Food & Drink
Kids Cooking Class with The Saucy Broads and Chef Shayne “The Train”
The Saucy Broads, Purveyors of Culinary Rebellion, is the brainchild of a pair of friends brought together by their love of food and fun. These two incredibly talented ladies, Caroline Cobell of Caroline’s Creations and Chef Cassandra Kara Abercrombie Schultz of the The Bomb Noms, are bringing uniquely creative offerings onto the local food scene.
The Saucy Broads are full swing with Keto Meal Prep services, event planning catering, pop ups, and their recent “Kids Cookery Camp” featuring special guest Chef Shayne “The Train” who made it all the way to the MasterChef Junior semi-finals on Season 5.
Chefs Caroline, Shayne and Cassandra
Together, the three taught children ages 8 to 12 knife skills, mise en place, health and safety, sanitary education, and work space organization. Chef Shayne also taught a demonstration on safe cutting techniques using the “C Claw” method and general kitchen and cooking safety.During the class, each child had the opportunity to make a breakfast, lunch and dessert item. The three chefs were also assisted by Caroline’s children Jordan (21), Jacob (17) and Israel (19) who all worked side by side with the children at their stations.
Kids Cooking Class, Back row: Chef Caroline, Chef Shayne, Chef Cassandra; 2nd row: Adrian P., AJ R.; Front Row: Joss S., Zac R., McKenna B.
Each participant got a Cooking With Kids/Saucy Broads T-shirt, apron, chef hat, ceramic kids chef knife, and a culinary informative recipe book. Stuffed French toast with fresh fruit and cream cheese jam, Juicy Lucy Burgers and Chocolate Chip Stove Top cookies. The kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves and learned all about cooking in the two and half hour class.
Meet The Saucy Broads
The first of the duo is Caroline Cobell of Caroline’s Creations also known as Caroline’s Kitchen Home of #TamaleMagic. Caroline started cooking for her family when she was 12 when she found inspiration from the likes Emeril, Alton Brown and the original Japanese version of Iron Chef. She is a self taught chef who learned through a combination of her vast collection of cookbooks and by throwing as many parties as she could. Caroline now runs a successful business, recently placed third in The Texas Renaissance Festival Royal Chef Showdown, and is known for her support of other mom and pops businesses.
By day Caroline Cobell was an office manager and by night – and on weekends – she was a party planner extraordinaire and amateur chef cooking, catering for her friends’ parties or planning office events. Caroline became the go-to person if you needed food or something a little bit off the beaten path. She wanted to share her passion for cooking and started what would eventually become Caroline’s Kitchen at local area farmer’s markets by baking cupcakes, brownies, cookies, pies and jams and jellies. Caroline became the Tamale Queen of Tomball, all because her husband Chad suggested that she should sell her homemade tamales.
The Saucy Broads, Chef Cassandra Kara Abercrombie Schultz and Caroline Cobell
The other half of the duo is Chef Cassandra Kara Abercrombie Schultz, a self taught chef who worked in the food and hospitality industry in the since the 90’s. Cassandra is currently working as personal chef and food blogger under the name The Bomb Noms. She loves sharing her recipe development, meal prep ideas and hot sauces she finds. A self proclaimed “chili-head,” Cassandra shares the love of all things food, hot sauce, recipes, and anything saucy or spicy in her Facebook group she started several years ago called “Do you even sauce bro?” Cassandra also sells gourmet spicy foods such as limited edition hot sauces, jerky, seasonings and hopes to expand this company in the future.
Winner of the 2017 Texas Taco, Tequila and Margarita Festival’s Best Margarita with her the “Button Hook” Margarita, Cassandra accepted her award with her dog “Solo.” Cassandra said it is usually made with mezcal and ancho Reyes, a type of triple sec alternative, but for this contest she wasn’t allowed to add extra booze. The winning combination is a blanco tequila plus a fresh orange and lime juice mix infused with buzz buttons and ghost pepper muddled with a mesquite smoked blue agave and paprika simple syrup, garnished with a triple smoked salt & a dehydrated bitters lime with a fresh picked buzz button for nibbling before drinking. It’s an interactive drink. Buzz buttons, also called Szechuan buttons, electric buttons, are an herb flower that awaken your taste buds with an electric like tingle. It’s like a punch in the mouth but your your tongue wants more. That’s why it’s called the “Button Hook”. It’s a “trick” play on a Rita that Cassandra created when she started growing these awesome plants in her garden. All of this with a full time job in the oil and gas industry and having a family to take care of.
