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
Quick and Easy Peanut Butter Pie
It's no secret that I am a rather lazy baker. When I do make the effort to bake, it is mostly for other people’s enjoyment, not necessarily my own. The first thing I baked all on my own was a pan of ...
As a general rule, I think people like to cook what they like to eat. The exception being you don’t really love sweets but your wife has a sweet tooth and your three kids can’t get enough cookies, so ...
My favorite style of English muffins is the sourdough kind, but that method is a bit involved. This is the recipe that you can use when you wake up in the morning, decide you want a fresh-baked ...
Aromatics from around the World: Mire Poix, Soffritto, Refogado, Holy Trinity
Growing up homesteading in Iowa in the 60’s and 70’s gave me tremendous exposure to fresh food. We didn’t really eat frozen or packaged food, in part because we couldn’t afford it but also because it ...
In part 3 of this series, we will focus on the third Mother Sauce: tomato sauce. Tomato sauce is one of the Mother Sauces that many people actually do make at home, and it's also one of the few ...
Let me tell you a story that may sound familiar. There was once a man who cooked a boneless skinless chicken breast. He put his skillet on the stove and turned the heat on. He added some oil and then ...
In this series, we are exploring the classic French Sauces known as the “Mother Sauces:” Velouté, Bechamel, Espagnole, Hollandaise and Tomato. These base sauces are truly the fundamental sauces in ...
Leave it to the French to assert that there are really only five sauces, the Mother Sauces. The idea is that the five Mother Sauces are base sauces, and by adding additional flavorings or modifying ...
Even if you are a Chicago native, you may not realize that Chicago has its own version of Giardiniera. My father-in-law who was born and raised in Chicago recently moved out west and went into shock ...
We did a lot of canning growing up. All four of us kids helped out: pitting cherries, snapping beans and shucking corn. My dad did the planting, and we all helped tend the gardens while my mom did ...
