Looking for summer party food ideas beyond mayonnaise-y spinach dip and soggy sourdough? During Connoisseurs’ Marketplace, Menlo Park’s popular festival of the arts, July 19-20, Draeger’s Cooking School will offer lessons in preparing irresistible foods for warm-weather entertaining.

The Peninsula’s celebrated culinary institution will offer free, 20-minute cooking demonstrations at the top of every hour from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Classes will alternate between the savory — international dips and spreads — and the sweet — creative cupcakes with distinctive decorations. Seating is limited to 30 people for each demonstration.

“We look forward to giving a ‘taste’ of the Draeger’s Cooking School to the visitors of Connoisseurs Marketplace, with foods that are out of the ordinary yet simple to prepare,” says cooking school director Kathleen Taggart.

The school’s resident chef-instructors will offer tips and techniques for making perfectly balanced Middle Eastern classics such as hummus and baba ghanoush, as well as crispy pita chips and homemade crackers. Dessert experts will divulge secrets for elevating cupcakes beyond the basics, with recipes such as royal Hawaiian pineapple cupcakes with guava filling and coconut whipped cream.

The cooking school is located on the second floor of Draeger’s Market, 1010 University Drive at Menlo Avenue. Draeger’s is at the west end of the Connoisseurs’ Marketplace festival, which stretches along Santa Cruz Avenue in downtown Menlo Park.

“Draeger’s has been at the heart of the Menlo Park community for more than 50 years,” said Fran Dehn, President/CEO of the Menlo Park Chamber of Commerce. “Their participation in Connoisseurs’ Marketplace will bring the festival yet another exciting attraction for food lovers.”

Draeger’s Cooking School has been nominated as one of the nation’s top cooking schools by the prestigious International Association of Culinary Professionals and hosts restaurant chefs and cookbook authors from around the country.

For information on Draeger's Cooking School, please visit http://www.draegers.com.