With our crazy busy lives, there’s little opportunity to pass along the tradition and skills of cooking. Often, even if the desire exists, the parents may not have learned the fundamentals from their own families. Alternatively, parents may know how to cook and not have the time or inclination to practice daily food preparation.

What’s at risk is losing the arts of negotiation, story-telling and community-building that happen when people gather around the table to eat. Cooking at its best involves using the right and left sides of your brain. It involves all the senses: seeing (Are the scrambled eggs glossy?); hearing (Did the onions sizzle when placed in the pot?); smelling (Are the nuts toasted?); tasting (Does the soup need salt and pepper?) and touching (When will the meat be cooked?) and the whole is almost always worth more than the sum of its parts. Cooking also gets better, easier and, with routine practice, brings a special something extra to your family’s life.

At Essen we focus on developing solid cooking techniques, easy concepts which will be used throughout the course of your life. We explore the myriad of opportunities to get simply-prepared, good food on the table each day. We use fresh, not processed food, with a preference for seasonally-inspired, locally-sourced ingredients. The result will be an increase in your self-confidence and self-esteem, vital to navigate today’s world. And you’ll be well-nourished and satisfied to boot.

Essen proudly supports Buy Fresh Buy Local – Lancaster and is a member of the Susquehanna Sustainable Business Network.