Need a drink for your Halloween party that looks as good as it tastes? These three bourbon cocktails come straight from our Halloween Mixology class: one cozy, one smoky, and one jet black. Each recipe makes one drink, so scale it up for a crowd. Grab a bottle of bourbon and let's get spooky. 1. Fiendish Apple A spiced apple cider Old Fashioned. Think fall in a glass, with brown sugar, cinnamon and a bourbon backbone. Glass: rocks glass with one large ice cube Ingredients 2 o

Same restaurant, same private room, same people talking to the same people. Sound familiar? This year, give your team a holiday party they'll actually talk about: a chef-led cooking event in our Itasca kitchen. Your team cooks, competes and eats together, and you don't lift a finger on planning. We handle the menu, the chefs, the setup and the cleanup. Why a Cooking Event Beats Another Dinner Everyone's involved. No one's stuck at the end of a long table. Teams cook side by s

Halloween lands on a weekend this year, and we're not wasting it. Two nights, two very different vibes, one kitchen in Itasca. Friday is for the singles: rolling sushi, folding dumplings and maybe meeting someone who can actually cook. Saturday is for the bourbon people: three Halloween cocktails, three spooky bites and a lot of shaking. Skip the sad candy bowl. Here's what's going down. Friday: Find Your Boo, a Halloween Singles Mixer Friday, October 30 · 7–10 PM · $59 per p

Every December, the same scene plays out across Chicago. Long table at a restaurant, the same five people talking to each other, a toast nobody can hear, and half the team checking the time by 8:30. It’s not a bad night. It’s just not a memorable one. This year, give your team a holiday party they’ll actually talk about in January. At Cooking Skills & Social, your group takes over our kitchen, cooks a seasonal meal together with our chef, and sits down to a table they made th

Everyone tastes before Chef judges. Before, the cooking was the main event and the judging was the finale. Now there’s a tasting round first. Every team sits down with the dish they just made, tries it together, and then Chef steps in to judge. It turns the competition into a shared meal instead of a scoreboard, and it gives quieter team members a moment to shine. Poem Time. This one gets loud. Each team writes and presents a short poem about their company or team that also t

Bring a little New Orleans flavor to your Halloween table! Tender poached shrimp, savory rice, and juicy blistered tomatoes come together in a dish with just enough spice to keep things interesting. This dish is the food pairing for our Haunted Harvest Halloween Mix! mixology class. While guests mix their cocktails, our chefs will be making N’awlins Haunting for everyone to enjoy alongside their drinks. N’awlins Haunting Ingredients For the Dirty Rice 3 tablespoons olive oil

Every December, your best clients get the same stuff from everyone else: a gift basket, a branded tumbler, and an invite to a steakhouse dinner where everyone checks their phone between courses. It's nice. It's also forgettable. If you want clients to actually remember how you thanked them, give them something to do. A private cooking event puts your team and your clients at the same counter, rolling pasta, searing scallops, and laughing over who over-salted the sauce. That's

Planning a private event sounds simple until you actually begin looking at the options. A restaurant gives you food, but your group may be divided between different tables with very little to do besides eat. A traditional event hall gives you space, but now you have to coordinate the catering, entertainment, setup, and cleanup. Other group activities can be fun, but they do not always leave enough room for people to relax, talk, and enjoy time together. The best private event

Bright, citrusy, and almost too smooth, the Cantarito is like a tequila-based citrus sangria with a refreshing grapefruit finish and a little Tajín kick. It is simple to mix, easy to customize, and perfect for celebrations—or whenever you want to bring a little extra flavor to cocktail hour. This cocktail is one of the featured drinks from our Three Tequila Ways & Mexican Bites Mixology Class, where guests mixed three tequila cocktails and enjoyed each one alongside a Mexican

Fall is here, the holidays are right behind it, and we'll just say it plainly: this is the best time of year to book a private event with us. Between now and New Year's, we're hosting company holiday parties, team outings, client appreciation dinners, friendsgivings, and a whole lot of "we finally got everyone in one room" celebrations. Every one of them ends the same way — a full table, a meal your group cooked together, and a story people are still telling in January. And t

