Melissa's Kitchen, Inc.

08/20/2026

September 9 | 6:00–7:30 PM
Prairie Food Co-op | Lombard, IL
 
Turn the season’s freshest vegetables into delicious, crunchy pickles!
 
Join Melissa’s Kitchen, Inc. at Prairie Food Co-op for a hands-on introduction to the art of quick pickling. We’ll work with a variety of seasonal vegetables and learn how to transform them into flavorful refrigerator pickles (no canning required)!
 
You’ll learn the basics of quick pickling, taste a few different recipes, and customize your pickles with different herbs, spices and flavors. Then you’ll roll up your sleeves and make your own jar to take home.
 
Each student will take home:
- A pint of homemade quick-pickled seasonal vegetables
- A small recipe booklet with recipes and ideas to continue pickling at home
 
This is a hands-on class, so come ready to chop, mix, pickle and taste! It’s a fun way to preserve the flavors of the season and add something bright and delicious to your meals.

No prior cooking or pickling experience necessary!!! Signup link in my bio 🫜

08/18/2026

🌱 Garden harvest time! 🌱

It’s time to plant for fall, which means it was time to clear out the garden. I pulled SO many carrots, beets, chard, jalapeños, green tomatoes and herbs. 🥕🫑🍅🌿

The only bad thing about a big garden harvest? It takes time to process it all! 😂
Here’s what I’m doing with all of my garden goodies:

🥬 Swiss chard — Enjoyed this as a side with dinner last night. Sautéed with olive oil, onion, salt & pepper and a splash of good vinegar. Simple, healthy and so good!
🌿 Beet greens — Cleaned and stored for later. I’m planning beet green pasta with goat cheese later this week. 🍝
🥕 Carrots & beets — Cleaned, destemmed and into storage bags for later.
🌶️ Serrano peppers — Freezing them whole in a freezer-safe bag.
🌶️ Jalapeños — Dehydrating half and pickling the other half.
🍅 Green tomatoes — Slow roasting them with olive oil. This makes green tomatoes so sweet and delicious!
🌿 Oregano & thyme — Drying in the dehydrator.
🌿 Sage — Drying the old-school way in a big bundle in my garage.
🌶️ Aleppo peppers — I’ve never eaten these fresh, so I’m going to slice them up and figure out something to make with them later this week. 🤔
🌿Basil - made three half pints of pesto.

Now…back to processing! 👩‍🍳🌱

08/11/2026

🍂 Late Summer & Fall Cooking Classes 🍂

I have lots of fun, seasonal classes coming up this fall! Signups for Downers Grove Park District and Marcel’s classes can be found on their web site and links in my bio.

FYI all classes are shared first via email. Please DM me to be added to my list :)

Here’s the current lineup:

Fundamentals of Canning — Demonstration
📍 Marcel’s Culinary Experience, Glen Ellyn
📅 August 19
Signup: Marcel’s web site

Seasonal Pickling — Hands On
📍 Prairie Food Coop, Lombard
📅 September 9
Signup: Eventbrite

Summer Garden Focaccia Art — Hands On
📍 Downers Grove
📅 September 16
Signup: DP Park District web site

Sourdough Bread, Beginner — Demonstration
📍 Downers Grove
📅 October 7
Signup: DP Park District web site

Sourdough Bread, Beginner — Demonstration
📍 Lombard
📅 October 21
Signup: Coming soon!

Sourdough Bread, Beginner — Hands On
📍 Marcel’s Culinary Experience, Glen Ellyn
📅 October 27
Signup: Marcel’s web site

Sourdough Bread, Beyond the Basics — Demonstration
📍 Downers Grove
📅 November 11
Signup: DP Park District web site

Sourdough Bread, Beginner — Hands On
📍 Marcel’s Culinary Experience, Glen Ellyn
📅 November 16
Signup: Marcel’s web site

I hope to see you in the kitchen this fall! 🍂

08/10/2026

Yesterday I had the pleasure of participating in garden designer Katie Oglesby’s annual garden party at her amazing one-acre home garden in Lake Geneva. Katie’s property is truly a dream with an orchard, greenhouse, TWO kitchen gardens, a water feature, and so much more. 🌿

My dish for the afternoon was a celebration of whole-vegetable cooking, using Katie’s home-grown carrots. I served a crostini topped with sweet ricotta and sous vide carrots tossed in carrot-top pesto.

With this dish I wanted to demonstrate whole-vegetable cooking with carrots, from root to top, proving that one harvest can go much further than we realize and some of the most flavorful parts of the garden are often overlooked. 🥕🌱

08/06/2026

Prepping some edible flowers from my Wisconsin garden for an event this weekend. Look at this vibrant color!!!! Normally I’d use my dehydrator but tried using the oven this time using a combination of its proof setting and a warmer temperature (170F) for short spurts. It took a while but it got the job done!

Amazing plants by Katie Oglesby | Kitchen Garden Design House 👩‍🌾🪏🌱

I’ll share some event pics this weekend 🌻🧡

08/05/2026

A little throwback to my mom’s kitchen around 1976. ❤️

Just look at those counters…lined with jars of freshly canned fruits and veggies! This was how my mom lived. She made our food from scratch and somehow managed to make a counter full of canned goods look like a beautiful still life. 🖼️

Canning may feel like a lost art, but it’s making a comeback! There’s something satisfying about turning the season’s best produce into jars of healthy food you can enjoy long after summer is gone.

If you’ve always wanted to learn how to can (or just want to brush up on your skills), come join me for my Fundamentals of Canning class at Marcel's Culinary Experience on August 19.

Let’s get those jars filled! 🫙🍅🍑

Hope to see you there!

07/21/2026