A Uni Student Learns How To Cook ft. Whipped Up

If you look up ‘university student’ in the thesaurus, directly underneath will be the words ‘broke’ and ‘time-poor’.

So let's get this straight... when pursuing higher education, I’m expected to pay tens of thousands of dollars a year to an institution that gives me a piece of paper and a handshake at the end of a treacherous few years?

At least… at least we’ll learn some real-life skills, right? We’ll learn about taxes, bills, superannuation, mortgages – the whole adult shebang? …No? Not even a little shebang?

Because excuse me Mr. University, I, someone who is undertaking a double bachelor degree, have a confession to make.

I cannot cook. Sometimes at a friend’s house I’ll be designated a task – something simple like chopping tomatoes or peeling apples – and you can bet I’ll be standing in the middle of the kitchen looking dumbfounded, jaw slightly agape, eyes darting around hunting for an exit excuse.

That’s what happens when you grow up on with an overly-keen mother who cooks everything (she even packs my lunch, bless her). Couple that with an overly-active wallet that mopes if it doesn’t brunch at a trendy Melbourne café every fortnight. You then create me: an incompetent foodie fraud who doesn’t really know the difference between simmering and boiling. (They both involve bubbling water, THERE’S NO DIFFERENCE)

But here enters Georgia Leaker, the creator of business Whipped Up. You can shove away your Mi Goreng packets and crumby toast; here’s where you can learn to cook some real food. Georgia runs this cooking school that comes straight to your home (or uni or school) to help you gain confidence in the kitchen.

It takes away the stress of an unknown, massive group and it’s all in the comfort of your own home – with all your equipment and all the ingredients you already know and love. Best part is that it’s all tailored personally to you, allowing you to choose what meals you want to learn.

In my case, I told Georgia burgers were my favourite food so we learnt cheeseburgers! I had ALWAYS wanted to make pasta so we created the most amazing ricotta gnocchi. On top of that, we learnt the easiest and yummiest bolognaise sauce as well as a simple Napoli sauce.

If you want to find out more, here are her deets – her website and her Instagram.

I cannot stress how easy and fun it was – like guys, even I could do it. Basically all the dishes used ingredients that were already in my kitchen, and if not, they could all be found at the local supermarkets.

There’s something about preparing food for yourself, your friends or family. It just makes it all a bit more special. Tom and I ate both the servings of gnocchi and both burgers in one go. That goes to show just how good it was.

Peek on through to see some photos from the day, as well as the sneaky recipe for the gnocchi! Have a go at making it and feel fulfilled – not just because of the pasta (but yes, you will be full), but because of your sense of accomplishment.

Afterwards, you can give yourself a pat on the back – look at you adulting! Now, if we could just understand taxes...