I get in food ruts often. I'll find a technique or dish I love and wear it out in a way. Lately I've been in a real veggie rut. Sick of some of the veggie dishes I'd made over and over and not sure where to go from there.

All images by Katie Dudley Photography

A few weeks ago, Tom (@foodbytom - he's the real deal) invited Alix, Katie and I to enjoy an evening of fine food and learning. We learned details about vegetables, steak and mousse I hadn't paid attention to before. With good food, it's all about the details. I'm not going to spill all the beans on what I learned in our cooking session, but one of the takeaways from the class was how to cook asparagus to perfection. Just about any cooking method will work (we blanched then cooked in a skillet), but the key to making them amazing is peeling the stalk just below the tip. It removes all stringy-ness. Brilliant, right? We all have Tom to thank for that one. We also talked about plating food. I realize I'm terrible at it. I over-think the plating so my food looks very one-dimensional. Plating is a real art form. Alix aced it with her meat tower. I want to have a rad garden so I can use cool things like mini radishes and kale blooms for perfectly styling my meals (maybe that'll help the kids eat their veggies?). We learned so much and ate well. There weren't difficult instructions or outlandish ingredients, so I could duplicate what I learned at home. And I have! The moment I walked through the door that night, I went to work making mousse. Now I'm Penelope's favorite person. You can book Tom for private cooking sessions (he'll come to you) and pop-up dinners! Both are tremendously fun. Chris and I did a double date with our friends Miriam and Allen. We learned the art of gnocchi and pizza.