MEET: Kel’s Kitchen
Hands-On Kitchen Lessons Make Cooking Accessible
Chef Kelly Novak started her business, Kel’s Kitchen, because she wanted her mobile cooking classes to encourage people to make healthier choices and continue the art of cooking from scratch.
She has worn many hats in her life — Air Force officer, electrical engineer, government consultant, homeschool educator, small-business owner — and many of those hats involved teaching.
Chef Kel uses a gentle, unintimidating approach and customizes her classes based on each client’s needs and skill level in the kitchen.
“Cooking can be so frustrating for people who experience a series of failures. I try to show that mistakes happen to us all and they can often be overcome,” Novak said.
Classes are available privately in the comfort of your home, publicly at various venues across the Space Coast, and online via videoconference. She also offers intimate cooking parties that blend education and entertainment. These are available in your home, at a location you arrange, or online via videoconference.
Kel’s Kitchen exists to fill the need for education on the basics of cooking. She wants to prepare her students to cook for themselves and their families.The focus is educational and hands-on. Chef Kel builds confidence along with basic kitchen skills.
“I teach foundational skills that can be used in a multitude of ways,” Novak said. “I give students a sense of why things work, and encourage experimentation. I also educate about the content of the prepared foods we eat and how you can make these same foods at home without additives and preservatives.”
Chef Kel is always looking for ways to give back to her community, and caters to her clientele. She plans to hold a no-cost/low-cost monthly class at the North Brevard Senior Center called “Cooking Solo - A Beginning, Practical Cooking Class Just for Men,” geared to serve those learning to cook for themselves for the first time.
Her “Petit Chef” classes for preschoolers age 3-5 breaks up 1-hour sessions into small chunks of time in keeping with little attention spans. The children make paper chef hats, begin a hands-on cooking task, hear a story, and then return to finish the cooking.
“I love working with families — seeing relationships being built as children learn alongside their family members,” Novak said. “Cooking is a relational activity, centered on love.”
Kel’s Kitchen
Facebook: /flkelskitchen
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