Community Highlights: Meet Sharon Warner of Confident Cooking

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sharon Warner.

Hi Sharon, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I have always loved to make food taste good. I grew up dreaming of attending cooking school, and I had that opportunity–attending the New York Restaurant School. It was amazing. At that time, I had a perfect job as an assistant to the food editor for Associated Press, Cecily Brownstone. I would go to her beautiful brownstone and test new recipes. If they were good enough, they would be circulated to over 8,000 papers worldwide.

From there, I would go to cooking school across from the Empire State Building. It was a dream. As I was finishing school and working in restaurants, I realized that I had not dreamed of working in restaurants but rather simply attending cooking school. Eventually, I went back to my second love, traveling. I have been a travel agent for 40 years.

While I was focusing on travel, I never lost my love of cooking and good food, I would often host wonderful dinner parties and cater weddings here and there, in addition to working in my church providing food for girls’ camps, church dinners, and other social events After I moved back to Springville, Utah, I had two daughters and became involved in their charter schools, while still doing the travel business, catering, and church work.

I found myself in charge of starting and managing the lunch and breakfast program for several schools. My focus was primarily at Merit Academy where I worked for 13 years. I loved working with the kids and making over 300 actually delicious meals a day. When my daughter was 14, she was looking for a way to make money to travel and experience new things.

We started to sell bread and soup to our neighbors. This little business quickly grew to hundreds of quarts of soup each month, and we have added cinnamon rolls occasionally and other treats over the years. We still cater and sell soup regularly, even to some of the same people who supported us eight years ago!

When I was ready to “retire” from my job at the school in the Spring of 2021, I was often asked what I was going to do next. My answer was, “I am going to teach people how to make food taste good.” With the help of my daughter, now grown and with a business degree, we are turning our soup specials into Confident Cooking with Chef Sharon. We do cooking classes as well as provide a social media channel with cooking tips, recipes, and videos of “how-to” for cooking hacks.

This is the perfect job for me, as I love meeting and getting to know people. I like teaching them new things, introducing them to spicing, and helping them to feel more comfortable in their own kitchens. My favorite classes are “date nights,” whether it’s just one couple or three.

We have such a good time, and it just makes me happy to see what they can do. Food is and always will be a huge part of my life. I am so grateful for the opportunity to share my expertise with those around me.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
We are just starting out and learning new things every day.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Confident Cooking offers in-home cooking classes. Anyone can sign up to learn to cook, and whether I am teaching one person or an entire family, you can choose what you want to learn to cook, and we will design the menu together to ensure you have exactly what you need.

We want to help people be comfortable in their cooking and their own kitchens. We will help anyone who wants to learn, regardless of age or skill level. Our personalized cooking classes are fun for families and friends; everyone cooks together and makes delicious food. We don’t just demo; our hands-on classes promote actual learning and the ability to make new things on your own. We pride ourselves on enabling people to take confidence in their cooking.

I think what I am most proud of is the same thing that sets me apart from others: I genuinely love to share my recipes and methods with anyone who wants to learn. You always hear of carefully guarded secret recipes. I don’t have those. I will teach anyone who wants to learn, and I’ll help them be able to do exactly what I do.

What I am known for is exactly that: friends have been getting my self-published cookbook as wedding gifts for years, and I encourage them to contribute to it as well as use it. Because of all the soups and bread I do regularly, people might think I specialize in those, but I have amazing recipes for pasta, ethnic foods from around the world (the benefit of all those years traveling!), and just about anything anyone wants.

I have learned quick and foolproof methods for sourdough bread, I can quickly figure out how to do any dish I haven’t cooked before, and I will show you shortcuts that save you time and mental energy.

Contact Info:

• Email: chefsharon@confidentcookingclasses.com
• Website: https://www.confidentcookingclasses.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/confidentcookingclasses/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ConfindentCooking