GRAYLING – Food can change lives.
It can heal, injure, make, or break someone’s health. On that principle, the collaborative efforts of Camp Cuisine, a food ministry operated at Camp Au Sable by renowned Chef Miguel Larcher, and the 13th Street Seventh-day Adventist Church in Cadillac has borne fruit: an online cooking show, titled “Home Cooking with Chef Miguel Larcher”.
The cooking show was introduced out of necessity. Pastor Robert Benson, the pastor of the 13th Street Church, envisioned having a cooking class in his church and inviting the surrounding community to attend. But with Northern Michigan’s COVID-19 case numbers surging in early 2021, Benson was concerned about planning in-person events. With that in mind, Benson approached Chef Miguel Larcher, Food Service Director at Camp Au Sable, with the concept of an online cooking class.
With Larcher on board, they launched into their first season of “Home Cooking” in February. The demonstrations, held monthly, have been received well by many across Michigan. Viewers span across the region and even into Canada.
Notably, several from the local community in Grayling and Cadillac have also tuned in.
“We’ve cultivated a following that has a much broader region then what was originally anticipated when we first started planning,” Benson said.
Each show features a different dish and health focus, and has sage, practical health lectures by Nadine Larcher, Nurse Practitioner student, during the cooking intermission.
“It’s always exciting to see what we are going to do each month!” said Emily Graham, co-host, and cooking student.
“We always have a lot of fun doing this, and we hope our viewers have just as much fun.”
After a short summer hiatus, the show returned to live production for their second season on Sept. 7. The next class is scheduled for Oct. 12 at 6:30 p.m.
“We’re really excited to be back,” Larcher said.
The team has planned breakfast courses for the first few episodes of this season, such as Larcher’s famous scrambled breakfast tofu, roasted rosemary potatoes, and more.
For info visit campcuisine.org.
