Schoolhouse Kitchen + Studio - Portage Park

We still have spaces available in many of our summer camps including next week’s Homesteading Camp (Ages 5-11)!

Use promo code “SUMMERTREATS” to get 10% off our summer camps!

More info + Register at the link in our bio.

We had so much fun at our Homesteading Camp this week! Check out our campers' creative and beautiful cakes!

We still have some space available for our camps!

You can use code SUMMERTREATS to get 10% off our Portage Park summer camps!

We also have a special discount on our T/ween camps: Use promo code TWEENS for $100 off a week of our t/ween summer camp (it can be used for multiple weeks)!

More Info & Sign Up: https://www.iloveschoolhouse.com/portage-park.

We've been having a fun time with the kids at our Summer Homesteading Cooking + Crafting Camp! They have been using fondant to create designs for their cakes on Friday.

We still have some availability at our Homesteading Camps for Ages 5-11. Kids love learning, playing, growing, crafting, baking and cooking at our summer camps. Each day is unique and every week is packed with recipes and projects!

You can use code SUMMERTREATS to get 10% off our Portage Park summer camps!

More Info + Register: https://www.iloveschoolhouse.com/portage-park/homesteading-summer-camp-1.

I am working on some recipes for our programming starting at Chicago Lab School next week and just want to share with you how excited we are about cooking with your kiddos this summer. Not just COOKING, per se, but really slowing down to enjoy food and to make connections with the beautiful season we are in.

The recipe is the easy part. We'll be making homemade granola, strawberry compote and whipped cream to layer into a parfait with vanilla yogurt.

The last part of the recipe:
Layering the PARFAITS

In a 8 oz deli container:
Layer: yogurt, fruit, granola, yogurt, fruit, granola then whipped cream. 🙂
SUMMERTIME MEDITATION.
gather in a circle, turn off the lights and sit quietly
play summer night sounds on your phone... crickets chirping.
Deep breath in.
Meditate on the beauty and calm of a summer night while taking a bite of strawberry parfait.

I love what I do so much. Thank you for this opportunity.
- Ms. Cheryl

Special Opportunity: Use promo code "tweens" for $100 off a week of our t/ween summer camp (it can be used for multiple weeks)!

T/WEEN COOKING CAMP- AGES 11-15 YRS

T/weens are challenged by our well designed projects that teach practical cooking and baking techniques. They build on skills all week long as they explore a variety of fun and creative recipes. Chefs bring home what they made each day to share with you and we send home all recipes at the end of the week.
3 weeks of unique camps.
4-6pm

Menus:

JULY 8TH-12TH KAWAII WEEK
Panda donuts / sushi cakes / kitty buns with chocolate filling / boba tea + cakes / gravity defying ice cream cone cake

JULY 29TH-AUGUST 2ND- FAKE OUT TAKEOUT!
Panda express orange chicken + veggie chow mein / taco bell crunch wrap supreme + fiesta potatoes / Portillo’s chopped salad + chocolate cake / Crumbl Cinnamon Roll cookies + Starbucks birthday cake pops / Giordano’s deep dish pizza + house salad

AUGUST 12TH-16TH CAKE TRENDS
Korean lunchbox cake / mirror glaze mousse cakes / strawberry Swiss roll / cake layers & homemade sprinkles / design your own cake!

Please share our post and spread the word to your friends and family.

Sign up today: https://www.iloveschoolhouse.com/tweensummercamp.

Thank you to for inviting us to their children’s festival this weekend! It was a wildly successful event and our team knocked it out of the park with our tortilla making station. We loved meeting so many new kids and families and we appreciate everyone who signed up for our e-newsletter. Keep an eye out for a special giveaway in our newsletter soon. If you haven’t signed up already, you can sign up at the link in our bio.

Please join us this Saturday, June 8th, from 11am-3pm at this free outdoor festival in Harrison Park where the Museum is located.
The National Museum of Mexican Art has hosted a Family Festival that promotes healthy and active lifestyles in our community for over 20 years and it is one of the most anticipated festivals in the Pilsen neighborhood!
We’re honored to join the festival, inviting kids to press their own homemade tortillas for quesadillas.
More information at ’s website!

