‘Have some fun.’ Columbus caterer streams free cooking classes during coronavirus pandemic
With her business revenue cut 80-90% amid the coronavirus pandemic, Columbus caterer Lori Cooper created a different way to share her skills and benefit the community.
The restrictions that limit gatherings due to COVID-19 forced her to cancel the cooking classes she conducts for adults and children in her Divine Dinners kitchen on 13th Street. So she combined that audience with her social media followers to produce free cooking lessons in daily Facebook Live sessions.
The videos run for about 20 minutes. They are archived on her Facebook page, which still goes by the company’s original name, Columbus Dinner Divas.
And because schools are closed, Cooper spices up her lessons with some kid-friendly tips about math, science and social studies.
During the Ledger-Enquirer’s visit Tuesday, she milked these teachable moments while making pizza:
- Used a glass bowl so viewers could see the yeast “wake up” and “explode” as she poured water — at the proper temperature — on the leavening agent.
- Purposely used a half cup to measure 2½ cups of flour so she could ask viewers how many were needed to equal the recipe’s amount.
- Told the story about the origin of Margherita pizza, named after the Italian queen who liked her pies with basil, mozzarella and tomatoes, symbolizing the green, white and red on the nation’s flag.
Cooper’s sous chef, May James, answers the viewer-submitted questions from her Harris County home during the live sessions.
The interactive experience has been a joy for Cooper to provide during this tough time.
“A lot of kids are going through stress at home,” she said. “This is all new for everybody, so just a way to break up the day and hopefully have some fun.”
Also for parents.
“They’re at home with their kids, and they’re struggling and learning along with their kids on how do they structure their day and how do they make a lesson plan,” she said. “I know teachers are getting information out there … but some of it just falls on the parents as well as the grandparents.”
Cooper started the online cooking lessons last Thursday with New York-style coffee cake, then oven-fried chicken tenders Friday.
Tuesday’s pizza baking is part of Cooper’s “culinary world tour” this week. Mexico was featured Monday with enchilada casserole. Wednesday, she plans to make chicken Tetrazzini, which originated in the San Francisco hotel where the opera star Luisa Tetrazzini was a frequent guest.
The menu for the rest of the week? She welcomes suggestions.
The four videos have combined to attract more than 1,700 views as of Wednesday morning.
Seeing that positive impact affirms Cooper’s choice to seek comfort in her cooking, escaping for a while the worry about her business and the health of her husband, on the front lines of the coronavirus fight as a paramedic at Fort Benning.
“It’s just me sharing what I love to do,” she said. “It’s kind of weird, though, because I’m used to having little faces around the counter and talking to them. I’m looking at the screen, so it’s a lot different dynamic.”
This story was originally published March 25, 2020 at 11:13 AM.
