Learn to make food that’s ‘beautifully delicious’
Are you ready to spice things up in the kitchen this summer? If so, you are in luck, as local chef and author Liz Barbour of The Creative Feast will be hosting two virtual webinars to share her cooking skills with the community.
Her first event, sponsored by Townsend Public Library, will be a Zoom class featuring “Cooking with Edible Flowers” on Tuesday, July 13, at 7 p.m.
“Edible flowers have a long history in the culinary world as whimsical garnishes and subtle flavor additions used to create dishes that look as beautiful as they taste,” Barbour says. “With so many choices available to you, it’s time to explore all the varieties of edible flowers you can grow in your garden and the many ways you can use them to enhance your cooking.”
Barbour will take you on a slide presentation tour of her cottage-sized edible gardens and demonstrate two delicious recipes featuring edible flowers from her garden.
To register for the event, visit Townsend Public Library’s events calendar at www.townsendlibrary.org. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
Her next event, sponsored by Leominster Public Library, will be a Zoom class titled “Feasting with your Air Fryer” on Tuesday, Aug. 4, at 6:30 p.m.
“The air fryer is the newest must-have appliance that you really should get,” says Barbour. “This countertop convection oven will change the way you cook and help you put healthy meals on the table fast.”
Join Barbour for a cooking class that will help take the mystery out of this amazing, time-saving kitchen tool. She will demonstrate two recipes that you can re-create at home.
To register, visit Leominster Public Library’s events calendar at https://leominsterlibrary.org/calendar-events/calendar.
“Libraries have always been a gathering place, a place beyond just picking up a book,” says Barbour. “They do a wonderful job focusing on their patrons and work very hard to ensure that enriching programs are available to the community.”
Barbour believes that libraries have always been our unsung heroes.
“They are the second homes to many, they are great places to visit, and I hope people continue to support their local libraries.”
Barbour built her cooking career in a variety of Boston’s catering and restaurant settings.
After starting her family, she re-entered the food world in 2004 as a cooking instructor with Liz Barbour’s Creative Feast.
Her cooking demonstrations and recipes have been featured on New Hampshire Chronicle, Channel 9’s “Cooks Corner” and in various publications including New Hampshire Magazine.
With the popularity of her cooking classes, Barbour was inspired to write her first cookbook, “Beautifully Delicious: Cooking with Herbs & Edible Flowers (Liz Barbour’s Creative Feast 2017).
Her book is full of gorgeous photographs and contains more than 60 of Liz’s favorite flavor-inspired recipes using herbs and edible flowers. Each easy-to-use recipe offers simple variations and step-by-step instructions to help create two or three different “beautifully delicious” meals.
“The part I love most about publishing my book is that it was designed to be delivered in person,” says Barbour. “It was important to me that I be able to sign the book and personally hand it to the individual.”
Barbour says she enjoys sharing her skills as a working chef and entertaining communicator, whose relaxed and humorous thoughts toward food seem to clarify the cooking process for her students.
“I have had the pleasure of meeting and spending time with the same people for over eight years now, especially in the towns of Townsend and Groton,” says Barbour. “I teach uncomplicated cooking, giving people basic cooking information that they can use for the rest of their lives.”
As so many other businesses have struggled during the pandemic, Barbour says she thought her business was gone.
“I am an in-person person,” she says. “However, I am very demanding of myself and had to get creative to keep my business alive.”
She talked with her husband and son, and they decided to explore the Zoom online platform to reach her audience since libraries and businesses were closed.
Barbour says it is extremely important to her that she offer high-quality performances.
“If you are going to invest an hour of your time, I want you to be happy and carry something from me that you will hold the rest of your life, whether it be a smile or a topic I educated you on.
“My platform is phenomenal,” she adds. “I use multiple cameras that offer a richness that shows the different angles of my cooking demonstration. Each librarian is my co-host, allowing for the personal contact between the library and their patrons.”
Barbour is thankful she has been able to rise from the pandemic and turn it into an opportunity to reach people all over the country.
“I am busier now than I have ever been,” she says.
She is a regular guest on New Hampshire’s WMUR Cook’s Corner and her cooking demonstrations and recipes are featured in various publications including Where Women Cook, New Hampshire Magazine, the Nashua Telegraph, and The Hippo Press.
Barbour is an avid home gardener and often uses her own fresh herbs and edible flowers in her cooking demonstrations and features photographs of her cottage-style garden in many of her programs.
Her gardens have been featured in New Hampshire Magazine, New Hampshire
Home, New Hampshire Chronicle and Colorado Home.
“Food and community go hand in hand,” Barbour says. “Whether you are a community of one, two or more at home, when you read a recipe from a cookbook that others have also given it a try it connects you.”
For information on Liz Barbour, her classes and blogs, or if you are interested in purchasing her cookbook, visit www.thecreativefeast.com.