Janet MacLure teaches members of the Fort Belvoir community how to make Penne Pomodoro Aug. 21 at the USO Warrior and Family Center.
By Titus Ledbetter III/Staff writer Belvoir Eagle
USO Warrior and Family Center hosts monthly cooking classes for the Fort Belvoir Community.
Community members learned how to cook Penne Pomodoro, Aug. 21 during Janet MacLure's first class as a teacher.
MacLure said she taught the class to help acclimate participants to the community. As the spouse of a U.S. Air Force member who served 26 years, she understands the difficulties that military spouses face.
"I feel like cooking should be fun and I think people make it too complicated," MacLure said. "I think you can make it fun and easy and simple. Using really fresh ingredients is the way to do it. That is how I always cook."
Additionally, MacLure taught budding chefs how to make a mixed berry cheesecake tart. She also provided advice to how to buy ripe tomatoes. The participants helped to make the various dishes by peeling garlic, mixing cream cheese and washing basil leaves.
Col. Mark Kuba, officer-in-charge at Logan Dental Clinic, has lived on post for three years and came to the class with his wife, Young. They watch the Food Channel a lot and attended the class to learn some new recipes.
"We are trying to expand our cooking repertoire," Kuba said. "Cooking is a hobby of ours."
Kuba said he is impressed with the USO because the organization sponsors a wide variety of classes that are great for the community.
Crystal Harvey, the wife of a servicemember, said she enjoyed taking the class. She lives on post and enjoyed tasting recipes that she has seen people make on TV. Harvey liked learning how to make the tomato-based sauce for the Penne Pomodoro from scratch.
"I wanted to get a different take on cooking, different ideas, different methods, to try to figure out if what I am doing is right or wrong," she said. "Is there an easy way? Is there a shortcut? Because when you are in a military Family, everything really is on a precise time period, so I'm trying to figure out how to be more efficient at class."
MacLure has volunteered to do various tasks at the USO Warrior and Family Center since February. She said she has noticed a lot of servicemembers and their Families are on post all by themselves for rehab or other short-term assignments. She wanted to bring them together for the cooking class because they seem to enjoy being in the kitchen.
Karla Burkman, the wife of a servicemember, brought her daughter, Rylee, 13, to the event. Karla lives on post and said she appreciated the opportunity to attend the cooking class with her daughter.
"We just thought it would be a fun change of pace," Burkman said. "We love to cook and anything I can do to get my daughter to help in the kitchen is just more power to me."
For more information on USO activities at the USO Warrior and Family Center on Fort Belvoir, visit www.usometro.org/location.php?p=15, call (571) 267-2080, or just walk in to the facility at 5940 9th Street (Corner of 9th Street and Belvoir Road).
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