Culinary Institute

If you would like to impress your friends with a four-star dinner but have the culinary skills of a short-order cook, the Culinary Institute of America has a cookbook for you. One of the nation's premier cooking schools, the Hyde Park, N.Y., institution knows a thing or two about teaching people how to get around in the kitchen. In this book, The Culinary Institute of America: Gourmet Meals in Minutes (Lebhar-Friedman, 2004, $40), the emphasis is on making impressive dishes in less than an hour, usually with ingredients you can find in any grocery store.

Celebrity chefs are all the rage these days, thanks to the "miracle" of the Food Network and its ilk, even PBS. Of course, like actors and professional athletes, not everyone makes it to star status. And, indeed, there are plenty of workers in the culinary field who never quite make it to the big time. But, as they say, you have to start somewhere. And the first step, usually, is through training. So, next time you drive by Lincoln College of Technology on Snowden River Parkway, note the big sign that reads "Lincoln Culinary Institute.

The sizzle echoed through the halls of the Center of Applied Technology North in Severn, emanating from the school's culinary arts baking and pastry lab, where it was joined by a tempting aroma. Normally, a restaurant kitchen would be responsible for such sounds and smells, but this day it was students and the Culinary Institute of America. Former staff from the Culinary Institute of America were instructing students as part of "Teaching with the CIA," a day of culinary education for Washington-area students interested in careers in the food service and hospitality industry.

The sizzle echoed through the halls of the Center of Applied Technology North in Severn, emanating from the school's culinary arts baking and pastry lab, where it was joined by a tempting aroma. Normally, a restaurant kitchen would be responsible for such sounds and smells, but this day it was students and the Culinary Institute of America. Former staff from the Culinary Institute of America were instructing students as part of "Teaching with the CIA," a day of culinary education for Washington-area students interested in careers in the food service and hospitality industry.

Vinson Bankoski joined the community board of directors at the Arbutus Senior Center for a two-year term. He is the associate executive director at theCharlestown retirement community, where he oversees daily operations of the 110-acre campus, which is home to 2,100 residents. The Towson resident holds degrees from the Culinary Institute of America and Florida International University. He earned a Master of Arts in Aging Services from the Erickson School at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

KITCHEN TIP "The trick to keeping crumbs out of your icing is gliding your spatula on the icing. Never allow it to touch the surface of the cake. Place a large amount of thin-consistency icing on the center of the cake." wilton.com/cake Know a helpful shortcut in the kitchen? Send it to Kate Shatzkin, Food Editor, The Sun, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore 21278 or e-mail it to food@baltsun.com. ciakids.com This site, supported by the Culinary Institute of America, provides simple recipes for aspiring young chefs to attempt with the help of an adult.

It's a typically busy day for Barbara Smith, former model, current restaurateur, author, chef, TV star and lifestyle maven: Started out as a guest disc jockey at a New York jazz station, did her workout, headed for a marketing meeting for the Culinary Institute of America. Caught a 5 o'clock flight to Washington, D.C., where, at her restaurant in Union Station, B. Smith's, the American Council of Negro Women was to honor African-American women chefs. Caught a 9 o'clock flight back to New York to make a next-morning board meeting at the Culinary Institute.

Two incompatible types emerged from the 1980s: the couch potato and the insatiable restaurantgoer. But by the dawn of the '90s, a few fortunate people were finding a way to reconcile their interests in staying at home and their desire to enjoy good food: Hire a chef.Personal, or private, chefs have joined that arsenal of service people, from personal trainers to personal bankers, that smooth the lives of today's rich and famous and, increasingly, more down-to-earth professionals, too. Some chefs are working full time for the wealthy and the well known, even living in their houses.

Homemade noodles hang on a drying rack next to a gigantic pot of chicken noodle soup made from scratch. Culinary arts students at the Center for Applied Technology North in Severn savor small cups of their steaming creation. They give much of the credit for their successes and their love of cooking to their teacher, Bruce S. Davis.But they aren't the only ones who appreciate Davis' enthusiasm for learning and culinary technique.Davis left yesterday for a three-week trip to Japan through the Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program, which has sent 600 American teachers and administrators abroad every year since 1997.

Lei Cristine Sp Garcia was a little too excited as she set out to make chocolate Bavarian with her teammates yesterday at the Maryland ProStart Student Invitational culinary competition. She so furiously whisked egg yolks in a bowl that she sent two pastry spatulas flying from the table onto the floor. "Ohmigod!" the 17-year-old cried out. But the group quickly recovered as teammate Sarah Draper washed the spatulas off in bleach - which is harder than it sounds, considering that the rules prohibit running water.

