A Cooking Class at the Walnut Hill Restaurant School: Or how I nearly burned the place down

Over a year ago when I was starting to have fewer hours and the end was approaching at my last job - I decided I would become a renaissance woman. Not by being rubenesque (though I totally got fat) but by picking up the skill set I would need to live off the land or on a non-existent paycheck. These skills included sewing, knitting, gardening, and cooking. Which served the dual purpose of also being ready for a zombie apocalypse.

From AMC's Walking Dead which I've never seen, but yeah, I get it, it's awesome. I'll watch it. Really.

So I sewed up some dish towels and an apron and started my first community education cooking class at the  Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College.

Facts:

• Located at: 4207 Walnut Street • Philadelphia
• The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College offers majors in Culinary Arts, Pastry Arts, Restaurant Management and Hotel Management
• People like me (who aren't professional chefs but like to eat) can take courses through their community offerings
• You can also eat at their restaurants which are run and staffed by the students of the college  

Do:

• Bring your own: Knives, Spoons, Measuring Cups, Spatula and Tongs to class
• Check to make sure that the pot that is on the burner is filled with broth and not cooling oil from the previous class

Taken from Real Simple which in turn grabbed it from Getty Images

Don't:

• Spend a lot on your tools unless you're actually going to use them again (ahem)
• Think it's going to be like Top Chef, or that you'll be like Top Chef because it's kind of not like that
• Make the mistake of using the pot filled with oil (not broth) in your rissotto because you will then set your rissotto on fire and have everyone freak out