Throughout the school year, students passing through the cafeteria during activity period might have noticed over a dozen of their peers working with the cafeteria staff and making a variety of foods and desserts.

This group of students belong to Marist Kitchen 101, the cooking club on campus that recently celebrated its 1-year anniversary.

Last year, both Martin Laughlin and John David Lynch founded Kitchen 101 to share their love of cooking, as well as to address the lack of a culinary class at our school. “It felt natural to me to fill that empty space,” said Laughlin.

Besides some assistance from faculty moderator Chef Lauren, the club is mainly student-run. Laughlin and Lynch determine the agendas for meetings, aiming to meet about three times per term.

The members of the club start out by making a dish as a group before enjoying it together in the cafeteria. Because of the busy location of the meetings, the cooking club is open to non-members to aid with the cooking or eating of meals, allowing any hungry student to participate in the club’s activities.

This year, Kitchen 101 has made a barbeque meal, hand pies, and tanghulu, a fruit dish with a delicious sugar coating.