Justin Ward - Chef & Baker

04/04/2026

Spring 2026 Newsletter - https://mailchi.mp/a8ceabefac80/fall-2025-newsletter-10930394

12/26/2025

This year I added Yule Log classes to my schedule. Students in Lubbock at the Culinary CoOp and at Stephen F Austin State University in Nacogdoches did a great job!

12/02/2025

11/21/2025

Chef Justin Ward is back in Nacogdoches with his traveling French culinary classes! 🇫🇷

In partnership with the SFA PACE program and the School of Human Sciences and Professional Studies, the Nacogdoches native returns to share the skills he’s honed while living and working in France.

From French breads and croissants to choux pastries, French cakes, and the always-popular French dining experiences, his lineup is chef’s kiss.

Classes run December 5th–16th, and registration is officially open. Save your seat and savor the experience: https://bit.ly/43Mt8Se

11/20/2025

Umm….did I have to saw the word “raw” that many times? Lol

Have you ever heard the story of the first time box cake mix was introduced into grocery stores? I read somewhere that originally box cake mix was made with dehydrated eggs and powdered milk, so all you had to do was add water.

The concept was a flop, and marketing experts decided that the instructions needed to change, so that the consumer had to add eggs.

Sure enough, it worked! It seems that adding eggs to an industrialized product was just enough to give the consumer the feeling of making something “homemade”, even if it was a processed, industrial product.

When you open a pantry door in most homes in France, you might find a can of corn, and definitely dry pasta and concentrated tomato paste, but hardly any canned vegetables or other processed foods.

People shop for fresh fruits and vegetables at least once a week at local street markets. In our little town in the suburbs of Paris, the market sets up on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons. Besides that we go to the supermarket once a week for juice, milk, dry goods and meat (our local market doesn’t really have a butcher or fromager).

When I am in the USA it can be frustrating, as it’s often hard to find flavorful and diverse varieties of produce. I often say, “just give me a good raw tomato.” You don’t have to peel it, stew it, can or jar it, just let me have it raw. Yet the processed stuff is cheaper than the raw produce itself…..

11/12/2025

I’m looking forward to returning to SFA next month!

Classes offered:
French Breads 1 & 2
Croissants 1 & 2
Tarts 1 & 2
French Cakes 1 & 2
Macarons 1 & 2
Mother Sauces
Knife Skills
Choux Pastry
4 course Dining Experiences
and more!

11/01/2025

If classes filled up before you were able to book, you'll be happy to know that I have added a few classes to the schedule!

Classes offered:
French Cakes I & II
Croisssants I & II
Macarons I & II
Tarts I & II
French Breads I & II
Knife Skills
Mother Sauces
Puff Pastry
Soufflés
Baking Class for Children
Choux Pastry
French Dining Experience

Looking forward to seeing you there!

10/09/2025

Can’t wait! Registration just opened and already there are close to 70 people signed up!

10/08/2025

I'm looking forward to teaching classes in Lubbock and Amarillo next month; hope to see you there!

www.chefjustinward.com

10/03/2025

If you are not signed up on my mailing list to receive my occasional newsletters, then feel free to check out my latest one by clicking the link.

The newsletter includes recipes and interesting (I hope :) ) musings about cooking and eating while traveling around the world (I've had my passport stamped around 20 times this year, and even ran out of pages!) as well as info about upcoming classes, private chef experiences, French flour and new chef-curated-and-designed DuBon products.

Well, I guess they would if I used AI….but I admit I’m lagging behind when it comes to using artificial intelligence.