It’s always tricky to keep the kids entertained in the school holidays. Add to this being a working mum who runs her own business and things can get super hard. My children are getting older now and with two teens that aren’t really interested in doing anything with Mum anymore, I try to plan a few special days out with the small person. That way, when I do have to leave him to his own devices to get work done, neither of us feel bad, and he doesn’t feel so bored.
Back at Christmas, I wrote a blog about some days out we’d had (read it here if you would like to) and one of the things we tried together for the first time was cookery school. December saw us head up to a place called Bread Ahead in vibrant Borough Market and Jackson and I had a great time making Christmas gingerbread biscuits. This holiday saw me look for something along the same lines but with a different twist and here is what I found.
Jamie Oliver is a name synonymous with cooking so whilst googling children’s cooking schools, up he popped. Add to that his cookery school (the one we went to) was in Shepherd’s Bush Westfield Shopping Centre, which incidentally is one of my favourite places to go (purely to photograph because I seriously HATE shopping!) and we were on to a winner. As an added bonus, he runs “kids learn for free” sessions in the school holidays! The range of activities available to book was vast – you could choose from pasta making, sushi classes, bread making, filled pasta, good-for-you meatballs and even Mexican street food! We decided that the filled pasta class looked lots of fun and had lots to do. From making the pasta from scratch, to mixing up the filling and cooking a sauce, this seemed to tick all the boxes.
The day of our trip arrived and Jackson and I caught the train up to London Bridge and from there we jumped on the Jubilee line to Bond Street and changed onto the central line to Shepherd’s Bush. With J now being 10, this also seemed like a perfect opportunity to get him to start navigating the tube system for himself. It was a really good experience for him to find the signs and try and follow the underground maps. I told him the stations and lines we needed, and as we weren’t in a rush, I let him do it at his own pace. He did really well and I’m really pleased I decided to do this, as it’s a life skill he’s going to need sooner rather than later, what with us being fortunate enough to live a short train ride into the London hubs.
We made sure we left time to find somewhere to have lunch, and after a bit of a bumpy start (one of J’s favourite restaurants was closed and another restaurant had no chicken for me to eat) we settled on one of the places inside Westfield and had a lovely lunch.
The cookery school is really easy to find, and even walking really slowly, taking photographs on the way, you’ll be there in under 10 minutes from the tube. The cookery school is in the back of Jamie’s Italian Restaurant, and it’s really stunning to look at. Kitchen envy could be one way you might describe the feelings this really rustic, but contemporary space gives you. Wooden butchers’ block work tops, high-tech touch-sensitive hobs for all, funky blue units and plenty of equipment and space made it a really lovely environment (and handily for me, perfect for pictures!). We were handed an apron each (there are small ones for kids – don’t do what I did and start customising an adult one for your small person!) and shown where to wash our hands and the demonstration of part one began.
J and I picked our spot, making sure we got the best light for the photos I am always taking and started to follow the very easy instructions. Alice lead the class, and was exactly the right mix of informative and funny! J and I were soon rolling out the pasta we had made from scratch. We had a blast but I don’t want to share too many details here because I don’t want to spoil it for you, but in summary we made fresh pasta from egg and flour, mixed up our filling, learnt how to make several different shapes of pasta (tortellini, ravioli and bow shaped pasta) before mixing up a sauce in a pan, and finally sitting down to eat our creation. Fresh, dressed salad in bowls was put out for us to have with our pasta, and all round the edge of the kitchen classroom were high bar stools with place settings and water glasses for us all.
Jackson and I really enjoyed this, and I’d very much like to do this again in the May break, if we get time. At a cost of £50 (adults pay this price and the children learn for free), we found it really good value for a holiday treat and a great way to spend our Monday.
Jamie’s cooking classes are for ages 8-13 years.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about our day more blog posts can be found here.
Follow Jackson’s antics either in some of my blog posts or on my instagram feed CallowN.
Guest Blogging for Sevenoaks Mums by documentary and commercial photographer, Nina Callow of 3 Boys & Me Photography, London, England
Author: Helen Loder
Co-Director of Sevenoaks Mums