Juniper Hills Farm Cooking Class

I do not think I could come up with the words to describe what an amazing experience we had at the Onion Creek Kitchens at Juniper Hills Farm but I am going to give it a shot. We booked this trip six months in advance after reading Charity's rave review, who had gone on a recommendation by the DMN, and now we know why both so highly recommended the trip. Sibby is in fact fabulous!

We stayed in Casita Verde, not our first choice, but we were pleasantly surprised by house nice the room was. It even had an indoor/outdoor shower that I didn’t plan on making use of but just had to try, more on that later.

When we arrived our room was filled with treats from local farmers markets, chocolate covered pecans, homemade granola, local honey, milk and juice in little glass jars with a paper lid and candles and soaps too! All locally made. I thought this was a very nice touch. The room was very quaint and had a nice view of the surrounding ranch.

When we arrived at the main house for the "Random Acts of Cooking" class we were greeted by Sibby and her two beautiful weimaraners. Sibby offered us wine (local, of course) and led us to her kitchen which is set up perfect for it’s purpose. There were portable islands with fresh produce, peppers, cheeses, chickens, and a loaf of seven grain bread made that day that Sibby had picked out for the adventure we were about to partake in. The kitchen smelled so good, and we hadn't even started cooking yet.

After everyone had arrived Sibby tells us how the evening will go. All of the cooking class attendees call out ideas and she makes suggestions for what we can make with the ingredients in front of us. She assures us that almost miraculously everything will come together. Sibby read off the menu which was comprised of almost everything that we called out, then we get to working on our designated projects.

Our menu for the evening: broccoli cheese soup, grilled bruschetta topped with a tapenade made with tomatoes, eggplant, squash and fresh mozzarella, roasted chicken with peach salsa (me!!), stuffed bell and poblano peppers with chevre and stilton cheese, roasted corn soufflé, succotash, and for desert watermelon sorbet. The kitchen smelled amazing and I was so excited the whole time we were cooking.

After everything was done in the miraculous timing we were promised, the group sat down and enjoyed our meal. It was all delectable! I couldn’t believe that we had made all of the incredible food. When I was eating the sorbet I said “I DON’T WANT THIS TO BE OVER” then invited all of our new friends over to cook at our house any time!

We spent the rest of the evening visiting with our other chefs while relaxing by the infinity pool.

When we got back to our room I decided to take advantage of the unique shower situation. It was so cool showering in the cool open air with the hot water pouring down, such a play on sensations.
When we woke up we were surprised with a warm blueberry and walnut coffee cake of sorts at our doorstep.

As hard as it was to say good bye, I know we will return again. Hopefully very soon!