The Kitchen Is Their Classroom

In 2009, Denise Ruis and Kerri Horgan launched Cooktivity, a children’s cooking school based in Pearl River that provides hands-on instruction and uses simple recipes to teach youngsters how to make meals that are healthy and tasty.

At Cooktivity, young chefs are encouraged to have fun with food, thereby giving the expression, “playing with your food” a whole new meaning.

Denise Ruis and Kerri Horgan shared how two elementary-school teachers went from joking about starting a business together to making it a reality. In doing so, they revealed how a half-baked idea blossomed into a full-blown recipe for entrepreneurial success and personal satisfaction.

What are your ties to Pearl River?
Kerri and I grew up down the street from each other.  We were longtime childhood friends.  We went to separate high schools and colleges, and we hadn’t seen each other in about 17 years. 

Our paths crossed when we both were teaching at Lincoln Avenue (Elementary) School.  Kerri taught third grade and I taught second grade for several years.  We jokingly discussed starting our own business until we eventually realized that we actually had a marketable idea.  We both love teaching and cooking, so we figured why not combine the two things we love most.  It took lots of planning, but it finally came together. We officially were up and running on December 31, 2009, and we have seen significant growth since September of this year. 

Describe what Cooktivity is in your own words.
Cooktivity is a children’s cooking business based out of Pearl River, NY.  We incorporate education with cooking whenever we can.  Our services include: in-home birthday parties, in-home cooking lessons, after-school programs and play dates, as well as work with the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. 

We provide all of the ingredients and supplies, plus set up and clean up. Cooktivity is a great outlet for children to build self esteem. The look on a child’s face, when they have created a meal, is priceless.  We love seeing children being creative and proud of their work. 

Cooktivity features different class themes for children of all ages. What is your most popular class?
“Popping Pizza Party” is our most popular theme. All of our themes include an appetizer, entree and a dessert.  Our themes are based off of kids’ favorite foods and activities, including: “Not So Sleepy Slumber Party,” “Lights, Camera, Kitchen” and “The Hungry Camper,” as well as “Sports Fanatic, “Wok n’ Roll Sushi,” “Mexican Fiesta” and “Big Kahuna Luau.”

Tell us about the Cooktivity program at St. Margaret School.
We are doing an eight-week cooking program at St. Margaret School in Pearl River. We have Culinary Arts (grades four through eight) on Mondays and Little Chefs (grades one through three) on Wednesdays.  While we definitely have more girls than boys, we do get a fair amount of boys who participate in our SMS program. Most famous chefs are men, so we are hoping more boys will catch on to the joys of cooking.

Each week, the children make a healthy two- or three-course meal that they can eat there or bring home with them. We like to create meals that are healthy and sometimes based on holidays.  We also cater to allergies, especially peanut and celiac disease. 

What advice do you have for novice cooks?
Be willing to take risks. We are not certified chefs, but we love cooking!  Being that we are both teachers, we know that most people, especially children, are tactile learners. It’s beneficial to learn through doing.  Most important, cooking is fun!

To learn more about Cooktivity, visit www.cooktivity.com. To arrange a Cooktivity class or book a party, call (845) 721-0447.