishaps and triumphs, helps build the confidence and self esteem that I so long for our young people to have.

My classes are geared towards kids and teens, but would be great for adults that want to build confidence in the kitchen, too. I believe that kids and teens are capable of so much more than putting pizza sauce and cheese on an English muffin. The recipes I use are real recipes that I use in making meals for family and friends every day.

Below are what the levels of my cooking classes mean:

• Beginner classes are for students with little to no experience in the kitchen. Class will focus on teaching and reinforcing the basics of measuring, different types of mixing, cooking of ground meat and chopping skills along with kitchen safety.

• Beginner to Intermediate classes are for students with some experience assisting an adult in the kitchen. This means that the student has assisted with mixing and simple cutting and possibly assisted in cooking ground meat. Class will focus on teaching and reinforcing the basics of measuring, different types of mixing (beating, folding, well combined, etc), proper cooking of basic meats, slight multi-tasking, cutting and dicing skills along with kitchen safety.

• Intermediate classes are for students with some experience in the kitchen, making simple dishes on their own (boxed macaroni & cheese, boxed cake mix, etc). Students should have experience mixing and some chopping. They should also have an understanding of what it means to cook and crumble meat. Class will focus on practicing mixing types (beating, folding, well combined, etc), cutting and dicing, proper cooking techniques, slight multi-tasking, and learning culinary terms along with kitchen safety.

• Intermediate Plus classes are for students with fairly regular experience in the kitchen. Students should have experience making complete dishes without assistance, understand the meaning of culinary terms (fine dice, cooked through, fold, etc), capable of slight multi-tasking and be comfortable using basic kitchen appliances. Class will focus on practicing basic and more advanced cooking techniques & ingredients, cooking different types of meat to proper doneness, more advanced multi-tasking along with kitchen safety.