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A TV special on cooking in Guilford

The Vista Food Network on Guilford Community Television features a very special kind of cooking show. Vista teaches adults with developmental disabilities how t...

The Vista Food Network on Guilford Community Television features a very special kind of cooking show.

Vista teaches adults with developmental disabilities how to live independently, including in the work force. One member of the network, Kristen Haddad, has a big goal: to be the next Rachel Ray. Lauren Borges, 22, has a similar aspiration. "I want to be famous - to show my parents how good I am."

Food blogger Jocelyn Ruggiero is an instructor at Vista, and she taught her students that cooking is just part of the challenge of living independently. And while the students may now know how to cook, appearing on TV is a whole different ball game.

"It's just like in life--things fall apart--what do you do? Do you stop? Do you start over? You keep going forward. You smile and say 'I can do this,'" Ruggiero said.

The students taped four segments for Guilford Public Access TV. "It gave them so much confidence to work on something for eight weeks, on something that's going to be so public," Ruggiero said. "The food wasn't nearly as important as the connection" made by learning to slow down and form your thoughts fully before speaking on TV.

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