If you're struggling to find common ground with your kids, longing for more connection, and craving a shared experience that kids and adults alike can enjoy, you're not alone. We hear this often and feel it in our families, too. We have a fun and practical solution that excites caregivers and children alike.

Family classes offer an engaging experience for caregivers and their children, using the universal bond of food to foster connection and engagement. The classes empower caregivers with ideas to include their kids in the kitchen, which fuels an ongoing series of bonding experiences, life skills, and joy together in the kitchen.

Join us for Donuts with Dads at Schoolhouse Kitchen + Studio - Wicker Park on Saturday, June 15th or Tortilla Art: Taco Family Dinner at our Portage Park location on Saturday, June 22nd!

Sign up today and read about our other upcoming cooking classes at our website: https://www.iloveschoolhouse.com/!

We wanted to say a big thank you to Chi City Kids for posting about our cooking classes and birthday parties!

Check out their weekly calendar for things to do with your kids and family in Chicago!

Schoolhouse hosts creative + fun cooking parties to celebrate the big moments in your kiddo’s life.

Parties are 90 minutes - 120 minutes and include water, plates, napkins and cups and take out boxes.
You are not required to bring anything!
You are welcome to bring goodie bags, decorations and signs.

Choose from: Donut Shop Party, Mini Cake Party or Pasta & Bundt Cake Party, or reach out to us with your ideas and we’ll work together to create an amazing event!

https://www.iloveschoolhouse.com/

Pasta making has been one of the projects we turn to over and over again at Schoolhouse Kitchen + Studio. From kids as young as 2.5 years old through adults, there is a lesson for everyone in the making of the dough, rolling it out and enjoying it together. The lesson is patience, trust and hard work yield something worth the effort.

Pasta starts out with simple ingredients: flour and eggs. The ratio we use with our beginning students (no matter what age) is 1 egg: 1 cup flour. We use all purpose flour and keep it simple. Working the egg into the flour seems simple enough but when the “stuff” just doesn’t look like dough some students get anxious. This is our first lesson: observation and critical thinking. Does the dough need a little warm water? How much? What if we add too much?

Students begin working a little water into their dough and making new observations as they knead and knead and knead. Is the kneading difficult? Can you change your mindset and actually enjoy the process? How does the dough feel in your hands? How does your body feel? What are your thoughts as you prepare food? Can you relax into the work and enjoy it? So many lessons. We go deep. 🙂

Once our dough is ready (soft as a baby’s bottom!) we begin rolling it out using rolling pins rather than machines. More work and more opportunity for observations and breathing and laughing and… whatever we need to make it work.

Our sheets of dough are then ready for cutting into noodles like fettuccine or little butterflies or linguine or ravioli. The possibilities (and the lessons) are endless.

Here is a wonderful visual tutorial on pasta making and so much more info about how to use different techniques for a more advanced pasta making session!
https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/homemade-pasta/

And here is our recipe: https://www.iloveschoolhouse.com/.../resou.../homemade-pasta.

Some spaces are still available for our Tortilla Art Taco Family Dinner class on Saturday, June 22nd!

Families will work together to make a masa dough for corn tortillas and, using natural ingredients like turmeric and paprika, they will create various colors to create their tortilla art! The kids love the creativity. It's so much fun and the tortillas are delicious!

Families will also make two delicious homemade salsas for the tacos, too.

Menu: Homemade Tortillas, Chipotle Salsa, Tomatillo Salsa, Picadillo (seasoned ground beef), Black Beans + Rice, Cheese, Sour Cream, Veggies and Chips.

Don't miss this class: https://www.iloveschoolhouse.com/cooking-classes-1/taco-art-family-dinner!

A shout out 📢 to our staff! 🤩
Whether it’s a party, day camp, or family dinner- our engaging and friendly staff makes a good recipe GREAT 😊

Did you know we offer virtual cooking classes during the school year?

