Amy Pennington's Croatian Cooking Class. • Hip Foodie Mom

Last month, I attended Amy Pennington‘s Croatian Cooking class. After immersing myself into my blog and the Seattle foodie scene, I quickly discovered Amy’s blog and read about all the wonderful things she does. Her garden, her books, her classes, her TV show .. and after I read the description for the class and what we would be learning how to make. I was sold. In a heartbeat.

I was fortunate enough to attend a class where we only had 4 students sign up (including myself). . which meant, in this case, a private dinner party type class at Amy’s home. In her kitchen. I was there. In her urban pantry. It was awesome.

Amy is a true delight and I felt like we were all friends at her place for dinner . . drinking wine, talking, eating. . can it get any better? And of course, we were learning too. . I started the class taking some notes here and there. . but then – after my first bite of our Fried Smelt Fishes- the first dish we learned how to make, I dropped my pen, picked up my camera and just watched Amy do her thing. The food was freaking fabulous. Just amazing. Here was the menu for the class:

Little Fried Fishes
Turnip & Potato Soup
Mlinci & Roast Chicken
Hand-Stretched Apple Strudel

Amy’s grandfather is from the northern most island in Croatia, and she spent several weeks with her family a few years back and hovered in the kitchen as much as possible. “In this class, you will learn new recipes and new techniques in addition to the artful process of strudel pulling! You (along with your classmates) will stretch the strudel over ten feet long and stuff it with apples – a very eastern european dish. This class is also set up as a class & dinner – we will be eating along the way.” Amy’s goal is for all students to go home with new ideas and skills that they can implement at home. Brilliant.

So, if you ever have the opportunity to take this class with Amy, hell any class with her for that matter, take it. You will not be disappointed. This class is casual and demo-style with a few options for helping out and hands on – specifically for the strudel dough pulling. As noted above, the class includes dinner (and yummy wine) throughout. You eat as the plates are finished and go home feeling full and happy as a clam. Here are some photos from the evening. . apologies on the lighting in some of them. . our class ran late and there was no more natural light.

To learn more about Amy, sign up for one of her classes or check out her books, click here. She’s amazing.