Cooking Class: Summer BBQ

The Merry Kitchen is the brainchild of Julie Merry. Julie got her bachelor’s degree in Nutrition at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia and soon became a Registered Dietitian. While attending GSU, she switched her focus to the culinary aspects of nutrition. During college, she worked as a nanny for four children and discovered they had never been taught to cook. Julie took the opportunity to explore cooking with them. After seeing the excitement on the children’s faces, she recognized her dream – teaching children to cook.

She moved to Portland, Oregon in the fall of 1999 and attended Western Culinary Institute. After graduating with honors, she cooked at a local restaurant and led the catering team for Elephants Deli. After gaining experience in a restaurant kitchen, she pursued teaching with the Western Culinary weekend program. She also volunteered at Sur la Table in the teaching classroom. After helping out for a few months, she was hired to teach the children’s cooking classes at Sur la Table. Her first class was such a success, she was asked to teach the Kid’s Cooking Camps that summer. After two successful years with Sur la Table, Julie was then hired by Portland Public Schools to lead the after school cooking program at Fernwood Middle School. While teaching at Fernwood, she realized her ultimate dream. It was to have a cooking school out of her home, teaching teenagers and children of all ages to cook.

Ever since that realization, Julie has been remodeling an adorable house she found in NE Portland. While planning out the school, she decided that children should be learning how to grow the food they were going to be cooking. She has been cultivating a 2000 square foot garden in her backyard and is eager to teach children how to grow, maintain and reap the benefits of an all organic garden. Compost will be made and utilized from the scraps of the cooking classes. Heirloom varieties of certain vegetables will be highlighted during the gardening experience.

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