Fast forward to February 2018 when the Saucy Broads debuted their skills at a charity pop-up. These two chefs are individually fantastic, but together, Chef Cassandra Kara Abercrombie Schultz and Chef Caroline Cobell are a force to be reckoned with. A seven course “A Tasting of Fare”dinner showed off their talent and creativity from the very first course to the last. All the proceeds were donated to The Renewal Center (also home of Re:Bar/Steampunk Juice), which is run Aaron Edwards and Kelly Stewart Hall.
Samples from “Tasting of Fare” – Smoked Burrata and Beet, Ravioli and Tomato Cream, Steak Au Poivre with Kale Chimichurri, Upside Down Polenta Cake – Clover Honey Polenta Cake with Huckleberry Compote.
Crowd favorites at the charity pop-up dinner included:
- Ravioli and Tomato Cream made with handmade spinach and ricotta stuffed ravioli, roasted tomato cream sauce and truffle oil.
- Smoked Burrata and Beet made with beet crisp, chipotle verde, garden arugula, pecan olive oil Bravado basil serrano pipette.
- Steak Au Poivre made with pepper crusted. Prime tenderloin, with Kale Chimichurri, roasted baby potatoes, Harcourt verts and grated cured yolk.
- Upside Down Polenta Cake made with Clover Honey Polenta Cake, Huckleberry Compote, Brittle, Lemon Zest.
The Saucy Broads, Caroline Cobell and Chef Cassandra Kara Abercrombie Schultz
The Interview
How did the Saucy Broads, Purveyors of Culinary Rebellion team up start?
Caroline: “I met Cassandra at a few events we were at together. We both seemed to have common interests so we decided to do a few things together. The Saucy Broads became the result.”
Who came up with the name?
Cassandra: “Anyone that knows me knows I have a knack for words and naming things, but we both collaborated this one. We both love all things pirate and saucy and flavorful. We are also both very “saucy” broads and we love to be bold, a lot creative and a little extra. ‘Sauce’ to us means ‘a little extra’ and it means we cook with love, so we both immediately knew that was our name.”
How do you shuffle between Caroline’s Kitchen: Home of #TamaleMagic, family and the Saucy Broads catering and events?
Caroline: “It’s very hard. Family is very important and I am so very blessed to have them work with me. Caroline’s Kitchen is growing rapidly and very organic. The Saucy Broads are quite busy too! I’m always running somewhere. (Laughs)”
How do you handle a day job, family and Saucy Broads?
Cassandra: “I have a very routine and strategic mindset. I prioritize pretty well so I (try to) plan my entire week on Sunday. I run my personal oil and gas businesses 3 days a week and do meal prep, catering and pop ups three days a week. I always put my family first and Caroline has always helped me with that. That’s what having a good partner is all about. We are there for each other.”
What were your favorite special events you have done so far?
Caroline: “We did an event for the bar association. It was like a prom for lawyers. It was awesome.”
Cassandra: “My favorite Saucy Broads Event so far has been our Spring Tea Social. We had a great time working together with Cypress family farm to kitchen & Rebar to make a beautiful tea coterie providing an upscale farm to table tea party with multiple tea paired dishes.”
Both of you are very active in the foodie community, what else do you do?
Cassandra: “I try to stay active in supporting local businesses and actually any small business that I can contribute to. My Facebook group ‘Do you even sauce bro?’ is a pretty active Facebook group revolving around SAUCE! My motto is ‘All sauce matters.’ We predominately discuss and promote hot sauces but any recipes, food pics, white sauce, cold sauce, thin sauce or gravy is also shared! Booze is sauce too, so we promote mixology and infusions as well. I am a small batch, seasonal hot sauce maker so I use this group to share when my annual hot sauce, Dragons Blood Isle is made. My company that makes gourmet sauces, jerky and seasonings, “The Bomb Noms” is also my personal foodie hunting and taste bomb – food blog. I am a ‘for hire chef’ and I promote other local companies products with my recipe development and food photography on my Instagram @The_bomb_noms. I support all things local and all things spicy!”
