Cooking class offered based on survey results

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Frank John Casciotta
  • 71st Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Airman & Family Readiness Services held the first of six cooking classes geared toward single Airmen March 12 at the Health and Wellness Center here.

The two-hour class is part of the Single-Airman Initiative, an Air Force-wide program intended to reacquaint Airmen with available services and to improve morale.

The cooking class is a result of a survey conducted at Vance that showed 75 percent of the Airmen who completed the survey wanted a cooking class, said Greg Waide, the director of A&FRS and coordinator for the Single-Airman Initiative at Vance.

For the first class Angel Dominguez, a community readiness consultant at A&FRS, and Chris Christopherson, a mortuary technician also at A&FRS, demonstrated cooking tips and tricks as they prepared a meal -- chicken stir fry with vegetables.

"It's actually very simple to get the skin off fresh garlic," Dominguez told the 13 members of the class. "I always see people struggling to peel and pick the skin off."

Dominguez sliced the blub in half and placed the garlic on his chopping board. "You just take the flat part of your knife and give it a good tap," he said, as the palm of his hand came down on the flat of the knife in a swift, practiced motion.

Dominguez held the seemingly unaffected garlic up to the class. "Then the skin just comes right off," he said.

"The idea behind this class isn't just to teach recipes, but to teach the concepts behind cooking," said Waide. "When they are more comfortable with the concepts, they can experiment instead of making cooking a burden."

"I thought the class was fun and informational," said Airman 1st Class Gabriela Hernandez, an aerospace physiology technician with the 71st Medical Group. "And it's a great opportunity to meet people, especially since I've only been here two months."

"I want to learn to cook," said Airman 1st Class Alysia Macedo, also an aerospace physiology technician with the 71st MDG. "I'm tired of eating microwave food."

"It was an excellent turnout," said Waide. "I was surprised by the feedback. It had a real health oriented angle, which is great."

The next five classes will be based on the feedback from the initial class.

"I think we have a really health conscious group in the Air Force," said Waide. "Based on the feedback we will work on finding recipes and ideas for creating a variety of quick, healthy meals."

Other additions coming to Vance due to the Single-Airman Initiative include Wi-Fi at the bowling center and Fitness Center and a gas-powered fire pit at the Vance Collocated Club.