Rainy Day Dinner Club

Rainy Day Dinner Club offers inter-disciplinary, hands-on cooking and baking classes where students learn basic cooking skills while making dinner for their family. Classes include after school and weekend options, as well as summer, winter, mid-winter, spring, and school year camps, along with workshops, birthday parties, and an enrichment program at schools. In each class, students work together to prepare a main dish that serves 4 to 6 people, focusing on local ingredients, scratch cooking, natural preservatives, and the use of fresh, canned, and frozen ingredients, while practicing kitchen safety and proper knife skills and following recipes that include discussion of the science behind different ingredients.

• Schedule: Monday–Friday, 9am–6pm

Each class, students leave with a nutritious, oven-ready entrée for the whole family to share, packaged in oven-ready cookware with baking instructions, and vegetarian options can be provided upon request at registration; nut-free classes can be provided if needed, and the program is unable to provide gluten-free or dairy-free classes. The program uses the perspective of food, cooking, and nutrition to learn about geography, math, science, and culture, including learning the important role herbs, spices, and vegetables play in flavoring foods. Rainy Day Dinner Club notes it is celebrating 25,000 family meals and counting, and is led by owner Samantha Smith. The program shares that families have described it as “the best after school class ever,” that a 3rd grade student reports enjoying cooking and preparing delicious meals, and that one parent looks forward to “Wednesday Dinner Club nights” every week.

Last updated January 7, 2026.