‘Budding Cook’ Educates Aspiring Kids

MiamiHerald.com:

Kids running around a kitchen near a hot stove and sharp knives, up to their elbows in food, can be a nightmare for even the most patient parent. To teach children cooking skills while avoiding a messy kitchen, Mimi Chacin started The Budding Cook.

Chacin, who got her company underway in January, teaches kids the fun, safety and health aspects of cooking. She brings all of the utensils, recipes and ingredients to the in-home cooking classes, where she and the children prepare the food. And parents get to enjoy the results.

”One of the issues all of us as parents have is that our kids don’t like to eat foods that are nutritious for them, or that they get stuck eating the same kinds of foods, day in and day out,” Chacin said. “When we have the classes, parents see how their children really are a lot more willing to try new foods because they’re involved in the process of preparing them.”

Chacin, 35, works with four different age groups: 3-5, 6-8, 9-11, and 12 and older. Classes are scheduled once a week for six weeks. Each class ranges from 1 ½ to three hours, depending on the age group.

Chacin didn’t know that she would turn her love for food and cooking into a business. Her bachelor’s degree in 1994 from Boston University is in mass communications.

”I wanted to do something that could involve my kids and still be a great way to do what I love,” said Chacin, a stay-at-home mom with two children, Diego, 8, and Ian, 4.

With a foundation in cooking she learned from her parents when she was growing up in Caracas, Chacin added to her knowledge base in 2005 by enrolling in the International Culinary School at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. After finishing her program in 2005, Chacin came up with the idea to start her own company.

”She does a great job of taking everyday foods and adapting them to make them healthier, but without losing the taste,” said Michelle Paley of Miami Shores, whose daughter, Charlotte, 4, has participated in the classes.