Randy "Tex" Hammends prepares appetizers during a dinner celebrating the first graduating class of the Salvation Army Hope Harbor Culinary Arts program. (Dan Evans/News-Sentinel)

Six graduate from Salvation Army culinary class

His menu used to consist of Hamburger Helper and Top Ramen. Today, Bryan Loftin can make chicken fricasee or golden pork loin medallions with a jalapeno sauce.

Loftin and five other students from the Salvation Army's Hope Harbor shelter graduated last week from the first culinary class offered at the shelter.

While in the class, they learned how to prepare more higher-end dishes and gained kitchen skills needed to be able to find a job in the cooking industry. All six have either begun employment in the industry or have jobs they will be starting soon.

Laurie Keef and John Haviland, two other graduates of the class, also say their cooking skills were limited before the class. Keef, who did mainly family cooking, said she was told to get over her homemaker habits. Haviland, who used to cook for 1,000 people while in prison, said he had never cooked the higher-end foods.

"It was new to me. I enjoyed everything we did," he said.

In order to graduate from the program, students needed to learn the basics. When skills didn't seem quite up to speed, the students were given homework assignments to help them improve, said Barry Crall, the food and beverage manager at the Salvation Army.

Keef said if they weren't preparing something properly, the teacher would stop the lesson and show them all again how to do it.

"We were told, 'Practice doesn't make perfect, but perfect practice makes perfect,'" added Loftin. He said they were also told, "Just because you can do it doesn't mean you should. Plan your stop before you start."

These are lessons the students say are called Brittonisms — named after their teacher, John Britto — which were relayed to them every day.

The 16-week course included knife skills, recipe conversion, kitchen equipment, sanitation, menu formulating, product identification and how to prepare stocks and sauces, eggs, chicken, steak and fish.

Crall, who will be teaching the class in the future, said students were required to help serve weekly for the Kiwanis Club and the Lodi Professional Women. Once the course was completed, students received a serve-safe certificate for handling food.

At first the program seemed to be more book work than lab work, said Crall, but during the time of the course, the curriculum was readjusted to 80 percent lab work and 20 percent book work.

Overall, he feels positive about the outcome of the class.

"Everything that happened happened for a reason, I feel," he said. "Every time we went around the corner, it all clicked."

After working with students for four months, Crall feels like they are his children and hopes they will continue to grow in sobriety and will continue to learn.

"They have made life-changing experiences. I could tell they had a different outlook on life," he said.

Keef agrees and said each of them feels good about their accomplishments.

"I'd like to thank the Salvation Army for giving the opportunity to people like us," added Haviland.

Since completion of the class, Yves Abriol, Lowell Hunt and Reed Reynolds — the other three graduates — have already been working in the industry. Keef and Haviland will soon begin working in the Hope Harbor shelter. Loftin has landed a summer job as the soux chef at Camp Del Oro, which is a Salvation Army summer camp. He is glad for a trial period at the camp to put his skills to the test. Ultimately, he hopes to work at Pietros.

"It still seems kind of surreal to me. It hasn't sunk in yet," said Loftin.