Event: Teaching Kitchen Open House

Announcement:

Public Open House Will Unveil Cargill Teaching Kitchen at CCE-Tompkins

Friday, March 30, 7:00 p.m.

The public is invited to tour the new Cargill Teaching Kitchen at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County at an Open House on Friday, March 30 from 5:00 to 7:00pm. Vegetarian chili, cornbread and salad will be served, and children and adults can make their own healthy desserts at a yogurt-granola parfait station.  Members of the CCE-Tompkins' nutrition education staff will be on hand to share information about classes they offer in nutrition, breastfeeding and food preservation, as well as on opportunities to volunteer with their programs. The public Open House will be preceded by a smaller event from 2:00 to 4:00pm which is by invitation for funders and community partners.

The kitchen renovation, which took place during 2011, has transformed CCE-Tompkins' former limited kitchen space into a well-equipped certified kitchen with 4 cooking stations, upgraded appliances, a dish room, food pantry and laundry facilities.  Renovations were funded by grants totaling $250,000 from Cargill Deicing of Lansing, and Cargill Incorporated of Minneapolis. The project was designed and overseen by Schickel Architects.

For over 40 years, CCE-Tompkins has worked with families with limited resources to help them improve their skills in food preparation, food safety and healthy food choices. They currently offer a variety of free cooking, nutrition and breastfeeding classes for income eligible families, including Cooking Matters classes which are led jointly by professional chef volunteers and CCE nutrition educators. Food safety certification and food preservation classes are held at various times throughout the year for a fee. Volunteer opportunities include the "Community Chef" and Master Food Preserver programs. Information can be found online at ccetompkins.org.

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County is located at 615 Willow Avenue in Ithaca. For more information, please call (607) 272-2292. Cornell Cooperative Extension in Tompkins County provides equal program and employment opportunities.