About CookingThyme

Joan teaching a cooking class Joan teaching a baking class

Joan Browning teaches CookingThyme classes at her home in Happy Valley, Oregon. With 40 years of cooking experience, instructing children and adults in practical cooking techniques has always been her passion. Certified in Family and Consumer Studies for grades K-12, she has taught cooking and sewing classes for the past 15 years at a local middle school.

With the hundreds of quick-meal and fast food choices available today, many children never learn the importance of healthy eating. Joan hopes that through her classes, children (and adults) will learn how to make healthier food choices that will benefit them in the future, while falling in love with cooking and the creativity it provides-not to mention how much better a home-cooked meal tastes! Cooking provides children with hands-on lessons in mathematics, science, cultural awareness, and self-expression. Joan's desire is to simply give children an opportunity to discover the joy of cooking.

Joan has raised four children (all of whom are avid cooks!) and lives in Happy Valley with her husband, David.