Dear Friends,
After so many wonderful years of sharing recipes, cooking tips, and Zoom classes with you, it's time to say goodbye to my Cooking With Class website. This hasn't been an easy decision, but as the years pass, life changes, and so must we. Fortunately, I'm not closing the door on my love of cooking and teaching. Far from it! I’m beginning a new one called, Cooking with Love.
Some of you have been with me since I began teaching cooking classes in my home in Encino, California, more than fifty years ago. Those early years were fun and exhilarating—until someone reported me for running a business in a residential neighborhood!
As it turned out, that unexpected ending was just the beginning. I went on to write cookbooks, newspaper and magazine articles, travel around the country teaching in person and on television, and spend 17 fascinating and rewarding years as culinary advisor to Safeway stores in Northern California. What a delicious adventure it has been!
Years later, when my husband, Karl, stopped driving, life in Foster City, California, became increasingly cumbersome. Then I walked into a beautiful home in Palm Desert, with breathtaking views of multicolored mountains and a lush golf course—and an open kitchen that seemed made for teaching. I was smitten! Within three months, we had moved in.
And so, more than fifty years after my first cooking class, I've come full circle. Once again, I'm welcoming students into my home, sharing recipes, laughter, good food, and the pleasure of gathering around a table. I feel incredibly fortunate to be doing what I love most, right where it all began—in my own kitchen.
To all of you who have been part of my Cooking With Class journey, thank you. Your friendship, encouragement, enthusiasm, and support have meant more to me than I can possibly express. You've enriched my life in countless ways, and I will always treasure the memories we've created together.
So this isn't really goodbye. It's simply a new chapter!
I hope you'll stay in touch. And if your travels ever bring you to Palm Desert, I'd love to welcome you into my home for a cooking class followed by a delicious luncheon. If you'd like to receive my class flyers, just email me at my address on my new business card at the top of this letter.
Here's to new experiences, wonderful food, cherished friendships, and the joy of sharing it all!
With love and gratitude,
Marlene