Vinson Bankoski joined the community board of directors at the Arbutus Senior Center for a two-year term. He is the associate executive director at theCharlestown retirement community, where he oversees daily operations of the 110-acre campus, which is home to 2,100 residents. The Towson resident holds degrees from the Culinary Institute of America and Florida International University. He earned a Master of Arts in Aging Services from the Erickson School at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

As a kindergartner, Aaron Hodge was mesmerized by chef Emeril Lagasse's noisy approach to cooking on TV. "He got hooked on 'Bam!' and would repeat that even when he used a salt shaker at dinnertime," said Leroy Hodge, chuckling at the thought of his son, now 18 years old, imitating the popular chef's shtick at such a young age. "But he wasn't just watching him. He was fascinated and really absorbing it. " Now the 2011 Glenelg High School graduate...

Scott Opdyke learned to fend for himself in the kitchen at an early age. His mother worked as a medical technician at Franklin Square hospital, and his father blew up hot dogs in the microwave for dinner, he said. "With my mom working, I either had to learn how to cook, or eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches," said Opdyke, of Bel Air. In no time, the budding chef was making fried egg sandwiches. He's come a long way since then. In May 2007, Opdyke, 26, was named the executive chef of the Mountain Branch Grill & Pub in Joppa, where he gave his first solo cooking class last week.

KITCHEN TIP "The trick to keeping crumbs out of your icing is gliding your spatula on the icing. Never allow it to touch the surface of the cake. Place a large amount of thin-consistency icing on the center of the cake." wilton.com/cake Know a helpful shortcut in the kitchen? Send it to Kate Shatzkin, Food Editor, The Sun, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore 21278 or e-mail it to food@baltsun.com. ciakids.com This site, supported by the Culinary Institute of America, provides simple recipes for aspiring young chefs to attempt with the help of an adult.

Lei Cristine Sp Garcia was a little too excited as she set out to make chocolate Bavarian with her teammates yesterday at the Maryland ProStart Student Invitational culinary competition. She so furiously whisked egg yolks in a bowl that she sent two pastry spatulas flying from the table onto the floor. "Ohmigod!" the 17-year-old cried out. But the group quickly recovered as teammate Sarah Draper washed the spatulas off in bleach - which is harder than it sounds, considering that the rules prohibit running water.

If you would like to impress your friends with a four-star dinner but have the culinary skills of a short-order cook, the Culinary Institute of America has a cookbook for you. One of the nation's premier cooking schools, the Hyde Park, N.Y., institution knows a thing or two about teaching people how to get around in the kitchen. In this book, The Culinary Institute of America: Gourmet Meals in Minutes (Lebhar-Friedman, 2004, $40), the emphasis is on making impressive dishes in less than an hour, usually with ingredients you can find in any grocery store.

HOUSTON -- When inmates at the Trinity County Jail sit down for their Christmas meal this year, the daily fare of frozen tray dinners will give way to a gourmet meal fit for, well, a president.Gretchen Hurt, a 21-year-old recent transplant from Seattle and the new chef at Baroque Restaurant in Houston -- which counts former President George Bush among its occasional visitors -- has been whipping up a holiday feast for jail inmates and staff during her off-work hours.Today, her guests will begin dinner with tossed salad in red pepper cups dressed with roasted garlic vinaigrette alongside assorted fresh fruits with cranberry-infused whipped cream.

Scott Opdyke learned to fend for himself in the kitchen at an early age. His mother worked as a medical technician at Franklin Square hospital, and his father blew up hot dogs in the microwave for dinner, he said. "With my mom working, I either had to learn how to cook, or eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches," said Opdyke, of Bel Air. In no time, the budding chef was making fried egg sandwiches. He's come a long way since then. In May 2007, Opdyke, 26, was named the executive chef of the Mountain Branch Grill & Pub in Joppa, where he gave his first solo cooking class last week.

HOUSTON -- When inmates at the Trinity County Jail sit down for their Christmas meal this year, the daily fare of frozen tray dinners will give way to a gourmet meal fit for, well, a president.Gretchen Hurt, a 21-year-old recent transplant from Seattle and the new chef at Baroque Restaurant in Houston -- which counts former President George Bush among its occasional visitors -- has been whipping up a holiday feast for jail inmates and staff during her off-work hours.Today, her guests will begin dinner with tossed salad in red pepper cups dressed with roasted garlic vinaigrette alongside assorted fresh fruits with cranberry-infused whipped cream.

Homemade noodles hang on a drying rack next to a gigantic pot of chicken noodle soup made from scratch. Culinary arts students at the Center for Applied Technology North in Severn savor small cups of their steaming creation. They give much of the credit for their successes and their love of cooking to their teacher, Bruce S. Davis.But they aren't the only ones who appreciate Davis' enthusiasm for learning and culinary technique.Davis left yesterday for a three-week trip to Japan through the Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program, which has sent 600 American teachers and administrators abroad every year since 1997.