By Melissa Mellott [Editors note: Our guest writer Melissa Mellott of Spa Defined is back with a heavenly suggestion for your next girlfriend getaway! Melissa attended a cooking class at the Wellness Kitchen of the California Health and Longevity Institute at the beautiful Four Seasons in Westlake Village, California. She learned that spa cuisine can be comfort food too! Read about her relaxing yet educational experience...and then book your next girlfriend getaway!]

I can make a really good meatloaf.  Not a low-fat meatloaf made with ground turkey or even a vegetarian meatloaf; I mean a bad-for-you, oh-so-good meatloaf.  I can also make biscuits and gravy, fried chicken and mashed potatoes.  Thanks to my mom and growing up on a ranch in Colorado, these are the comfort foods, which I learned to cook, that warm the soul. 

Now that I have lived in California for almost 10 years, I prefer a lifestyle that includes fresh fruits and vegetables, salads and fish.  A trip to the farmers market in December is deliciously divine.

So … country girl has a bit of a conflict; I can certainly make a rum cake to drown yourself in, but can I create a delicious vegetarian or vegan cuisine or even a creatively tossed salad that involves more than just tomato and cucumber?  The answer would be no, unless it involves a sort of casserole flair to it.

How can a Spa Health Writer enhance small-town cooking skills? A spa day at the California Health & Longevity Institute Wellness Kitchen was just what I needed. 

My day started with a consultation with a nutritionist who, when I told her of my pizza addiction, she answered, “Just go light on the cheese.”  Believe it or not, that was a realistic answer for me and I appreciated her approach (I still get to eat pizza!) to my individual nutrition needs (and wants). After much talk about food, I was curiously hungry and anxious to learn how to make a tofu recipe that I could actually swallow. 

The whole experience was spa-like—enlightening, relaxing, fun.  The cooking lesson was taught in the Wellness Kitchen with a view of the mountains and a garden nearby where they harvest their own herbs; the setting alone inspired me to cook tofu. Led by registered dietician chef, Paulette Lambert, it really was a class in the art of cooking. Apron on and ready to go, I assisted in whipping up the most delicious buffet of healthy foods—grilled salmon, stir-fry tofu, fresh green beans, mandarin orange salad and a scrumptious gingersnap banana sundae (I don’t even like bananas, but I inhaled this treat).

What a perfect spa day! I went home with an apron and recipes I was sure to use again.  For a two-hour cooking lesson, a delicious meal, an apron and recipes @ $125, it’s a perfect way to celebrate a birthday, bachelorette/bridal gathering or just a spa health getaway.  Visit www.chli.com for more info!

Melissa Mellott is a spa health writer and reviewer as well as a licensed esthetician. As adjunct faculty at Santa Barbara City College, she teaches and trains aspiring estheticians.  She is is founder of Spa Defined, www.spadefined.com,  a website featuring reviews of spas in places like Santa Barbara, California; the Napa Valley, and Italy.

Melissa taking cooking lessons with Costatino at the J.K. Capri in Capri, Italy

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