The Eastern Michigan University Honors College has cooked up some skill-building opportunities for everyday maintenance. Called Adulting 101, the opportunities are a series of workshops offering skill enhancement in such things as car maintenance, cooking a good meal, and building an engaging resume.
Offered through in-person and online events, the series started in September 2024 and continues through the 2024-25 academic year. Each course focuses on a specific topic, allowing students to strengthen life-long skills while in their college years.
As part of the program, Eagle Nutrition Services offers nutrition counseling, kitchen demonstrations and one-on-one advising. Some of the workshops are held in the Demonstration Kitchen, in Rackham Hall on campus. The kitchen was added in 2015 to add an interactive way for students and faculty to observe cooking demonstrations.
Each class is broken into three phases: Discussion, Tips and Tricks, and Assembly. There are two cameras in the kitchen that display the workstations on television screens for easy access to what each guide is preparing. Depending on the class, the guides range from dietetic students and registered dietitians to professional chefs.
Emily Gimm, a registered dietitian with Eagle Nutrition Services, overviews the demonstration and assists the cooking commentary during the classes. Gimm has been a registered dietitian since 2010. Before coming to Eastern, Gimm worked as an inpatient clinical dietitian at Colquitt Regional Medical Center in Georgia.
“Food is fun and it's a constant learning process to understand how it's grown and put together in recipes," Grimm said. "It's a way to share love with people and bring them together."
The cooking basics class focuses on breaking down recipes by explaining different techniques and skills that can build upon additional learning. The meal prepared for students at a recent workshop included a pear arugula salad, chicken or chickpea soup, and drop biscuits.
“What's really fun about the cooking classes is that we get to spend time with the students or community members and be able to show them and expose them to new foods that they haven't been exposed to before,” Gimm said.
Gimm also specialized in a non-diet approach to health and wellness, a practice she brings to her demonstrations.
“A non-diet approach comes from being open minded and meeting people where they are, but also understanding we can pull from lots of different areas.” Gimm said. “We can understand other cultures and ask questions and challenge ourselves to try new foods, new recipes and broaden our perspectives on food rather than shortening it.”
The recent class was led by three dietetic students, Reham Saba, Lea Cane and David Corcoran. Each intern highlighted the preparation and demonstration of a portion of the meal. The 13 attending students observed proper cutting techniques, complementary ingredients for different soups and baking tips and tricks.
“Sometimes cooking can be a scary thing if you haven't grown up with or were surrounded by it, but once you start to understand some of the techniques you are able to apply those to lots of other recipes and grow your ability to put recipes together," Grimm said. "But it's also something you're proud of at the end."
Demonstration classes are offered to students at a $9 registration fee. For future class information visit the Eagle Nutrition Services scheduling page on the EMU website.
