As participants enter the kitchen, we welcome the families and have each person put on a name-tag and sign a raffle ticket. There is a bowl of seasonal fruit by the door for people to snack on. Because parents get off work at different times, and have to commute from various places, most participants trickle in over the course of the first 15-30 minutes.

After the Chef Meeting, participants wash their hands and break up into three cooking groups. If possible, keep family members together. Cooking groups should have an average of 10 participants. Each group is led by an Edible Schoolyard staff member or high school intern. 

• Review the recipes and introduce knife skills and cooking methods (5-10 minutes): Demonstrate how participants are going to prepare each ingredient on the platter. Identify the various tools that can be used depending on the age, skill level, and confidence of each cook. Break down the steps of the recipes and explain the cooking jobs.
• Check-in and assign cooking jobs (5 minutes): Have each participant answer a “check-in” question (i.e., What’s your favorite recipe to cook at home?). This can be a fun or provocative question that may or may not have anything to do with food, but will allow the families to get to know each other. Have the participants identify the cooking job(s) they would like to work on for the evening.
• Cook and set the table (60 minutes): Participants review the recipes together before breaking up into their cooking jobs. Encourage everyone to taste as they cook and adjust the seasoning along the way. When the participants are done preparing the ingredients and the food is still cooking, participants clean and set the table. We typically use dinner plates, silverware, cups, and napkins, and, like in a regular kitchen class, participants are encouraged to create a unique centerpiece using flowers from the garden and other interesting items they find around the kitchen.
• Eat (20-30 minutes): Since the families prepare an entire dinner, the Family Nights Out classes allot more time for eating and conversation. This is also a great opportunity to discuss modifications of the menu and possible adaptations for the recipes.
• Clean up (5 minutes): When the meal is winding down, we talk about how the cleanup process will work. We have participants bus their own plate, cup and silverware to the bussing station, a group will start to work on washing dishes, while others clean the tables and cooking stations.
• Closing / Something Sweet (5 minutes): Once most of the clean up is done, we ask all participants to make a circle around the middle table and hold our raffle. Raffle items are mostly donated items, and range from Edible Schoolyard t-shirts, harvested items from the garden, oils, and sauces to cast iron pots and pans. We pass around a try of seasonal fruit and dates while everyone shares something sweet about their experience in class.