Ann M. Martin? The Babysitter’s Club Ann Martin??

Yup, our pals over at the Red Balloon pitched a great idea. “Hey you guys, we gotta believe that most of your staff and a large number of Cooks’ customers must have read the books in the Babysitter’s Club series.. It’s a series that crosses generations and the publisher is reintroducing the series in the fall. We were thinking that this would be a great mother – daughter event. You know, Ann can talk about her writing, Cooks can serve a few babysitter themed snacks and the moms can have a glass of wine.” We were a little skeptical until we tossed the idea around and realized that a huge number of our friends read the books when they were younger and they would indeed like to share a glass of wine and have a chat with Ann.

So here it is. $60 bucks mother and daughter and everyone receives a copy of the book for Ann to sign.

Baby-sitters Club Book Signing and Snacks — Sign Up
Friday, October 22
7:30 PM-9:00 PM, $30, Saint Paul

Join Cooks (plus Kristy, Mary Anne, Claudia and Stacey) in celebrating the re-release of The Baby-sitters Club with author Ann M. Martin. Parents and grandparents, bring along your favorite youngster for a book signing (book included), interview and snacks! Price is per participant.

Menu: Mini Tacos; Pizza Rolls; Stoneybrook ‘Shakes.

Contrary to popular belief, most significant family arguments are not about money. Nope. They are about cookies. Pure and simple. I like ‘em crunchy. Ebbie likes ‘em chocolaty. Maggie likes ‘em soft and warm. It’s a battle when Marie says “You know, I’m thinking I’ll test those new sheet pans by making a batch of cookies.”

Well, this is it. Your chance to learn and explore ways to make all of the cookie monsters in your house happy. Alice Medrich is one of the best baking writers in the country and she’s out with her new book, Chewy, Gooey, Crispy and Crunchy. It’s a spectacular book on baking cookies and it’s organized around the textures we all love. Every time she visits Cooks she leaves the students asking when she’ll return. We are happy to say that it’s November 15th and it’s a class you won’t want to miss.

Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy – Sign Up
Monday, November 15
6:00 PM-9:00 PM, $80, Edina

Reach beyond that bag of chocolate chips and embrace a world of texture and flavor! Join the Commander of the Cookie, chef and author Alice Medrich, as she takes you inside her sweet and savory cookie revolution, Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy. A copy of Alice’s book is included with this class.

Menu: Sesame Sticks; Bittersweet Decadence Cookies; Spicy Carrot Masala Macaroons; Rocky Road Bars

This book is currently not published and will be available November, 2010.

Cookies are easy, enticing, and fun. Yet as the award-winning baker Alice Medrich notes, too often, home cooks cling to the recipe on the bag of chocolate chips, when so much more is possible. “What if cookies reflected our modern culinary sensibility—our spirit of adventure and passion for flavors and even our dietary concerns?” Medrich writes in her introduction to this landmark cookie cookbook, organized by texture, from crunchy to airy to chunky. An inveterate tester and master manipulator of ingredients, she draws on the world’s pantry of ingredients for such delicious riffs on the classics as airy meringues studded with cashews and chocolate chunks, palmiers (elephant’s ears) made with cardamom and caramel, and rugelach with halvah. Butter and sugar content is slashed and the flavor turned up on everything from ginger snaps to chocolate clouds. From new spins on classic recipes including chocolate-chip cookies and brownies, to delectable 2-point treats for Weight Watchers, to cookies to make with kids, this master conjurer of sweets will bring bliss to every dessert table.

Are you kidding us? The perfect book – for the season. The perfect timing – for the topic. The perfect trend – for everyone wanting to do a little something with a big heart connection. The perfect class Cookie Swap. It’s here and it’s here just in time for the holiday. No we are not kidding!

Lauren Chattman is a cookbook author and former professional pastry chef. Her most recent book is The Baking Answer Book; others include the IACP-winning Local Breads, which she cowrote with Daniel Leader, and Dessert University, written with White House pastry chef Roland Mesnier. She lives with her family in Sag Harbor, New York.

Cookie Swap — Sign Up
Tuesday, November 30
6:00 PM-9:00 PM, $70, Saint Paul

Cookies are the new cupcakes! Join chef and author Lauren Chattman for great tips on joining the rage and planning a cookie swap for your next holiday party. A copy of Lauren’s book is included with this class.

Menu: A Selection of Cookies from her Book.

This book is currently not published and will be available October, 2010.

