WELLSVILLE - She measures by eye, times her baking by aroma, invents recipes on the fly - all while talking a steady stream and enjoying every moment of it. Pam Eastman is chef extraordinaire and she stands, spatula in hand, ready to welcome you to inventive cooking at the Wellsville Creative Arts Center.

Don’t let yourself think of some long-ago Home Ec. class when you had to sift flour in a tidy, quiet classroom. Pam’s classes are like cooking during the holidays with 9 sisters bustling around the stove (and you should see this stove) while the kids are in the next room watching TV and playing board games. This kitchen is open to everyone so follow the scent of lemon zest and chocolate cake to Wellsville’s miracle on Main Street where creating food with Pam is on the menu Sunday afternoons.

She measures by eye, times her baking by aroma, invents recipes on the fly - all while talking a steady stream and enjoying every moment of it. Pam Eastman is chef extraordinaire and she stands, spatula in hand, ready to welcome you to inventive cooking at the Wellsville Creative Arts Center.

Don’t let yourself think of some long-ago Home Ec. class when you had to sift flour in a tidy, quiet classroom. Pam’s classes are like

cooking during the holidays with 9 sisters bustling around the stove (and you should see this stove) while the kids are in the next room watching TV and playing board games. This kitchen is open to everyone so follow the scent of lemon zest and chocolate cake to Wellsville’s miracle on Main Street where creating food with Pam is on the menu Sunday afternoons.

Pam just finished a series of four workshops on desserts, a series that brought her a committed following of students who have already learned their way around the WCAC kitchen. As the hands of the clock marked off minutes, class members measured and mixed their way through flour, eggs, vanilla and a bushel or two of confectioner’s sugar while learning tips and trade secrets. They turned raw ingredients into Blueberry Pound Cake, Chocolate town Special Cake and a Lemon Torte dressing each with fillings, frostings and glazes.

Pam’s not the kind of teacher that has folks stand and watch. She tosses out the commands and invitations as quickly as a Kitchen Aid whips your whites, making the class a comfortable, safe, inviting place to learn. For one thing, you couldn’t get upset if you spilled a bit of flour because the way Pam works, spills are part of the process.

Classes aren’t quiet either, not with the convection oven purring or the mixer whirring or the sounds from other groups and other classes each finding their own creative expression with music, clay, paint or
word.

Kathie Stedina has driven from Shinglehouse for every one of Pam’s classes from cookies through pie, éclairs and now cakes. She loves it and her husband meets her at the door with a fork afterwards. They both wanted to support the WCAC and, for them, this is the perfect way.

The people make the setting fun but even as an empty room, this kitchen gets cooks drooling. There’s an etched glass shade that must be in its second century of hanging from a ceiling and the gourmet cook top rests on bricks rescued from an ancient fireplace. The expansive counters are stainless steel, the shelves hold crockery and copper and the corner dishwasher clatters for a moment, gushes some steam, and delivers clean utensils.

Colleen Hannon drove from Angelica to take her first class because she “heard such wonderful things about Pam and the restaurant.” Colleen has always been interested in cooking and she will return for more.

“It’s great,” she sparkled, “It’s great for the whole county. It’s just a cool place and I feel like I’m stepping up to a new level of baking.”

As she spoke, Marshall Green (Executive Director) dashed through to the store room flashing the WCAC motto on his shirt -Inspire. Imagine. Dream. Create. Colleen made the words sound right on target. All the recipes in that class were created by Pam. Thankfully, when she writes them down she speaks of measurements because in class she just says, “Give it a squirt of vanilla.”

Pam’s training was through experience. She was fortunate enough to work with good chefs and to show that she had the aptitude and desire to become one herself. She likes preparing all kinds of foods but likes to think about all of food from every direction – color, cooking method, taste, aroma, presentation, satisfaction, health.

For Pam real food is life. She wouldn’t consider the quick burger you grab at noon or the slice of toast you hold in your teeth while you snap the seat belt in the morning to be food. She’s more interested in the food that gives people good skin, shiny hair and a sense of strength and energy and if energy is the measure of good food, this woman is eatin’ well.

Join Pam for her next series of classes (Cooking the Whole Foods Way) or for a class on breads, another on soups or an evening of fun with cake decorating. There’s a lip-smacking, down-home, get-your-bib-out series planned with Ola Mae from No Match Southern Cookin’ in Olean and Diane Chandler will tempt and instruct on topics such as her recent, Chocolate Night Cooking Workshop. There’s a class at the Wellsville Creative Arts Center that’s perfect to wrap around your imagination. Check their website or call 585-593-3000 and Amy will help you choose.