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Wellness Events

For the best in corporate wellness entertainment, try a 5-Minute Cooking Class, a Discovery Bar, or go all out with a Food Party! Designed for fairs where attendees quickly pass by tables—these activities add a delicious and novel attraction to your health fair or wellness event.

    5-Minute Cooking Classes

    These demonstrates teach things easy to assemble and quick to cook. Classes are suitable for indoor or outdoor fairs. Two or three featured dishes repeat over the length of fair. Attendees can watch the entire process, or just pick up a taste as they pass. Recipes are available and Laura can initial attendee raffle cards.Seasonal presentations include:

    • Eat More Vegetables! (Harker School Fair)
    • Gluten-free and Naturally Sweetened Desserts (Kaiser outdoor fair)
    • Snacks Kids Like (Adobe Children’s Fair)
    • Ode to Fall Produce (Gigamon Wellness Festival)

    5 minute cooking class video:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw2UQvMczo

    Discovery Bar

    Tastings / food product comparisons are fun and informative. They deepen our understanding of what we like to eat and why, and introduce us to new favorites. Discovery Bars teach a theme, such as Winter Squash, Bay Area Chocolate, Artisan Salts, Taste of California, or Leftover Makeover. They can be paired with a live cooking demo, and attendees can vote for favorites with results and raffle winners announced at the end. Explore things like “how and why to set yourself up for leftovers” or “what produce is currently in season and how to cook it.”

    Food And Wine

    Did you know there are over 50 urban wineries that ring the Bay Bridge? We feature them in casual seasonal pairings. Our style? All palettes are unique, everyone has their preferences, and all are correct. We can pair with one dish or the whole menu. Or do a focus class such as Port, Cheese and Chocolate.

    The Food Party!

    Imagine an on-site farmers market, goodie bags filled with seasonal produce, and live cooking demos using these ingredients. Add on a Make Your Own Appetizer, or Knife Skills station, or a Bay Area wine pair. Even a cooking-meets-chemistry table with live experiments. We team with Sigona’s, Catherine the Chemist, and local food producers and vineyards to bring a whole party of fun to your next event. Pair a couple classes and events together on one day or a few. Everyone loves The Food Party!

Download Cooking Classes 2023 >

Cooking Classes

Laura teaches cooking classes and lectures publicly about healthy, easy eating, green cuisine trends, regionally responsible food service, and feeding body, mind and planet. Classes and lectures are given regularly in the San Francisco Bay Area, but are also offered nationally, and are perfect for any office setting. Presentations to groups both large and small can be given to businesses, community groups or school groups. No kitchen is required. Depending on the event, you may select a cooking demonstration, a 5-Minute Cook Class, a combined event such as a Discovery Bar + 1/2 hour cook class, or a more formal lecture. Events are tailored to your specific requirements and designed to fit your budget. Recipes and food samples included.

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    Healthy Cooking Classes

    Easy Cuisine – Quick Cooking for Optimal Health

    No time to cook? Learn tips that cut down on prep time spent in the kitchen. Topics include fast seasoning techniques, knife sharpening, quick-cut vegetables, and setting up your kitchen for an easy cuisine.

    Higher Flavor, Lower Salt and Fat

    What fats should we eat and how much? Why is our salt intake double what’s recommended? We discuss reducing salt, increasing flavor, and using fat in cooking to our advantage. Also full flavor-flavoring agents, “make your own sauce,” and enhancing umami.

    Eat More Vegetables

    Eat more vegetables by learning how to bring out their secrets. Topics include: Why to keep water as far away from vegetables as possible, the energetics of food, shopping and storage, and Three Easy Techniques that will turn you and yours into voracious vegetable eaters.

    My Vegetarian Family Member is Driving Me Crazy!

    Laura was a vegetarian for 17 years, is no longer, but still kinda is… Learn how “umami” in veggie cooking enhances the end result, and how to create dishes that can be both vegetarian and with meat in the same meal. Also plant protein substitutes, and using meat as a condiment, instead of the main dish.

    Not Your Fathers Grill Class

    This outdoor class teaches quick tips for grilling mastery. Learn healthy grill options, grilling the unexpected, and The Best Marinade Ever. Class requires an onsite grill.

    Leftover Makeover

    Turn last night’s dinner into lunch or tonight’s meal. We start by making the basics – vegetables and grains, then turn those foods into many different meals.

    Guys in the Kitchen – Knives, Dudes and Game Foods

    Many guys want to get in and out of the kitchen – fast. This tasting plus knife handling class is perfect for men, but fine for ladies too. While munching on an easy platter you can whip up before the “big game” (no cooking required), we’ll learn some quick renovations on dishes learned from male friends over the years.

