BSM is filled with many student-run clubs, groups, and organizations that are constantly evolving. The newest of these clubs, created by sophomore Julia Lealos, is Cooking Club.

Lealos had the idea to start a cooking club after lockdown began during March of 2020. She began to get more involved with fitness, which led her to be interested in food and ingredients. This sparked an interest in cooking for Lealos, and she has been able to challenge herself by creating new recipes. “Like making homemade pasta…I didn’t know that was a thing until like that summer,” Lealos said.

The club meetings will take place in Taher’s main kitchen in the BSM cafeteria. Lealos is teaming up with BSM’s cafeteria manager, Lynn Lynch, as well as Chef Weezy, to offer club meetings in the form of cooking classes. The capacity for BSM’s kitchen is approximately 10 people, so Lynch and Weezy have allowed Lealos to split up the club into groups so as many students can experience the cooking classes as possible.

As of right now, there are four official meetings scheduled. The first meeting will take place on February 8, and will act as an introductory meeting covering everything from kitchen safety to cleanliness to appropriate attire. It will also cover different ways to cook eggs. The second meeting will be on February 15 and will include making different soups and learning knife skills. The third meeting, after a short break, will take place on March 1, and will include making different sauces and vinaigrettes to accompany pastas and salads. Finally, the final meeting on March 15 will be a sort of graduation meeting, consisting of parting gifts from Chef Weezy and a big fried rice meal. Lealos plans to use polls on the BSM Cooking Club Instagram page to get an idea of certain types of foods that students prefer. “We’ll see what people are wanting to make,” Lealos said.

Cooking became a creative outlet for Lealos, giving her the ability to think quickly on her feet and become a more spontaneous person. She hopes that other students, through the creation of her club, will find this connection with cooking too. “Oh, I’m so excited,” Lealos said.