TBT: Cooking class fun

Throwback Thursday. Wow. These photos take me back to a happy place. What fun we had on this day! I didn’t expect Roasted Vegetables to draw such a crowd but the class was packed!  The energy in the room was electric. I’ve said this before I love to speak and share my story, but when I speak and cook at the same time — I come alive! This was the first class at Chuck’s where  I had Clark College students in the house!

This was also the day Cari Hachmann (former photographer from The Portland Observer) shot the photos for my first cookbook “Bringing Cooking Back” and lots of the photos for my second cookbook,  “Shop, Cook, Eat: Outside of the Box.” including the popular cover.

I taught upwards of 40 cooking classes at Chuck’s Produce & Street Market over a two year span and this was one of my top three classes. Delicious fun!

 

Chrisetta Mosley

Chrisetta Mosley

I am a product – and now a survivor – of childhood obesity. As a child, my family always told me that my extra weight was merely baby fat and I’d eventually grow out of it. I never did. Instead, my childhood is filled with memories of not being able to ride a bike, flattening its training wheels from being over the recommended weight, and avoiding P.E. classes by any means necessary. For years, I wore my fatness like a wounded soldier wears a Purple Heart - with pride. I owned the look. I dressed it up. I worked the room. There wasn't a skinny girl who intimidated me. I made sure my hair was laid just right. Nails polished. Outfits coordinated to the tee. Accessories to compliment every outfit. But everyone has a breaking point, and mine came in the spring of 2004 when I tipped the scale at nearly 400 pounds 388 to be exact. I was MISERABLE trapped inside of that body. I no longer wore my Purple Heart with pride. Rather, I was ashamed and frightened. Ashamed that I had allowed food to become my everything – frightened I would die because of it. Drastic times called for drastic measures... Today, I’m bound and determined to live a better, healthier, active lifestyle. I realize I’m no longer a passenger in my life, I’m the driver. I’m overcoming my inhibitions and I’m slowly but surely saying farewell to my old childhood nemesis, obesity. For once and for all, Farewell Fatso!

Scroll to top