We have a YouTube channel and we'd love for you to follow us: https://www.youtube.com/.

You can also find videos from some of our previous virtual classes on our website: https://www.iloveschoolhouse.com/about-us/resources.

Summer is almost here! Have you signed up your kids for summer camp yet?

We still have spaces available in our Homesteading Camp for Ages 5-11 and our Tween Cooking + Baking Camp for Ages 11-15.

In our Homesteading Summer Camp, kids will love learning, playing, growing, crafting, baking and cooking.
Each day is unique and every week is packed with recipes and projects!
JUNE 10 - AUGUST 23
11 weeks of unique camps
Register for one week or several!
1/2 DAY CAMP + FULL DAY CAMP OPTIONS
https://www.iloveschoolhouse.com/portage-park/homesteading-summer-camp-1

In our Tween Cooking + Baking Summer Camp, t/weens are challenged by our well designed projects that teach practical cooking and baking techniques. They build on skills all week long as they explore a variety of fun and creative recipes. Chefs bring home what they made each day to share with you and we send home all recipes at the end of the week.
5 weeks of unique camps.
Register for one week or several!
4PM-6PM
https://www.iloveschoolhouse.com/tweensummercamp

From Schoolhouse Kitchen + Studio co-owner, Cheryl Knecht:
When I was a kid the weather went from Easter rain showers to Kentucky heat lighting in a matter of days. My mom marked the beginning of Summer by making Strawberry Shortcake, which we loved. Her version consisted of store bought sponge cake topped with strawberries coated in a sticky red gel. The Cool Whip was the best part of the whole mess. My sisters and I devoured it night after night sitting on the porch in our thin night gowns until the season was over and June gave way to July.

My recipe for Strawberry Shortcake will be a nostalgic one for my kids. They’ll remember making it with me and eating it for breakfast in the yard on sunny June mornings. It’s a fun recipe to make with kids. Each step is full of mess and that’s how it’s supposed to be.

At Schoolhouse, we love cooking with kids and their families! There is so much to learn in each recipe. Join us for one of our cooking classes or camps; book a birthday party with us; or reach out to us about a partnership with your school, homeschool group or scout troop.

Check out Cheryl's recipe for Strawberry Shortcake: https://bit.ly/4bKfXTe.

Celebrate Father’s Day by making delicious donuts with Dad! 🍩👨‍🍳

Join our fun cooking class where young chefs and dads team up to bake 6 tasty vanilla cake donuts. Measure, mix, bake, and create colorful glazes with sprinkles! Each team takes home their creations in a cute bakery box.

This is a fun + relaxed class. It's one of our students' favorites and we think that dads and their littles will bake up some sweet memories, too.

Sign up today: https://www.iloveschoolhouse.com/cooking-classes-1/donuts-with-dad.

On Saturday, July 27th, join Chef Kristin Koury for a culinary trip to Spain!

We'll make a chorizo and chicken paella, alongside queso de cabra con tomate (goat cheese baked with tomato sauce) with garlic crostini, and for dessert: tortas de aceite (crunchy anise cookies)!

This is sure to be a tasty dinner the whole family will love!

Register your family today for what is sure to be a popular class: https://www.iloveschoolhouse.com/cooking-classes-1/summer-in-spain-family-dinner.

And if you've been following along about our summer class offerings this week, thank you and please keep an eye out next week for a couple of our August classes!

Join Schoolhouse Kitchen + Studio for an event hosted by Red Line Service, Uptown Chamber of Commerce, and Cabinet of Curiosity for a family-friendly, fun-filled day honoring the passion within every person – to transform the world into a space of joy and love through creativity, laughter, and their own individual flame. With special guests Rogue Fire Dancers. Come make art, bubbles, pinwheels, fire-torches, plant seeds, and share food and Uptown friendship. We'll be making delicious flatbreads on the grill! Uptown Chamber of Commerce Red Line Service

Did you know we offer our Cook the Book caregiver + child class year-round? So if you can't make it one month, don't worry because there will be another Cook the Book class the next month!