    Home for the Holidays - Appetizers and Side Dishes

    How many holiday parties have you left feeling bloated and overloaded? Learn dishes that liven up the festivities and flavor, but balance out blood sugar. We address party & menu planning, table display, appetizer absolutes, and time saving tips. Chef Laura has catered hundreds of parties. Learn from a real party girl!

    Farm to Fork with the Seasons

    Seasonal eating… is it really healthier & better tasting, or just more expensive? We discuss vegetable and meat CSA’s, farmers markets, the “Dirty Dozen and Clean 15,” and visiting farms near you. Recipes highlight the best of what’s in season.

    Manage Your Microbes

    According to new studies, we are more bacteria than human! (10 times more) So what do they do for us, and what do they like to eat? The science is new, but there’s a growing understanding that our “beneficial bugs” enjoy a more plant-based diet. Learn fascinating new information about our gut life and recipes to support it.

    Technique / Hands On Classes

    Appy Hour

    Everyone should host a party once a year – it’s your ticket into all the other parties. Learn delicious, quick appetizers with an emphasis on vegetables. Students make their own after watching a “how-to.” Handouts address party and menu planning, table display, and appetizer absolutes. Should we include wine too? It is Appy Hour, after all.

    Snack Attack!

    We talk good snacks vs. bad snacks. Laura demo’s healthy and easy to make ones for adults and / or children, and we finish with participants making their own munch.

    Basic Knife Skills

    A sharp knife is the most important tool in the kitchen. You’ll learn how to slice, dice, chop and make advanced cuts, including chiffonade and julienne, using many different vegetables. We discuss proper knife handling and care. Bring your own knife or use ours. This class is for 10 participants or under.

    Spice it Up - The Art of Seasoning

    Enhance your favorite dishes with herbs and spices, which add distinctive flavor and enticing fragrance. Laura teaches the fundamentals of spices, including the best way to maintain freshness, and how to combine seasonings to create new and exciting blends. Take your cooking to a new level by learning to season foods correctly with aromatic spices.

    Lessons in Dairy

    We’re talkin’ curds and whey – the dairy basics – from assembling an artisan cheese platter to house-made cheeses and spreads. Depending on class length, we’ll make some combination of fresh ricotta, paneer, goat cheese, mascarpone, mozzarella, and butter, and sample the end results with delicious bakery breads.

    Tasting Classes

    Taste Your Way Thru the Book - A Cool Cuisine

    While chatting about the topics in Laura’s book, Cool Cuisine – Taking the Bite Out of Global Warming, we prepare and taste recipes that coincide with the topic. Earth Day can be every day! Menu might include:

    • Taste of California Artisan Cheese and Vegetable Platter, highlighting bee pollinators • Grass-fed Beef Crostini with Arugula, Local Dry Jack, and Green Peppercorn
    • Palette Cleanser – Honey Sparkler
    • Popping Chocolate Gomasio over High Vibe Ice Cream
    • Green Drinks and the “Red, White, or Green?” wine list.

    Tour California - Artisan Cheese and Red, White, or Green?

    Let’s tour of the sunshine state with stops at her artisan cheese makers and sustainable vineyards. We’ll taste samples of their work and learn their remarkable stories. We’ll also discuss how to plan your own food tour—a perfect way to add an exciting, new dimension to any local road trip.

    Port, Cheese, and Chocolate

    All three at once? Absolutely! We address the science (or lack there of) of wine pairing, then taste four different ports alongside a variety of classic and unexpected pairings. What works, what doesn’t? You decide.

    Class Details

      1. Cooking classes include demo and tasting of 3 or more dishes. Additional recipes can be added. Class time is flexible –  15 minutes – 1 hour on average.
      1. Handouts emailed a few days before class for copying or emailing to attendees.
      1. Laura might bring a portable, induction, electric stove top (depending on menu). This stove is designed for INDOOR use. No smoke is created. If the class is outdoors, we can use an onsite grill, rent a grill, or design the menu so no stove is needed.
    1. If site has HDMI hookup or a computer projector, Laura can supply a close up video feed of the cutting board action during class.

    Class Needs

    1. One or two 8ft tables, preferably placed in the middle of the room, or where the majority of students can be as close to the demo area as possible.
    2. A rolling cart (nice, but not necessary) to move things from parking lot to classroom.
    3. An approximate student count before the class, and the number of dishes / recipes you would like to prepare.