The Joy of Cooking at Happy Place Cooking Space
Created so people of all ages and abilities can have positive experiences in the kitchen, Happy Place Cooking Space trusts Vollrath for cooking tools and equipment that are easy to use and built to last.
Happy Place Cooking Space in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, is all about having fun while teaching important life skills, and the nonprofit organization’s co-executive directors Lauren O’Brien and Sally Wagner are exceptional at both.
“The mission of Happy Place Cooking Space is all about having a positive experience in the kitchen — opening up our space to include all ages and abilities so that everybody can come to the table, prep together, share the foods that they like, and really enjoy cooking,” said Sally, who manages special education programming, recipe planning, and finances.
“It’s learning and it’s education, but it’s definitely still very much about the joy of being in the kitchen, especially together,” said Lauren, who’s responsible for kids programming for all ages along with marketing and communications.
Programming With Purpose
Happy Place’s goal is for students to take their positive experiences home to their own kitchens, which takes some of the pressure off parents, Lauren said. “There is so much that kids learn in a kitchen that’s not just cooking. It’s math. It’s turn-taking. It’s waiting, being patient. A lot of different fine motor skills.”
For adult students with disabilities, many of whom are learning to live independently within a community setting or on their own, they’re learning recipes with nourishing ingredients and how to be safe and confident in the kitchen.
At Happy Place, inclusion is at the forefront of all their business decisions. “Making room for every single person at the table is high value for us and something that we really prioritize,” Lauren said.
Teaching Tools
When it was time to equip Happy Place, Lauren and Sally turned to Vollrath for help when choosing cooking equipment and tools that make it such a valuable learning experience for the people it serves. Choosing Vollrath for quality, consistency, durability, and ease of use was crucial to meeting the needs of children as young as 3 and students of differing abilities. Happy Place wanted high-quality items that feel good in hand.
“It’s really important that we have durable tools, like whips and tongs, that when they’re being used, or maybe even like played with a little bit, they are going to last,” Lauren said. “And as a nonprofit organization, it’s really important to us that if we invest in some sort of tools, that we know that they’re going to last.”
Lauren and Sally are mindful of choosing products their adult students want to use, real tools that set them up for success as many of them work in the foodservice industry. They also teach all students the importance of using the right tools for what they’re trying to achieve, for example, a disher for proper portions that bake evenly and a mixer to ensure ingredients are well combined.
“We know that Vollrath’s mission is creating better … and having the right tools at our disposal allows us to create better experiences for our participants.” - Sally Wagner
“When we use our stand mixer with our participants, I really love the feature where we can adjust the speed using buttons rather than a manual adjustment,” Sally said. “If it’s a child using it, their little hands can’t necessarily move from 1 to 2 without, you know, throwing it to 5 — high power and all the flour spilling everywhere!”
“One of our guest chefs has come in and just commented that it’s really high-quality equipment,” Lauren said. “And that makes us happy because we want all of our instructors to be happy and to have a really successful class and feel like they’re showcasing their skills really well. And they can do that with better equipment.”
Sally and Lauren agree that Vollrath dishers are the one tool they cannot live without. They use them in every class, and the kids love them. Even youngsters without the strength and dexterity to use a thumb disher can use the squeeze dishers with both hands. “They love that. They think they’re so good at doing it, and they are. But the tools have supported their success in a huge way,” Lauren said.
Sally said other favorite tools are large cutting boards with plenty of surface for the kids to chop, wide sturdy mixing bowls, high-quality spatulas that don’t chip, and ladles of all sizes for pouring sauces. And don’t forget the pizza cutters. “Kids love pizza cutters. It’s so much fun to wheel back and forth,” Sally said.
Cooking Is Cool
Lauren said they appreciate the quality of Vollrath cookware, especially when paired with induction. They exclusively use Tribute® cookware for its even heating, consistent results, and ease of use and cleaning.
When it came time to choose a cooktop, Vollrath helped Happy Place decide on drop-in and countertop induction ranges. Sally said they love how the drop-in induction unit’s flat surface seamlessly blends with their countertop, and how both countertop and drop-ins are easy to clean, flameless and cool to the touch. Because induction uses electromagnetic energy to generate heat directly within the cookware, there’s no hot burner to worry about.
“I really love the feature that when the pot is not on it, it does not heat up. And I think that’s really important because we are teaching people basic skills on how to use heat,” Lauren said. “So, if they accidentally had a burner on without a pot, that’s just a nonissue in this kitchen.”
Sally loves the power and quick response. “I love how fast it is. We have a set time for our cooking classes, and so the fact that I could guarantee that water will boil in X amount of seconds is so nice.”
Induction’s powerful performance and intuitive controls come in handy for Happy Place’s Cooking for College classes. Lauren said they set up stations with countertop induction ranges, where students are able to create three dinners at the same time without needing much direction.
“If you notice something is sauteing faster than you’d like it to, to be able to adjust the dial down and have it respond right away to the change in heat is helpful for our students to see,” Sally said.
Lauren said induction’s expanded magnetic field and versatility make her feel like a chef. They’re not trained chefs; they just love to cook. But innovative, high-quality equipment brings out the best in professional chefs too.
“The induction burners work really well for our classes. We also have guest instructors that come in, many of whom are trained chefs, and they use the burners in different ways than we do. The burners work so well for them; even though they may be lifting the pan off, there’s still that connection with the heat,” Lauren said.
Safety First
At Happy Place, every class starts with a discussion of rules, so students understand appliances are hot and there are sharp things in the kitchen. In addition to induction’s inherent safety features, Lauren and Sally also appreciate their Vollrath mixer’s safety guard.
“It’s great that it’s not even going to turn on until it’s in a safe position where nobody’s fingers can get stuck in there. They’re never reaching in, which is great,” Lauren said.
“It also it helps cut down on the mess, as sometimes with mixers, flour can poof out everywhere. But the safety feature is really helpful in kind of keeping things closed.
And there is a spout for pouring in liquids as well, which is really helpful for kids,” Sally said, adding she loves the heavy-duty feel and its tall, narrow footprint that fits in limited spaces.
Every product in Happy Place was chosen with safety in mind. “The Vollrath pots and pans that we have here, we’ve never had any issues with handles coming loose. That can be very dangerous for the populations that we work with. It’s important for our budget, but it’s also mostly important for safety, that we have really high-quality products so that the people that we are cooking with are safe, first and foremost,” Sally said.
Lessons For Life
Lauren and Sally are grateful for the community support Happy Place has received from their business partners.
“We know that Vollrath’s mission is creating better, and we feel that with our mission of wanting to create a positive experience for everybody in the kitchen, having the right tools at our disposal allows us to create better experiences for our participants,”
Sally added.
Happy Place takes pride and joy in teaching the populations they work with, where parents and caregivers might step away from teaching in the kitchen because of heat, sharp items or glass, Sally said. “And we’re here saying, let’s go. Let’s get in the kitchen because we have to do these things. Cooking for yourself is a life skill.”
The lessons learned at Happy Place go both ways. “I have learned from my students that it is worth the time to slow down and just be together and cook together and enjoy food,” Sally said.
Vollrath is proud to be in the Happy Place Cooking Space, where everyone has an opportunity to learn in a supportive environment.