Men can cook up something special for their gals

I'm lucky. If there's a home-cooked meal on our table, it's a pretty safe bet that my husband was the one who made it.

But in many of the households out there, it's the other way around.

Jennifer Loiacano and Shelly Walsh, owners of Come and Dish -- a meal-preparation business just off of Randall Road in Algonquin -- say it's usually the women they see coming into their business, preparing homemade meals to take home to their families.

So just in time for Valentine's Day, they're hoping they can help the men out there treat their women to a home-cooked gourmet meal.

Next week, and then again in April, Come and Dish, in partnership with the Huntley Park District, will have a special Men's Date Dinner Night class. They will show the guys how to make an appetizer, main course and dessert that will leave a lasting impression.

During the class, the men will actually make the meal, which they can then bring home to their sweethearts.

"We would love to have a group of gentlemen in here that would like to have a lot of fun with cooking," Loiacano said. "We thought we would do the twist on Valentine's Day and make it into a gift for Valentine's Day, putting a fun spin on it."

Loiacano said the business will do all of the preparation work, as they usually do for their daily cooking sessions, and the men will just have to come in and put it all together.

"We thought we would try to get the men enthused about cooking," she said. "We don't want to make cooking so much of a drudgery, and want to make it something they can do, too.

"They will actually roll up their sleeves and make the meal, and they'll see they can do it."

For details on the program or to register, call the Huntley Park District at (847) 658-3180 or Come and Dish at (847) 458-5865.

Some sips for the schools: The Village Vintner Winery in Carpentersville is hosting a special fundraiser for the Huntley High School Fine Arts Boosters at 7 p.m. Feb. 23 at the store, 2273 Randall Road.

The cost is $15 per person and includes hors d'oeuvres and a sampling of eight individually handcrafted wines.

The boosters will be raffling off a three-liter bottle of wine donated by the Village Vintner, a one-night stay in the Amish Country of Northern Indiana at the Das Dutchman Essenhause Inn and a print by Tom Lynch.

Wine also will be available by the glass for $6 or by the bottle at various prices. The Village Vintner is donating 15 percent of all sales that night to the boosters.

All proceeds from the event will benefit fine arts programs and students at Huntley High School. For details, call Sue or Gerhard Bohme at (847) 669-1809 or e-mail bohme6@sbcglobal.net.

• Amy Williams' column covers all the news of business along the Randall Road corridor from South Elgin to Crystal Lake. Contact her at randallbiz@comcast.net or (847) 894-5036.