The University of Kansas Culinary club is making its reappearance after being absent for several years.
Dana Schmidt, Wichita sophomore and president of the club, restarted the organization at the beginning of the semester.
“My brother was involved in the club the first time it existed,” Schmidt said. “I thought it was such a good idea and we should bring it back.”
Schmidt and other members of the club spent the beginning of the semester planning and organizing the budget, meetings and rules of the club. They developed the mission statement of the club: “To educate ourselves and enjoy food through hands-on experience.”
Photo by Mindy Ricketts
Dana Schmidt, Wichita sophomore and president of KU Culinary Club, Mike Conner, Shawnee senior, and Jamie Wenke, Topeka sophomore, test recipes for hamburgers and veggie burgers in Schmidt's kitchen. Some of the club's executive members meet early in the week to make sure recipes will work for the full club meetings.
To provide the hands-on experience, the club had its first cooking meeting on April 26 at Grace Pearson Scholarship Hall. Members cooked hamburgers and veggie burgers at the meeting. They plan on cooking a main dish or a challenge side dish at every meeting.
“We are trying to get a good number of vegetarian and vegan dishes so that everyone can get involved, regardless of eating habits,” Schmidt said.
The club gets together on at 6 p.m. on Saturdays at Grace Pearson Scholarship Hall. Fifteen members come to meetings on a regular basis.
“A lot of people come to college not knowing how to cook anything other than Ramen or toast, and this gives them the opportunity to cook without disastrous results,” Schmidt said.
The club provides members with the ingredients for each meal, but members pay fees to take care of the food costs. Membership to the club is $35 per semester or $5 per meeting.
Next semester the club would like to host classes to give demonstrations and teach cooking techniques. Members are talking about going to Williams-Sonoma in the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Mo. to attend cooking classes. The club would also like to have cookie or dessert cooking nights.
“The best part about being in the club is cooking with my friends because it is always more fun to cook with your friends than by yourself,” Elise Higgins, Topeka sophomore, said.
To help the club get off to a good start, Higgins, a student senator, is helping the club seek general funding for food supplies from Student Senate for next semester.
“Generally student funding is not supposed to be used for food unless it is essential to the organization,” Higgins said. “In this case, it is.”
Claire January, vice-president and Wichita junior, said that the organization was a good fit for her because of her love for cooking and trying new recipes.
“We would love to partner with any other student organization to help with their fundraisers or really anything pertaining to food,” January said. “Food and cooking bring people together, and that always contributes to a stronger community.”
To find more information on the KU Culinary club, e-mail Schmidt at kuculinary@gmail.com.
— Edited by Mandy Earles
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