Specialities

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Instruction in honest family cooking

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Developing the less confident cook

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Developing your skills to include 'show off' dishes

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All aspects of baking from beginners to advanced.

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Supporting the frugal cook.  

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My Story

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I don't recall a time when I have not been fascinated by food and ingredients. I fondly remember my nanna making pastry in a huge Mason Cash bowl that was so heavy I couldn't even lift the empty bowl but my nanna would throw it around, full of pastry, like it weighed nothing. I vividly remember seeing a melon baller on Ready Steady Cook in the 90’s and wondering how I could convince my parents that we definitely needed one! My mum’s Sunday dinners were legendary and don’t even get me started on corn beef patties….Hmmm.

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My passion has remained constant but it was not until more recently that I have been able to combine my passion with my employment. I completed my degree in Design and Technology in 2002 and embarked on a teaching career. Initially I taught a range of Technology based subjects including Graphics, Resistant Materials and of course Food Technology. I worked with students with a vast range of experience, both children and adults. This time allowed me to develop my teaching to ensure I could help students of all abilities.

 

My relocation from the Midlands to Hampshire in 2013 allowed me to take my first role specialising purely in Food and Catering teaching. Now fully immersed in teaching Food it quickly became apparent that good honest home cooking was a dying art. Many of the young people I taught were not even allowed in their kitchen at home. Either the kitchen was a ‘dangerous place’ or parents were concerned that they would ‘just make a mess’.

 

Modern living, busy lives, dishwashers, etc. Whatever the reason I realised that students were not arriving in school with even the most basic of skills and knowledge in a kitchen. Saddest of all, I realised that the children I was teaching were missing out on the wonderful memories I have of cooking with family.

 

It was this that pushed me to launch Dawn’s Kitchen. My initial intent was to run basic cooking skills courses. These would introduce people to a range of simple skills that would allow them to understand and confidently approach some of the vast array of information and recipes that are available. Courses have since developed based on skills people would like to try before buying specialist equipment, e.g. pasta making, courses intended to help with making healthy choices, courses designed to get the most out of ever tightening budgets, etc. etc.

 

Whatever the focus of the course my intention is to provide a fun environment where learning occurs as part of an enjoyable day or evening. Where new friends are made and hopefully the confidence and spark are lit to share your new skills with family and friends. 

 

Dawnx