Well folks, it’s live — my first online cooking class at
Craftsy! Since I didn’t get to see the final cut until the launch today, I’ve
been watching snippets of the 3.8 hours of content. It’s gorgeous, informative,
and practical. I’m really really
impressed at the quality of the materials and hope that you are too. My editor
at Craftsy says it’s been one of top selling classes today and at the time of this post, 98 people have enrolled! Building a dynamic online community DIY dumpling fanatics is
incredibly cool.
What makes the online Craftsy class special? It’s like me
being in your kitchen giving you a quasi-private class. You can turn me on
whenever you want and pause me – kind of like streaming Netflix, though in this
case, you purchase the class only once. You own Craftsy classes forever so you
can watch as many times as you want, wherever there’s an internet connection, on a laptop, desktop, smart phone or tablet.
I’ve had the opportunity of observing people making
dumplings and practicing in my kitchen countless times. Most people have not,
and the Craftsy platform lets you study the techniques until you “get” it. Tight
shots like this one make learning easier:
“Favorite Asian Dumplings from Scratch” is divided into
lessons and within the lessons, there are shorter segments. Things are clearly
delineated with title cards (think chapter and subchapter headers in a book). You
watch each lesson and if you want, pose questions. I check in a couple times a
week to respond to questions.
You can also upload photos of your Asian dumpling projects
to share with me and other students. The 30-second repeat is invaluable for
getting all the moves right for shaping or anything else that you want to clarify.
Like a textbook, you can take notes on the screen too. The technological end of
Craftsy is genuinely robust, constructed as an interactive e-school.
Last week I mentioned Craftsy’s 3-camera shoot that included
an overhead camera. This is the benefit of that kind of high-quality
production:
I love my in-person classes but the hustle and bustle of
things sometimes prevents me from explaining techniques and concepts to people.
And not everyone tunes in too. In the Craftsy class, I tucked little technical
tips to help people in the kitchen. You pay attention when and if you want to
but the content is there. For example, students in my in-person classes often
ask about how to cut or chop ingredients so included some knife skills into the
Craftsy class.
What’s the content difference between in-person and an
online class? I teach hands-on classes and for Asian dumplings, a typical group
of 14 to 20 people will make many types of dumplings. We have the manpower to
do it in a 4 or 5-hour session. Craftsy classes are immersive and geared for
the single learner; your eyes would glaze over like a poorly frozen dumpling if
classes were overloaded with content.
“Favorite Asian Dumplings from Scratch”
is a comprehensive lesson in dumpling making as well as Asian ingredients,
cooking techniques, and culture. While reviewing the lessons, I said to myself,
“Wow, I covered a lot of ground.”
How about the Asian Dumplings cookbook versus the online
class? Classes—whether online or in-person —complement what’s printed in the
cookbook. A class isn’t a substitute for what’s in a book. Many students who
have my books enroll in my classes to get an interactive experience while
others are curious about the class subject, enroll, then often decide to buy
the book.
You’re welcome to use “Favorite Asian Dumplings from Scratch”
for a group gathering. (Hello dumpling parties ahead!) Take the class yourself,
prep the ingredients, then get a bunch of people together. Log on to the class and
put me on a big screen.
The regular price of the
class is $39.99 but I’ve arranged a permanent
25 percent discount for VWK folks. To get the class for $29.99, click here or on the sidebar
link. We are living in an amazing technological era.
David says
Is that a device you've devised yourself for shaping dumplings? Never seen that before.
Andrea Nguyen says
David, are you talking about the little spatula in the second photo? That's a Chinese bamboo spatula used for dumpling making. Thanks for asking.
David says
It's like a flat utensil with a hinged lid from what I can see. Never seen it before and I did make some dumplings in China. 🙂 It doesn't look bamboo.
Gina says
I think he's referring to the tortilla press...
Andrea Nguyen says
David, that's a Mexican tortilla press. Take the Craftsy class to see what I do with it! 😉
Andrea Nguyen says
Gina -- he sure is!