Classic Italian Desserts

Throughout Italy, Christmas Eve is the occasion to sit down to a feast of fish and seafood dishes. In this holiday class, we will cover five classic dishes. We will make baccala mantecato; linguine with clams, grilled calamari with aioli and arugula; baked branzino with fennel and olives and zuppa di pesce.

The sauces you will learn to make in this class are not just for special-occasion dishes you'll prepare once a year. Relying on pantry ingredients and reflecting the contemporary cook's lifestyle, they are meant to easily take a grilled meat or poached fish from simple to superlative with a pan reduction, beurre blanc or a pesto. You will master these techniques by making sauteed steak with red wine reduction sauce; poached salmon with beurre blanc and pasta with pesto.

Building a gingerbread house is a superb holiday bonding activity for both you and your child! You'll learn plenty as you create future Christmas memories and traditions. Each child will prepare their own 5-by-6-by-8-inch gingerbread house with their parent assisting, from making and baking the dough to applying the final decorative touches. After class, you’ll take your sugared, frosted, candy-studded masterpiece home. This class is appropriate for children ages 5 and older. Each pair of seats must have 1 child and 1 adult. You may use the same adult name for a maximum of 2 children.

Braising - searing at a high temperature, then finishing in a liquid at a lower temperature to infuse flavor - can add umami and more to pretty much any meal! And the best part is, it creates tender, juicy dishes with a minimum of effort. We'll master this technique as we make a braised banquet of: Guinness-braised short ribs with creamy polenta; braised chicken thighs with mushrooms and balsamic vinegar and braised fennel.