Note: This is a sponsored story.

More than 30,000 people have attended the cooking classes at Spice Bouquet since 2005. The Spice Bouquet plant is located at 1200 East New Bern Road in Kinston, NC. The business is owned and operated by Frank Crowley. He started the business on Long Island in 1984 and moved it down south to Kinston in 2003.

Crowley’s extensive entrepreneurial history enabled him to grow the business to what it is today, but his start in the kitchen came when he was eight years old when he served as his mother’s “sous chef.”

“By the time I was 12, I was able to cook Sunday dinner,” said Crowley.

Spice Bouquet takes great pride in every product it makes and sells in its factory store and ships throughout the US. Each item is made with very high-grade, pure ingredients. No fillers or extenders are used in the products. Spice Bouquet offers a broad line of herbs, seeds and seasonings to help the home chef make quick and healthy meals at home. Spice Bouquet also provides special blends for commercial restaurants.

Cooking classes are also provided for middle and high school students because home-cooked meals can be less expensive and much healthier than what fast food offers. The family dinner can and should be an important part of a child’s development.

Crowley noted that many students are not trained in cooking. He stated, “Anything you will be doing three times a day for the rest of your life, you should know how to do.”

Spice Bouquet cooking classes can be scheduled Tuesday through Saturday from 12:00 pm to 8:00 pm in two-hour blocks. The cost is $20.00 per person and includes a salad, pita bread samples, chicken cutlet samples, blackened salmon samples, a full entrée, a home-made cake and apple pie or pumpkin pie spice flavored coffee.

The next class will be on Tuesday, September 22 from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm. The menu includes:

• Greek Salad

• Jamaican Jerk Pork Roast w/ Mashed Potatoes

• Vegetable Medley

• Cannoli Cake

The next class will be on Friday, September 25 from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. The menu includes:

• Greek Salad

• Chicken piccata w/ pasta with garlic

• Pine nuts w/ olive oil

• Broccoli & Carrots

• Chocolate Ganache Cake

According to North Carolina state COVID-19 requirements, face masks are required except when eating, the number of guests is temporarily limited to a max of 20, which is half the normal class size. And appropriate distancing is required at the dinner. Spice Bouquet is very careful regarding the sanitation of its facilities in line with state requirements.

For further information on our classes or products, or to sign up for a class, please call 252-527-7000 or reach out on Facebook.