Our book for our July class is "The Little Red Hen." When the Little Red Hen asks a cat, dog, and mouse for help planting some wheat, she gets no takers: "‘Not I!’ said the cat. ‘Not I!’ said the dog. ‘Not I!’ said the mouse." They won’t water, cut, or grind the wheat... or help bake a cake with it, either. So in the end, the Little Red Hen eats the cake all by herself as well!

Join us as we make mini funfetti cakes with buttercream frosting! While our cakes bake, we will read "The Little Red Hen."

Please register each person in your party (1 caregiver +1 child = 2 registrations): https://www.iloveschoolhouse.com/cooking-classes-1/cook-the-book-the-little-red-hen-caregiver-child.

Join us for our June Cook the Book caregiver + child class!

Kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk! Sal and her mother are picking blueberries to can for the winter. But when Sal wanders to the other side of Blueberry Hill, she discovers a mama bear preparing for her own long winter. Blueberries for Sal is a classic that continues to be gobbled up by children, picky eaters, and parents everywhere. Inspired by the book, "Blueberries for Sal" by Robert McCloskey, we will make Blueberry Crumble!

Each caregiver/child team will make the recipes together. You are welcome to take it home or you may stay to eat together.

We'll read the book while the crumble is in the oven.

Please register each person in your party (1 caregiver + 1 child = 2 registrations): https://www.iloveschoolhouse.com/cooking-classes-1/cook-the-book-blueberries-for-sal-1.

In our Tortilla Art class on Saturday, June 22nd, families will work together to make a masa dough for corn tortillas and, using natural ingredients like turmeric and paprika, they will create various colors to create their tortilla art! The kids love the creativity. It's so much fun and the tortillas are delicious!

Families will also make two delicious homemade salsas for the tacos.

Menu:
Homemade Tortillas
Chipotle Salsa
Tomatillo Salsa
Picadillo (seasoned ground beef)
Black Beans + Rice
Cheese, Sour Cream + Veggies
Chips.

Sign up today: https://www.iloveschoolhouse.com/cooking-classes-1/taco-art-family-dinner.

Party time 🎉🎈
Kids love our fun recipes 🤩 and parents love our engaging staff!
We make it easy to celebrate that special kid in your life.
Book your party with us!

Only more day until our Kamayan Feast cooking class with Chef Kathy Hardy Vega of the new restaurant, A Taste of the Philippines! Join us at 6pm tomorrow night for this Filipino family dinner where we will be learning lumpia wrapping and creating other Filipino specialties including pancit, adobo, cebu lechon and ube chocolate chip cookies.

This event is BYOB and designed for adults & families! Please feel free to bring a yummy beverage to enjoy. We hope that you will come feast with us!

Sign Up: https://www.iloveschoolhouse.com/cooking-classes-1/kamayan-feast-with-chef-kathy-vega.

Since we have so many new followers, we thought we should introduce some of our staff. Meet Bethany, our Schoolhouse Portage Park general manager, and Kristin, our lead chef instructor!

At Schoolhouse Kitchen + Studio, we believe that cooking with kids isn't just about making meals - it's about creating memories, teaching valuable skills and having a blast together in the kitchen. When kids help out in the kitchen, they learn more than just recipes. They develop confidence, creativity and a love for good food that lasts a lifetime.

Are you ready to spice up your family time this summer? Keep an eye on this space because we will be posting about our summer classes this week!

And don't forget we have our Kamayan Feast cooking class coming up this Wednesday night at 6pm! It is designed for both adults & families and you won't want to miss it (https://www.iloveschoolhouse.com/cooking-classes-1/kamayan-feast-with-chef-kathy-vega).

Life skills! 😁
Send your T/weens over to Schoolhouse 4pm-6pm
For the week of June 10th 🎉
They can have fun in the kitchen with the guidance of engaging instructors!
Check out what we’re cooking 🧑‍🍳 link in comments