Caroline: “I started The Food Connoisseur‘s Collective for those people wanting a more relaxed group. Not full of the pressures of reviews and all of the political drama. Post or don’t post. It’s quite freeing.”
How has the Keto Diet changed both of your businesses?
Caroline: “When I started thinking about opening a food establishment it was a bakery I wanted. Tamales were not the first option. Oddly enough I have come full circle and we bake daily. I have also lost about 45 lbs and it’s great to be able to also help others on their journey to be healthier.”
Why did you all decide to do a kids cooking camp class?
Cassandra: “We both love children and love to share information. We have always wanted to teach kids to cook and feed themselves and about kitchen safety. We’re all about being self reliant and sharing with others how to feel more confident about cooking.”
Why did you all make the decision to bring in special guest Chef Shayne The Train?
Caroline: “Shayne is a personal friend of mine. He is such an awesome kid and he loves what he does. It was a no brainer to also be able to show these kids what they can accomplish when following your dreams.”
Chef Shayne “The Train” presenting his Juicy Lucy; Zac R. making stuffed French Toast.
What have you been doing since MasterChef Jr.?
Chef Shayne The Train: “I have had the chance to spend time in kitchens of a lot of different local restaurants like 5 Ate Café, Eva’s, Carolines, Q-Shi and even Hubble and Hudson. I have also got to speak to other kids about how I ended up on the show, which was because I didn’t make the basketball team. I got to share how one failure led to something much bigger. I also got to create a lunch item for Klein ISD, Shayne the Train Chicken Tacos. Speaking of school, I am still playing football and this year I joined FFA and raised a pig. That was a cool experience.”
What were the challenges of teaching younger kids how to cook?
Cassandra: “Kids are fun! Kids are also easily distracted…”
The Saucy Broads’ Kids Cooking Class
Were you nervous teaching younger kids knife skills?
Caroline: “I wasn’t nervous teaching at all. I’ve thought about it and I’ve shared skills with my own children and enjoy it. Learning is something I still do myself. I had a blast with them!”
Do you plan on doing more kids classes?
Caroline: “Yes I do. We are trying to get a handle on the growth we are currently experiencing and then we will schedule more classes. Some for adults too.”
Chef Shayne The Train, What are your plans for the future?
Chef Shayne The Train: “I know I want to end up somewhere in the culinary world, but I am not sure where yet. I do think it would be really cool to have my own show! Gotta dream big!”
How did it feel to be a mentor to the kids in the cooking class?
Chef Shayne The Train: “It was really fun. I love to see other kids doing things they love and it’s even better when I get to help them with it!”
Do people recognize you when you’re out and about? Ask for autographs or pictures?
Chef Shayne The Train: “Yes! It still surprises me when it happens, especially since the show seems like a long time ago. I do think it’s neat that I have so many fans still from all over the world!”
Any other events or classes planned right now for the Saucy Broads duo?
Cassandra: “Of course! We have more kids cookery camps coming up (to be announced) and we would like to host keto cookery classes.”
5 Words to describe the Saucy Broads?
Bold, Spicy, saucy, accommodating, extra.
Learn more about The Saucy Broads by visiting and following their Facebook page at Facebook.com/TheSaucyBroads and keto meal prep on their website at carolines-creations.com.
Follow Chef Shayne “The Train” on Facebook Facebook.com/chefshaynethetrain.
Nick Rama is a food writer, contributor of Hello Woodlands, and shares his restaurant experiences on Nick’s Local Eats at NicksLocalEats.com and the Q Up The Burgers Facebook page. Nick enjoys helping the small business owner, supporting his community with fundraising for food banks, and plans tasting events with locally owned mom and pop restaurants.
0 comments