On the one hand, it’s all about the swap: when to swap (Christmas, of course, and other holidays, but also birthdays, bridal showers, graduation parties, PTA meetings, and fund-raisers—or just at your next book club meeting). And how to swap—with a planner, cookie swap math guide (so everyone gets the same number of cookies), ideas for invitations, decorations, containers, and then, when the crumbs have settled, how to make a keepsake.

On the other hand, it’s all about the cookies. Lauren Chattman is a former professional pastry chef and baking writer who’s put together a knockout collection of more than 60 delectable, easy-to-make, simple-to-sophisticated recipes covering every kind of cookie—from crowd-pleasing favorites like Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies and Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies to unexpected treats like Flaky Cardamom Palmiers and Green Tea Sandwich Cookies with Almond Cream. Finally, the book ends with a chapter of drink recipes—such as Iced Irish Coffee, Mini Strawberry Milk Shakes and Juicy Sangria—because not every cookie wants milk.

For 12 years, we’ve had this awesome affair with Diana Kennedy. Yes – she’s THE world renowned author on Mexican cuisine. Yes – when you list the most influential personalities of food in America, Diana’s name is on the list with Julia Child and James Beard. Yes – Craig Claiborne suggested she teach cooking lessons out of her apartment in New York. Yes – she’s cooked for Kings and Queens. And, Yes – she’s been ‘Knighted” by the Mexican government as well as the Queen of England.

Truth be told. Those are wonderful accolades. But they don’t even begin to speak to our fondness for her. We love her candor, her feisty level of dialogue, the sparkle in her eyes and the fact that she has forgotten more about Mexican cuisine than we will ever learn.

This is not just an interesting class at Cooks. This is chance to hang with a legend, who just so happens to be a really good friend.

Dinner with Diana Kennedy — Sign Up
Thursday, October 7
6:00 PM-9:00 PM, $80, Saint Paul

Can you say “Oaxaca”? No, seriously, can you pronounce it? Whatever your answer, chef and author Diana Kennedy will have you speaking the culinary language of Oaxaca in no time with tasty southern Mexican delicacies from her new book, Oaxaca al Gusto.

Menu: Swiss Chard and Pasta Soup; Festive Meatballs; Vegetables in “Custard”; Jalapeños Rellenos.

This book is currently not published and will be available September 2010. Pre-order a copy of Diana’s forthcoming book and ensure a copy for her visit in October.

In Oaxaca al Gusto, Kennedy takes us on an amazing journey into one of the most outstanding and colorful cuisines in the world. The state of Oaxaca is one of the most diverse in Mexico, with many different cultural and linguistic groups, often living in areas difficult to access. Each group has its own distinctive cuisine, and Diana Kennedy has spent many years traveling the length and breadth of Oaxaca to record in words and photographs “these little-known foods, both wild and cultivated, the way they were prepared, and the part they play in the daily or festive life of the communities I visited.” Oaxaca al Gusto is the fruit of these labors—and the culmination of Diana Kennedy’s life’s work.

Organized by regions, Oaxaca al Gusto presents some three hundred recipes—most from home cooks—for traditional Oaxacan dishes. Kennedy accompanies each recipe with fascinating notes about the ingredients, cooking techniques, and the food’s place in family and communal life. Lovely color photographs illustrate the food and its preparation. A special feature of the book is a chapter devoted to the three pillars of the Oaxacan regional cuisines—chocolate, corn, and chiles. Notes to the cook, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index complete the volume.

It’s entirely possible that David Tanis, executive chef of Chez Panisse in Berkley California, is the son of some God in Roman mythology. How else would explain his incredible life of leading the restaurant at Chez Panisse for 6 months and then living and cooking at his flat in Paris for the next 6 months. Whatever the reason, we are inspired and just a bit jealous.

David’s first book, A Platter of Figs won every accolade imaginable for a wonderful journey of cultures, seasons and meals for sharing. His new book, Heart of the Artichoke and other Kitchen Adventures, is the definitive resource for cooking seasonally and efficiently in a family kitchen. It’s kind of like having the chef from Chez Panisse cooking dinner for your family every evening. Now it’ll be you who has the opportunity to experience some of David’s charmed life.

Heart of the Artichoke — SIGN UP
Friday, November 12
6:00 PM-9:00 PM, $80, Saint Paul

In Heart of the Artichoke and Other Kitchen Adventures Chef David Tanis embraces the modern-day mantra “real food in season” by creating twenty stunning menus (five per season) that transport readers far and wide. Please join us as we welcome David Tanis back to Cooks to share his experience and passions about sharing food and being connected to the season and the source. After 25 years of experience in and around the famed Chez Panisse in Berkley California David brings his passion to life in the pages of his book and in the kitchen at Cooks.

