June 1, 2011 | Informational
Five years ago today I launched my business, and if ever the expression “time flies” fits, it does now. I had a passion for cooking that I wanted to share with others, but I believe in a bit of serendipity, allowing things to unfold. And my how things did unfold during these past five years!
Since June of 2006, I’ve taught 576 students on a wide variety of cuisines and techniques. Those students have been as young as 3 and as old as 73! I’ve led 64 cooking dinner parties for 653 people, and owe a huge thank you to that first dinner party group in Boulder who let me experiment.
I’ve catered 21 events, ranging from food preparation for a family weekend to a sit down holiday dinner for 50. I’ve written 79 freelance articles about food,
taken 11 people to cooking school at The Awaiting Table in Italy (7 more will be going with me this fall!), hosted 3 Foodbuzz 24-24-24 events, provided consultation on kitchen design, and developed custom recipes. And throughout that time, I’ve written and photographed nearly 1000 posts on my cooking and travel blogs.
Equally important to me was finding a way to channel my new career in a way that I could give back to the community, and I’m proud to say I’ve actually spent about half my time volunteering – as an Advisory Board Member plus Chef Educator and Class Leader for 20 classes for Cooking Matters Colorado, teaching hundreds of people in our community how to cook healthy on limited budgets;
in numerous Front Range schools, teaching cooking as part of Slow Food’s Seed to Table school gardens program; cooking samples at Youth Farmer’s Markets; and bringing cooking lessons right into elementary school classrooms.
Thank you all for your incredible support!
The journey has been so much more than I ever envisioned five years ago!
Wow! Congratulations to you, Michele! That’s quite an accomplishment.
Congratulations, Michele! What an impressive journey. It shows very well how it matters and changes lives to follow a passion. Keep on going!
A very commendable undertaking. Congratulations on all your successes!