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Chef teaching tricks of the trade

Mouth-watering meals and snacks enjoyed by regular users of the Oilfields Regional Arena could soon end up on kitchen tables.
Ginni Kelley, who currently operates the Oilfields Regional Arena concession with her husband Del, will be opening a cooking school in Black Diamond next month.
Ginni Kelley, who currently operates the Oilfields Regional Arena concession with her husband Del, will be opening a cooking school in Black Diamond next month.

Mouth-watering meals and snacks enjoyed by regular users of the Oilfields Regional Arena could soon end up on kitchen tables.

Six months after taking over the food concession at the Black Diamond arena and whipping up healthy homemade dishes, Okotoks chef Ginni Kelley and her husband Del are further whetting appetites by sharing their recipes in a cooking school next month.

“It’s something I’ve wanted to do, even when I used to teach at the cooking school in Calgary,” said Kelley. “I’ve been wanting to do it for a while.”

Renovations are currently underway to set up Ginni’s Cooking School on Government Road in Black Diamond, with plans to open on April 14.

Kelley expects to hire about 10 people to help her with the school, with sessions taught by herself, Del and numerous experienced Calgary chefs she’s met over the years.

“A lot of people are booking up already,” she said. “It’s satisfying to know you are teaching someone something that they are going to practice the rest of their life.”

With the concession at the Oilfields Regional Arena soon closing for the season, Kelley expects to have plenty of time on her hands to operate the school – that is until the Millarville Farmers’ Market opens for the season where she will operate its concession throughout the summer.

That’s where Del and the Calgary chefs come in.

“It will be year round so I won’t be able to physically be there all the time,” she said. “Because I couldn’t do the classes myself Del will run the children’s classes. He has so much fun with them.”

Although the business is new for Kelley, she isn’t going in blind.

She taught cooking classes in Calgary for about five years, including managing and teaching the President’s Choice Cooking School. She also published her own cookbook Mindfully Spiced.

Since opening Ginni’s Kitchen in Black Diamond last fall, Kelley and Del revamped the menu, replacing the prepackaged fries, burgers and hot dogs with healthier varieties like wraps, homemade soups, curries, samosas and pot pies.

In their spare time, the couple hosted cooking demonstrations. Kelley said their first class sold out in two hours.

“I didn’t realize it would be that popular,” she said. “That’s what the incentive was behind (the cooking school) was knowing there was so much support behind it.”

The cooking school will have people of all ages engaging in the process to learn how to prepare a variety of Turkish, Italian, Moroccan and Indian foods first-hand, she said.

“Everybody has been looking for things to do and that’s why when I started teaching private classes everybody wanted more and more,” she said. “When hockey season and skating comes to an end people are looking for other things to do. It’s perfect.”

The cooking school will offer classes for adults, children and families, as well as cooking birthday parties and corporate events.

“With the birthday parties we will do pizza and cupcakes,” she said. “They get to make the pizza from scratch. Children enjoy making a mess and getting their hands really dirty.”

Kelley said the school will also offer classes focused on preparing a week’s worth of meals for families to promote cost efficiency, healthy food choices and reduce waste.

Subsidized classes will be available for non-profit organizations, she said, adding she’s already offered demonstrations to girl guides and boy scouts groups in the area, as well as the Boys and Girls Club of Diamond Valley.

Shirley Puttock, executive director of the boys and girls club, said the club’s preschool class took part in a session where Kelley and Del made cupcakes, and she’s excited to see these opportunities being offered on a regular basis.

“We are happy to have a new cooking school in the community,” she said. “I think teaching children cooking skills is essential to learning basic cooking skills and learning about nutrition and learning about new foods. Some of our kids in the community may go on to be famous chefs.”

Puttock admits Kelley and Del whip up some pretty savoury recipes at the concession.

“She’s always cooking something healthy – her food is fabulous,” she said. “She does a lot of Indian cooking.”

Having access to cooking classes is something her own club could use, Puttock said.

“The cooking school is a fantastic idea,” she said. “If we can get a grant to send a few of our kids we absolutely would. I think it’s really valuable and they’d have a lot of fun.”

To learn more about Ginni’s Cooking School go to www.ginniskitchen.com or register online, by email at [email protected] or by calling 403-990-6608.

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