Shelley has been teaching people to cook since she opened The Chopping Block in 1997. She spent 17 years as a professional chef, working in busy restaurants and private homes but realized her calling was to get other people to cook. Shelley’s unique concept of a recreational cooking school, gourmet kitchen store and private event business provides Chicago with over 300 cooking classes and private events each month. Shelley loves to garden and entertain for family and friends in her Lincoln Square home.
Recent Posts
Foraging and Cooking Puffball Mushrooms
My latest edition on foraging and cooking wild mushrooms features a relatively new mushroom for me: the Puffball. I grew up hunting morels but living in urban environments for the last 30+ years, I ...
Growing up in Iowa we didn’t grow or use fresh herbs. I think many people especially in the Midwest never experienced them, at least of my generation. Once chefs and home cooks everywhere started ...
My fascination around what people eat when they are under the weather started when a beloved former employee of ours mentioned that she would make her husband a soft-boiled egg when he was ill. I ...
Sweet corn takes me back to my childhood more than almost any food. I grew up on a little acreage in Iowa and our mainstay was sweet corn. We not only grew it for ourselves, we sold it and traded it ...
It seems to me that most people kind of like oatmeal but don’t really love oatmeal. Most people may eat it because it is fast, cheap and healthy. Those might be the three big reasons to love oatmeal, ...
I grew up hunting for wild asparagus with my mom. We also foraged for other foods, especially morel mushrooms, but we always foraged for those as a family. The hunt for wild asparagus for some reason ...
One of the cheeses I was most excited to learn to make this summer at my two-day cheese making class at the Ploughshare Institute in Waco, Texas was goat cheese. Although it is an assertive cheese, ...
Cheese Making at Home Part 3: Labneh "Yogurt Cream Cheese"
I will be honest. I had never actually heard of Labneh prior to my cheese making classes at the Ploughshare Institute in Waco, Texas. I was not only intrigued about the cheese making process but also ...
Cheese Making at Home Part 2: Cream Cheese and Yogurt
I must say I was a little embarrassed that I didn’t know that cream cheese was made from sour cream when I arrived at my two-day cheese making class at the Ploughshare Institute in Waco, Texas. ...
Cheese Making at Home Part 1: Butter, Buttermilk and Sour Cream
I just got back from a two-day cheese making class at the Ploughshare Institute in Waco, Texas. I couldn’t have been more pleased with the class. When I take classes, I am always looking for ways to ...
