A to Z COOKING SCHOOL with Chef Bethany D. Markee
“We bring people together over shared meals by teaching children, teens and adults how to prepare delicious, nutritious, affordable meals made from seasonal and local ingredients.”
— Apples to Zucchini Cooking School Mission Statement
What We Teach, How We Teach
Whether we are teaching at an after-school program, a treatment home for youth-in-transition, or a backyard birthday party, our philosophy is the same: We cook together (real cooking, with real stoves!), we eat together (with our napkins on our laps), and we clean up together (not just the plate you ate on, but aaaalllll of the dishes!)
BIO for Chef Bethany Markee
Bethany Markee has over 28 years of experience in the restaurant industry and is professionally trained at a culinary school on the coast of Maine. Chef B. moved to the California coast in 1990 and has been working in the culinary field in central California ever since.
Bethany truly has a deep love for cooking healthy foods, and also educating students in nutrition, cooking, and wellness. She started her school nutrition & culinary teaching career in 2011 and has many accomplishments.
Chef B. was the Director of Child Nutrition for both The Orcutt Union School District and The Solvang School District. She brought an increase in scratch cooking to the nutrition programs and also created two very popular Culinary Arts Programs for the students at both school districts. Teaching culinary arts has become Chef B.’s true passion.
Chef Bethany currently lives in Solvang and her goal is to make teaching a full-time long-term profession.
ACHIEVEMENTS
2011 Implementation of a successful cook-from-scratch program for Solvang School.
2012 Implemented cooking classes for all grade levels at The Solvang School.
2013 Golden Carrot Award winner.
2014 Grand Marshall for The Solvang Jule Fest Parade.
2012-2018 Board member for SYV Fruit & Vegetable Rescue.
2011-2013 School Food’s Chef Instructor for The Orfalea Foundation.
2013- Winner of Santa Barbara County Fast Pitch Grant, $26,000 for Solvang School Farm to School Program.
2014- 2022 Started a Culinary Arts Academy at The Orcutt School District with over 100 student graduates. Implemented a scholarship fund for financially needy culinary students
2015- Winner of Santa Barbara County Wellness Grant for a Zen Mental Health Garden at The Orcutt JH School.
2016-2024 Turned the Orcutt School Food Program from once operating on a $110,000 loss to operating with a fund balance surplus.
2020-Featured on Chef Ann’s school lunch hero chef’s spotlight for the scratch cooking program being implemented at the Orcutt Union School District.
2023- Winner of Santa Barbara County School Wellness Grant.
2022-Present Bethany is a member of The Solvang School Board.
Chef Bethany is the 3-time champion of the Santa Barbara SOL food festival chef’s competition.
The Solvang Viking Café & The Orcutt USD has been featured on KCOY, The Huffington Post, The Jamie Oliver website, The Edible Schoolyard Blog, School Meals That Rock, The Santa Barbara News-Press, The Santa Ynez Valley News, Pioneer News, 805 Magazine and Edible Magazine.