Whether you want to hone your cooking skills, get culinary inspiration or simply honor good food in a social setting, the Kitchen Capers Cooking School is serving up a class to feed your need. “We have kids’ birthday parties, young families, snowbirds, condo and neighborhood groups…almost anyone who loves to cook and meet new people at the same time,” says owner Myra Botts.

In a gourmet kitchen at the back of the specialty store, private, group and intense sessions are all led by Debbie Turner, a 20-year veteran of restaurants and catering. Debbie takes each group, step-by-step, through the methodology for each dish, gives attendees the recipes to take home and makes sure everyone leaves with new knowledge and a full belly.

The holiday season can be stressful for most of us, but if you’re hosting an event or celebration, cooking for a crowd can be downright daunting.

That’s why the Capers cooking school scheduled timely sessions in December like “Making Homemade Gifts,” a five-hour tutorial on creating scratch craisin pistachio biscotti, granola, peanut brittle, homemade vanilla and dark chocolate truffles.

Or you could sign up to perfect a “Gourmet Christmas Dinner,” an enviable menu of herb crusted beef tenderloin with warm gorgonzola sauce, sour cream and dill potatoes, roasted shallots and tomatoes and a rustic apple crostata with caramel sauce.

For foodies in search of regional cuisine, Capers also offered a Lowcountry-themed course, instructing in the fine food arts of a traditional Southern New Year’s Dinner, cutting no corners to show you how to whip up fried chicken, collards, black-eye pea salad, cheese grits soufflé, jalapeño corn muffins and a big ol‘ banana cream pie for dessert.

Regularly on the school calendar are classes such as “Seafood Night,” giving you the tools you need to prepare shrimp dip, oysters and a white fish piccata. Or, you can wow your guests by taking notes at the “Friends for Supper” lesson in making chicken paprika with kielbasa and buttered egg noodles, sautéed apples and cinnamon plus lemon-thyme gougera. The “Cajun Night” is a spicy symposium to the ends of traditional chicken gumbo, fried catfish fingers and bread pudding with hard sauce.

Individual classes run $40 and $80 per person, including beverages and the prepared meal and/or goodies. You must pre-register for classes by phone or you can book your own private party.

Kitchen Capers Cooking School

5001 N. Kings Hwy.

Myrtle Beach, SC

(843) 449-4221

kitchencaperscookingschool.com