By: Maya Breininger

Do your hobbies include the culinary arts? Do they revolve around cooking, or baking? If so, feel free to read up on a new student-led culinary arts club, one that was started by a student with a passion for cooking.

The club was created from scratch, and was made possible from the people who made donations and volunteered their time to help.

The process of making a club from scratch is not an easy one. Although it seems like a fun and happy concept, in retrospect, the actual physical labor and financial struggle is prominent for those in charge. Covering all of the ingredients and materials necessary for the club, ended up being a total of around 200 dollars. It was an expense that the club president was happy to pay, but the financial struggle to get the club started was, well, a struggle.

The first club meeting was held on Thursday, November 3rd, from 3:10 to 4:40. The club opened with a slideshow, and an explanation of the club and materials. Then, the recipe was introduced, and teams were formed.

By working together and trusting each other through the process, the club was successful in making our first recipe; pumpkin muffins with cheese cream frosting. It was an easy recipe with instructions that the club could understand, and was a fun activity to do with friends after school.

Although it was a wonderful first time experience, and many people tried their hardest to adhere to the rules, there were a few bumps and hiccups along the way that could be easily fixed with proper procedure.

Firstly, an organized clean up group that takes time to spiffy up the club room will be essential for the next meeting. Last time may have been a good start, but we will need to stay consistent with our cleaning regimen if we want to continue the club.

Secondly, although the idea of putting students into groups was a good starting idea, next time the club will need to have more organized steps and directions so that members do not get lost or confused. For example, when making muffins, there should be one group at the dry ingredients station, and one group at the wet ingredients station so that it doesn’t get chaotic.

Once these things are accurately worked on, and we are able to improve the stability and consistency of the club, I’m sure that it will be able to go off without a hitch!

Welcoming a new club into Highland Park was an exciting experience, and I’m excited to expand my culinary knowledge with other students.