More information about my cooking classes and pop-up events can always be found on my website, where you'll also find over 200 recipes from my classes (no ads!). You can also subscribe to my email newsletter or follow me on Instagram or Facebook and like my posts. Bon appétit!
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Spring may still feel far away, but registration for all Urbana Park District classes begin on Wednesday, December 3. Starting at 10:00 a.m., you’ll find direct registration links for every spring cooking class on my website: www.cooking-with-paul.com/upd-2026-spring.html
This spring, we’re thrilled to welcome two guest chefs who will bring their cultural traditions—and treasured family recipes—into our kitchen.
Some classes sell out quickly, so claim your seats for any of our spring offerings as soon as you can Here's our spring lineup:
These courses are part of our long-running PRINCIPLES OF ETHNIC COOKING series, where we explore global cuisines through authentic, hands-on "cooking parties." Full menus and details are available here: www.cooking-with-paul.com/upd-2026-spring.html
A picture is worth a thousand words, so here’s a glimpse of our October 30 "cooking party," where guest chef Kayla Lammy led a lively group of student cooks through a 2.5-hour, fully hands-on culinary adventure. We chopped, mixed, boiled, sautéed, kneaded, assembled, and baked our way to a feast that several students called the “best class they’ve ever attended.”
Together, we made fresh mozzarella from scratch; fresh pasta with flour, eggs, and water; stuffed ravioli by hand; shaved Brussels sprouts into a roasted vegetable salad; and finished off the evening with a luscious "Dirty Chai Tiramisu" for dessert. It truly was a party to remember (see even more pictures).
Even if you missed the class, you can still cook along. All kitchen-tested recipes from every class—including all of Kayla’s dishes—are available on my website, organized by cuisine. There are now over 200 streamlined, easy-to-follow recipes ready for you to download anytime.
Since launching the PRINCIPLES OF ETHNIC COOKING series in 2022, our students have traveled the world through food, exploring over 24 different cuisines, including several that are hard to find in Champaign-Urbana. Last semester alone, we sampled dishes from Georgia, the crossroads of Europe and Asia, and from Oaxaca, the southernmost region of Mexico known for its bold, vibrant flavors.
Next semester, we’ll journey to Vietnam, India, and Russia. Have a cuisine you’re eager to explore? ** Send me your requests—I’d love to hear them!
And don’t forget to tell your friends to subscribe to this newsletter—they’ll be the first to know about new classes, guest chefs, and upcoming cooking parties.
Many of you know that I spent 20 years as a graphic design professor at Parkland College before retiring in 2019. What you may not know is that I’m also a lifelong movie buff who believes that cinema is the greatest of all the visual arts. We watch films with our eyes, but we also hear them with our ears and feel them through the power of storytelling. At their best, movies fuse theater, photography, music, performance, and pure imagination—creating a kind of magic no other medium can match.
Because the best movie experience is a shared one, I’m thrilled to announce a new community project: FILM FANATIC MOVIE NIGHTS at Gallery Art Bar in downtown Urbana. Our premiere event takes place December 18, and we’ll be screening THE FALL, one of the most visually breathtaking films ever made. This is a movie that goes where only cinema can go—deep into the soul, where images, sound, and ideas intertwine into an unforgettable experience. I’m excited to introduce the film and lead a discussion afterward.
This “movie party” is more than a screening; we’re recreating a film festival atmosphere complete with:
Join us for this special one-night-only cinematic celebration. Register here: www.film-fanatic.club