Menu: Romaine Hearts with Shaved Parmigiano and Lemon Dressing; Panfried Steak with Steak Sauce; Classic Potato Gratin; Broiled Pineapple with Rum

This book is currently not published and will be available November, 2010.

Nobody better embodies the present-day mantra “Eat real food in season” than David Tanis, one of the most original voices in American cooking. For more than a quarter-century, Tanis has been the chef at the groundbreaking Chez Panisse, in Berkeley, California, where the menu consists solely of a single perfect meal that changes each evening. Tanis’s recipes are down-to-earth yet sophisticated, simple to prepare but impressive on the plate.

Tanis opens this soulful, fun-to-read cookbook with his own private food rituals, those treats—jalapeño pancakes, beans on toast, pasta for one—for when you are on your own in the kitchen with no one else to satisfy. Then he follows with twenty incomparable menus (five per season) that serve four to six. Each transports the reader to places far and wide. And for grand occasions, a time for the whole tribe to gather around the table, Tanis delivers festive menus for holiday feasts. So in one book, three kinds of cooking: small, medium, and large.

Please complete the form below to confirm your attendance.

Edina Remodel
Credit: Susie Tucker

Event Glasses
Credit: Kristina Hoeschen

Our activated learning experiences utilize transitions to build a greater sense of team in the workplace.

Just choose the type of team building activator and menu and Cooks will take care of the rest. There are a variety of menu options from which to choose, ranging from French to Asian to everything in between.

Activated Learning Programs Include:

• Listen to the Sizzle
• Elements of
  Communication
• Cake Tester
• Maximizing Potential
  to Reach Goals
• Let It Rise
• Creative Leadership
  Challenge

Download our Team Building Packet for more information

Interested? Want a personalized quote? Contact our Events Director, Susie Tucker, for the lowdown.

Susie Tucker
(651) 292-0949 ext. 16
stucker@cooksofcrocushill.com

We are expanding our prep area, adding a formal dining room, building a new dish-room and adding capacity in our kitchen all to make your culinary experience at Cooks even better.

Our classes will still run, events will still entertain and retail will keep their doors open during this process.

Follow along on this page, on twitter and on our facebook page as we track our progress. We can’t wait to show you when we’re done, and hope to see you in our new kitchen soon!

Pardon our dust!

CURRENT LAYOUT

REDESIGNED KITCHEN

April 27

Our remodel is complete! Our new tables arrived and our dining room is ready to entertain. May many wonderful meals be shared here!

April 22

Lindsey and the staff in Edina managed to re-work the retail space to fit everything over there. A feat in and of itself.

Our fantastic new prep/work area set and ready for an event.

Our new dining area. The last few finishing touches are being completed and our new tables are set to arrive next Monday!

April 15

Our new columns are in place and painted. We now have a dining room!!

April 14

Our beautiful new counter-top is installed and waiting for eager hands to prepare many wonderful meals on it.

Apil 8

Two of the old pillars are removed and two of the new ones have been constructed. It’s been pretty messy the past week. The lovely staff in Edina have been dusting like crazy.

April 7

Our new door is installed along the boardwalk.

March 31

New goodies are arriving for the kitchen. Our new grill surface and our lowboy refrigeration unit!

March 30

The registers are moved and open for business

The old wrapping station is being removed

March 29

The floor is trenched and the cabinets are cut and ready to be swung into place.

A shot of the current registers before they are cut and moved

March 22

The dish room passed inspection last Wednesday, and we have since moved in all of the accoutrements: freezer, fridge, dish washer, ice machine, coffee machine and some of the dishes. It’s like we’ve always had it there.

The old linen display prior to the removal

The linen display is out and prep has started for the new work space. A new opening for easy access has been cut.

March 17

The doorway into the new dish room is punched out and tiled

The sinks and dish washer are being installed and the room should be signed off on today by the inspector. We now need to move the new fridge and freezer in, and of course, all of the dishes.

March 12th

The sheet rock and lighting is in, knife cases are starting to feel happy in their new home.

The floor tiles are in, the inside of the dish room is just about complete.

New track lighting in the new prep area is up, the back wall comes out next week, opening up the dish room.

March 8th

The plumbing crew wasted no time with the water.

March 3rd, 2010

The floor is trenched for the new plumbing and the walls are framed in the new dish room.

We moved the knife case out to make way for the new dish room.