About
CookUp offers hands-on cooking and baking classes where participants make dishes such as doughnuts, boba tea, bagels with schmears, sushi rolls, fried rice with yum-yum sauce, carrot cake cupcakes, mac and cheese, and ice cream sundaes. The program also runs themed classes and parties, including options like Luca Movie Inspired Favorites, Princess and the Frog Inspired Beignets, Chocolate Factory, Autumn Apple Harvest, Summer Cupcake Decorating, Fourth of July BBQ, Bread, Butter & Jam, Tea Party, Movie Night, Milk & Cookies, Favorite Spaghetti Dinner, Fall Favorites, Mexican Street Food, Summer Fruit Pies, Pumpkin Patch, Raya and the Last Dragon Movie Inspired, Biscuits & Butter, Mother's Day Breakfast, and Halloween Cupcakes. CookUp offers private group cooking and baking classes, cooking parties for all occasions, and online cooking and baking classes.
• Ages: 3–18 years old
CookUp’s mission is to teach the life-long skill of cooking and baking to children and young adults in the Central Valley of California by hands-on learning. The program offers in-person public or private group cooking and baking classes, as well as online cooking and baking classes. CookUp invites participants to bring their own aprons to class. The kitchen used for classes is equipped with child and special needs-friendly utensils, appliances, and safety measures. The program includes teaching about nutrition, food safety, and the importance of using fresh and healthy ingredients, and it emphasizes teamwork, problem-solving, time management, and creativity through cooking. CookUp offers small class sizes for personalized attention, flexible class options including weekday classes and private lessons, and a focus on participants with special needs as well as children. CookUp is an approved homeschool vendor for Yosemite Valley Charter and Monarch River Academy, and an approved special needs vendor for CVRC and SDP.
Chef Laurel leads CookUp and attended culinary school as a high school senior at 16 years old in Rhode Island at Johnson & Wales University. She graduated with an Associate of Science in Baking & Pastry Arts and a Bachelor of Science in Culinary Nutrition. She has over 20 years of professional experience in the food industry, including work as a high volume caterer, a culinary nutrition instructor for a weight loss academy, the manager for a healthy fast casual restaurant, and the staff chef at a private golf club. Her background also includes working in a teahouse, a BBQ restaurant, a college bakery, a gourmet coffee shop, and a prestigious country club, serving as a guest instructor for children and adult cooking classes, and making wedding cakes.
CookUp operates in the Central Valley of California and is an approved homeschool vendor for Yosemite Valley Charter and Monarch River Academy, and an approved special needs vendor for CVRC and SDP. One parent shared that their three children, ages 6–11, “love the CookUp classes,” enjoy the classes, and come home eager to share what they learned and made, and also described Laurel as “really easy to work with” when rescheduling or canceling classes. Another parent said their kids “had a great time and learned skills they can use at home” and rated the experience “5/5.” Other parents and participants described the classes as offering chances to practice knife skills, kitchen skills, and listening, and mentioned enjoying fun bonding time and “super tasty” food. A child participant, 11-year-old Gavin H., said that in these cooking classes kids “get to meet other kids, make friends, and make delicious savory and sweet dishes” and “100% recommend CookUp.” Another parent reported that their 10-year-old “had a wonderful time” in her first class and that it nurtured her interest in cooking.
Last updated March 17, 2026.
• Ages: 3–18 years old
CookUp’s mission is to teach the life-long skill of cooking and baking to children and young adults in the Central Valley of California by hands-on learning. The program offers in-person public or private group cooking and baking classes, as well as online cooking and baking classes. CookUp invites participants to bring their own aprons to class. The kitchen used for classes is equipped with child and special needs-friendly utensils, appliances, and safety measures. The program includes teaching about nutrition, food safety, and the importance of using fresh and healthy ingredients, and it emphasizes teamwork, problem-solving, time management, and creativity through cooking. CookUp offers small class sizes for personalized attention, flexible class options including weekday classes and private lessons, and a focus on participants with special needs as well as children. CookUp is an approved homeschool vendor for Yosemite Valley Charter and Monarch River Academy, and an approved special needs vendor for CVRC and SDP.
Chef Laurel leads CookUp and attended culinary school as a high school senior at 16 years old in Rhode Island at Johnson & Wales University. She graduated with an Associate of Science in Baking & Pastry Arts and a Bachelor of Science in Culinary Nutrition. She has over 20 years of professional experience in the food industry, including work as a high volume caterer, a culinary nutrition instructor for a weight loss academy, the manager for a healthy fast casual restaurant, and the staff chef at a private golf club. Her background also includes working in a teahouse, a BBQ restaurant, a college bakery, a gourmet coffee shop, and a prestigious country club, serving as a guest instructor for children and adult cooking classes, and making wedding cakes.
CookUp operates in the Central Valley of California and is an approved homeschool vendor for Yosemite Valley Charter and Monarch River Academy, and an approved special needs vendor for CVRC and SDP. One parent shared that their three children, ages 6–11, “love the CookUp classes,” enjoy the classes, and come home eager to share what they learned and made, and also described Laurel as “really easy to work with” when rescheduling or canceling classes. Another parent said their kids “had a great time and learned skills they can use at home” and rated the experience “5/5.” Other parents and participants described the classes as offering chances to practice knife skills, kitchen skills, and listening, and mentioned enjoying fun bonding time and “super tasty” food. A child participant, 11-year-old Gavin H., said that in these cooking classes kids “get to meet other kids, make friends, and make delicious savory and sweet dishes” and “100% recommend CookUp.” Another parent reported that their 10-year-old “had a wonderful time” in her first class and that it nurtured her interest in cooking.
Last updated March 17, 2026.
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