For individuals interested in expanding his or her culinary skills, the opportunities are waiting . right here in Ames.

The Cooks Emporium, 313 Main Street, is currently sponsoring “Saturday Events, Demonstrations and Taste Testing,” a series of cooking demonstrations for the public held Saturdays at 10 a.m. In an effort to help broaden one’s culinary repartee. A Five dollar fee is charged, but pre-registration is not necessary.

“We seem to get a lot of families who are just starting out or people who like to entertain others and are looking for new ideas,” Marg Junkhan, owner of the Cooks Emporium, said.

With classes ranging from “Using Your Pasta Machine” and “Appetizers made easy,” to “Japanese Cooking” and “Cooking with Condiments,” Junkhan said there are tastes and areas of interest which should appeal to every one.

Instructors of the “Saturday Events” range from college students to business owners from Ames.

“There is a huge community involvement. We have a number of instructors from around the community,” Junkhan said. “Kris Achter is an Iowa State student who has worked for me for some time, and Dave Faux and Tom Flaws from Dublin Bay are just two to name a few.”

Even Chef Josh Dodd from the Hotel at the Gateway Center teaches at the Saturday classes.

Junkhan says the type of class member varies.

“Both men and women attend the classes,” Junkhan said. “It used to be more women than men to begin with, but we’ve seen a steady increase in the male turnout all of the time.”

Junkhan also said the average age of the class is higher with not many Iowa State students participating.

Students are a group she said would like to see attend the functions.

“I just think ten o’clock comes pretty early in the morning on Saturdays for most college students,” Junkhan said.

Participant enthusiasm and interest is evident in the “Saturday Events.”

“There’s always a good variety of [classes] for a wide variety of interests,” said Charlie Fouts, retired Ames resident. ” And the presenters always add some special to what they do. It can really spark the imagination.”

Fouts said he is a regular at the events and looks forward to every Saturday.

“It’s an interesting group of people, everyone knows one another . It’s just a nice social gathering,” Fouts said. “You get to interact with people you might not see in other situations.”

Fouts said he is looking forward to attending the upcoming “Japanese” cooking demo.

“Beatriz [Spalding] has always presented an interesting class. I’m looking forward to the Japanese Fusion cooking.”

Junkhan said Spalding has just returned from Japan, and on Saturday will be demonstrating cooking techniques she has learned in the country using readily-available American ingredients.

“I hate to miss any of the classes. You always know something interesting will pop up that you’ll lose out on,” Fouts said.