One of the most frustrating things to me is the fact that there are n0 inexpensive venues where I could give cooking classes without having to charge an arm and a leg.  I get so many requests for cooking lessons and have no where to give them where it will be worth my time.

Luckily my daughter, Marissa (now at the helm of  Zarela) and her friend Robyn (of Bowery Kitchen Supply) serendipitously met a wonderful couple and shared a night of fun and laughs.  The result was a Hannukah gift of private lessons for a young man whose dream is to have an organic farm and restaurant and is about to leave for an internship in Georgia.

I gave him a class I’ve given to corporations such as Marriott Hotels based on Mexican Flavor Principles and Cooking Techniques and it seems that he got exactly what I hoped he’d get from the time we spent together.  This is a link to a beautiful post he did on his great blog highoncookin.com about the experience.

Thanks to Melissa’s Produce who provided the beautiful dried red we were able to use some of the best organic produce including wonderful oranges for the Cochinita pibil and juicy key limes for the salsa.