Lexington High School is home to over 150 clubs. Much like the diversity of the LHS student body, these clubs reflect the school’s wide range of backgrounds and interests—from Bollywood dance to Model UN to songwriting—and provide a place to meet new people and learn more outside of school. But there are not many clubs where you can (literally) make your cake and eat it too—unless you’re at the LHS Cooking Club.
The LHS Cooking Club—composed of around 14 members—meets on Wednesdays after school in the Science Building. The lab classrooms, already fitted with multiple sinks and counters, are easily repurposed as a kitchen. Charles Mixer, an Earth Science teacher, is the advisor of the Cooking Club.
“Everyone goes and washes their hands, and then Amelia Tan, who runs the group—she has the menus set up, she then delegates to different groups of students what role they’ve got, what they’re going to do, and monitors that. Once everyone’s prepped all their stuff, as a team, they come together to actually put the food together and prepare it,” Mixer said.
Although the procedure remains the same, the food varies week to week From cheese pizza to cannolis to chicken and waffles (and yes, the chicken was deep-fried). Mixer emphasizes that no matter what the club makes, the result always turns out delicious.
“The food they make is really good and everyone gets a nice big plate of hot, fresh-made food—and it’s not processed. It’s real, honest, good ingredients,” Mixer said.
Choosing a recipe comes with its own challenges, though. Cooking Club only meets for 90 minutes (including time for set-up and clean-up), so timing can become a challenge. Recipes also have to be complex enough to provide everyone a task, but simple enough for beginners to understand, since Cooking Club is open to students of all skill levels.
“There’s no experience required. All you need to be able to do, basically, is read, because we just go off a recipe, and other people will show you how to do things if you don’t understand,” Amelia Tan, a senior and leader of Cooking Club, said.
All this criteria means Tan has to find recipes that are more than just delicious.
“I look for recipes that have a lot of different things that need to be done, that are easy, and can be done in a short time. It’s a weird balance,” Tan said.
These recipes can require a lot of preparation. Sign-up sheets inform students what items they should bring in for the next meeting, though Tan—and Mixer—often end up making last-minute trips to the grocery store to pick up any unaccounted ingredients. Fortunately, cooking equipment is already taken care of, as Mixer houses a small collection in his classroom from years of advising Cooking Club. Armed with pots, pans, electric stovetops, and even a couple toaster ovens, Cooking Club is ready to tackle any recipe.
The collection of cooking equipment isn’t the only thing that’s built up over time. Tan noted that as the year progresses, the members of Cooking Club grow closer.
“I think they’ve developed a community. They’re definitely a lot more comfortable with each other now, and it’s really fun to see,” Tan said.
Both Mixer and Tan emphasized that Cooking Club is about more than just a meal—it’s about exploring a new skill, a new environment, and a new community.
“It’s really just been exposing students to cooking skills and planning meals and creating a fun environment where students can experiment with making all different kinds of foods and cooking techniques,” Mixer said.
Tan believes this culture of inclusivity is at the heart of the club.
“A lot of people think Cooking Club is a place where people who know how to cook, come to cook, and what it actually is is a place where anybody can come and learn to cook,” Tan said.