Bright, buttery, and packed with fresh Mediterranean flavor, this week’s Recipe of the Week comes straight from our Italian Summer Seafood class. Our Sicilian Herb & Wine Shrimp combines tender shrimp with white wine, garlic, capers, fresh mint, parsley, and lemon for a quick dish that tastes light, briny, and satisfying. The key to this recipe is controlling the heat and having every ingredient ready before you begin. The shrimp cook quickly, and the simple pan sauce comes t

Looking for an engaging senior group activity near Chicago? See how a private cooking class brought a small group together for hands-on cooking, conversation, and a shared meal.

Chicken Cordon Bleu sounds fancy… and it can look fancy when you slice it open and get that beautiful cheese pull. But at the end of the day, we are working with chicken, cheese, prosciutto or bacon, and a crispy panko coating. Nothing too scary here. The important part is the technique. We need an evenly pounded bird, a cold cheese filling, a proper dredge, and enough patience to cook the chicken before we worry about making it golden. We are going to bake it first to set ev

Hey everyone! If you've been following along with what we've been building at Cooking Skills & Social, you already know we don't sit still for long. We've been putting something together behind the scenes for a while now, and I'm excited to finally share it with you. We officially launched the Cooking Social Club Membership, and I want to walk you through exactly what it is, what you get, and why I think it's genuinely one of the best ways to stay connected to everything hap

Rich, hearty, and packed with deep savory flavor, this week's recipe is a true comfort food classic. Our Beef Pot Pie combines tender chunks of slow-braised chuck roast with earthy mushrooms, sweet carrots, and fresh peas — all tucked beneath a golden, flaky crust. The filling is built with a red wine and beef broth braise that develops incredible depth of flavor, while the buttery pie dough on top bakes up perfectly crisp. Whether you make it in a Dutch oven or a crock pot,

Last week we had the pleasure of hosting 28 people from Windland Food here at Cooking Skills & Social for what turned out to be one of the most fun private events we've put together in a while — and it came with a pretty cool backstory. This wasn't just a team dinner. It was the grand finale of their summer intern program. Think about that for a second — you spend your summer working hard, learning the business, and the company sends you out with a cooking challenge. That's t

Creamy, refreshing, and filled with tropical flavor, this week’s recipe comes straight from our Taste of Hawaii Cooking Class. Our Coconut-Mango Haupia combines a silky Hawaiian-inspired coconut milk pudding with a bright topping made from fresh Kent mangoes. The creamy coconut base is lightly sweetened and flavored with vanilla and ginger, while the homemade mango topping adds fresh citrus flavor and texture. Served chilled, this colorful dessert is the perfect way to bring

Full house. Three tequila cocktails. And a spread of Mexican-inspired bites so good, guests were packing up to-go boxes on their way out. That was Saturday night at Cooking Skills & Social, and honestly? It was one for the books. Our Spicy Sips: Margaritas, Palomas & Mexican Bites class brought together guests of all ages — from the younger crowd looking to sharpen their cocktail game to the more seasoned home entertainers ready to try something new. Whatever brought them thr

Fresh, colorful, and packed with flavor, this week’s recipe brings the taste of Hawaii straight to your kitchen. Our Authentic Shoyu Ahi Poke Bowl combines sushi-grade ahi tuna, ripe mango, scallions, and toasted sesame seeds in a savory shoyu-sesame dressing. Served over seasoned sushi rice with a crisp scallion and cucumber salad, this homemade poke bowl is light, refreshing, and surprisingly simple to prepare. Finish it with avocado, furikake, nori strips, or your favorite

Q4 is a lot. Deadlines stack up, the holidays create their own kind of chaos, and the push to finish the year strong can leave teams feeling stretched thin. That's exactly why the end-of-year team celebration matters more than people give it credit for. Done right, it's not just a party — it's a reset. A moment to recognize what your team accomplished, bring everyone together in a way that actually means something, and send people into the new year feeling connected rather th