At my new apartment I want to design and host a cooking class at the cabana, to get to know my neighbors and perhaps to help them learn a few useful basic cooking techniques.

I know the way I cook isn’t “modern”. I learned to cook from my mother, who used instant box mixes, and from cookbooks written pre-1990. Still, I think I can help people. I can teach how to cut up a chicken and how to bake a cake from scratch. I can show how to bake bread and pizza. I can teach how to roll tamales and make pocket pies as convenience foods. My way of cooking may not be the lightest, but at least it will be tasty and healthier than standard junk food.

Still, I’m excited to learn a few principals of lighter cooking. I will never be the sort who substitutes out all the fat and all the sugar in a recipe, but I can learn more about fresh and light soups and vegetarian options. I know very little about any sort of ethnic foods, and I think that will be fun to learn too!

Part of the point of the class will be teaching. But a more important point will be the chance to create friendships and share meals with my neighbors. And, if possible, eventually to save money by buying ingredients in bulk, as a group.

My starter goal will be to do this through the summer. If it builds some momentum by then, I may decide to continue doing it longer. 12 months ago