Hi, everyone.  Spring has sprung and Easter is right around the corner.  The air by our house is perfumed with the wonderful smell of orange blossoms and wildflowers are everywhere.  It’s time to take a little ride to go see them while we still can. 

After a short absence, I am definitely back and things are getting back to normal (whatever normal is!)  We are working very hard to finalize recipes for all the new classes coming up, so you will definitely find me in the kitchen a lot.

Besides our regular hands-on offering of classes, make sure to check out our solar cooking class.  This class will show you ways to cook for free using our blazing Arizona sun. We have a guest instructor on this class, too, who is an expert on solar cooking. 

Our recipe this month is Cheese and Cherry blintzes.  These blintzes are perfect for your Easter brunch and a nice change from pancakes for breakfast.  Check out our recipes at the end of this newsletter.  Besides the blintz recipes, links throughout the newsletter get you recipes for potatoes, salmon, salads and vinaigrette

We’d love to see you in a class this Spring.  Give us a call to register.  Don’t forget to take advantage of our monthly specials.

Food of the Month – Potatoes.  Oh, how I love potatoes.  I’m not sure there was ever a potato I met that I didn’t love.  Do you ever get to the store and wonder which type of potato you should be buying?  Check out our article on selecting the correct potato for the job to get information on which potatoes work for your dishes.  In the article, we also give you a few different potato recipes.  Yum!

Mesa Food Examiner - If you haven’t seen our Mesa Food Examiner articles, check them out.  We are still posting lots of articles, recipes and cooking ideas several times a month so you can stop by often to see what we’re writing about.  Or better yet, subscribe to the Mesa Food Examiner so you will automatically see what we are posting.  It’s free and definitely SPAM free, too.  Just go to Mesa Food Examiner and click where you see ‘subscribe’ to get articles automatically. That way you can read what you want, and not have to keep checking for new things. 

April 2010 Classes – We are offering classes on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.  To see details, go to April Class Calendar and “mouse over” the class name.

On Saturday, 4/3 you can attend our Easter Dinner class where we will prepare a simple yet elegant meal for Easter or any Sunday dinner.  Cost is $63 per person.

On Saturday, 4/10, we will prepare a Healthy Italian Dinner.  This meal will be big on taste but lighter on calories and fat. $63 per person

On Saturday, 4/17 a Springtime favorite, Hearty Dinner Salads will be offered.  In this class we will prepare four different salads which are perfect for the upcoming summer season or any time of year.  $63 per person.

Just in time for our summer heat, join us for a demonstration class, Solar Cooking.  We will use the sun to cook our meal and taste how good the sun can cook.  Learn the basics of solar cooking with Jackie Harsha, a solar cooking expert.  $25 per person.  Note that this class has a special time in order to make the best use of the sun.  It is scheduled on Saturday 4/24 at 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. You will taste what we make in class. 

Upcoming Classes for May 2010 – We are offering classes on Tuesday 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and our Saturday classes are from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.  To see details, go to May Class Calendar and “mouse over” the class name.

On Saturday 5/1 we will offer our Grilling Basics class for the last time.  In this class you will learn the proper way to use your grill to get the best results for everything grilled.  $63/person

On Saturday 5/8 we will offer our new class, Pasta, Sauces and More.  In this class we will prepare 3 different pasta sauces along with pasta and sides.  $63 per person.

On Saturday, 5/15, we will offer our Ice Cream class.  We will prepare ice cream dishes using homemade and purchased ice cream.  $63 per person

Our final class in May is our brand new Hawaiian Luau Entertaining class.  It will be offered on Tuesday 5/18 & Saturday 5/22.  We will prepare a Hawaiian menu perfect for any luau.  $63 /person

Upcoming Summer Classes for Kids and Teens – Our kids and teen classes are scheduled this summer.  The classes and dates are:

•        Ages 8-12 – June 7 – 11; 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; $245 week; $225 with early signup discounts – menu tentatively planned is brunch, pasta, party foods, Food Network favorites and build your own class.

•        Ages 8-12 – June 21 – June 25; 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; $395; $350 with early signup discounts.  Menu set as chicken alfredo, Mexican, pizza, Asian and ravioli along with recipes and fun educational information for the full day.

•        Teens -- July 12 – 16; 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.  $260; $240 with early signup discounts – menu tentatively planned is grilling, Mediterranean foods, Party foods, Desserts and a ‘build your own class’ day where the students will pick what they want to make in this class.

There was a ‘method to our madness’ as we scheduled classes by ages as we did.  If you feel your child should be in a different class than what his or her age would dictate, please feel free to call and discuss.  Some children may be a better fit in different age groups.

Do you twitter?  If so, you may have seen discounts we tweeted about.  If you did not, be sure to follow us.  Our Twitter name is SimplyImprssve.  We will be offering special deals thru Twitter again this month, so get ‘plugged in’ today at http://twitter.com/simplyimprssve

Special Offers – Our specials for the month of April are below.  Also, watch for our Twitter discounts as they are tweeted.  Be sure to mention the discount when signing up.  One discount per class, please.

Attend a class in April and receive $5 off of any adult class through June.

Sign your child up for any of our kids and teen classes and receive $10 off of an adult class for you.

Don’t forget to take advantage of our early signup discounts for our kids and teen classes. 

In the Media – We were on the new show Valley Dish this week.  It is a half hour show on Channel 12 at 4:30 p.m.  We made a hearty dinner salad with salmon, maple Dijon vinaigrette dressing and maple glazed almonds.  To get the recipes or see the segment check out salmon salad with maple glazes .  It sounds difficult to make but is actually very simple.

Recipe of the Month -- We were on Sonoran Living on March 31 where we made cherry and cheese blintzes for our Easter brunch.  Our part on the show was broken out into three different segments.  To see the 3 segments and 3 recipes, see Cherry Cheese Blintzes.  You will find links to each of the recipes within the articles