I’ll admit I wasn’t jazzed about going to a cooking demonstration after a long day of work. But I had told a friend who is a member of the local Modern Orthodox community that I would come and felt the need to honor my commitment. Besides, I couldn’t think of a good enough excuse not to go.

Talk about making the right decision.

The minute I arrived it was as if I had stepped onto a Food Network set, with a 25-year-old dynamo named Dini Klein in the middle.

One of five daughters of Dr. Ethan and Debby Shuman of University City, Klein grew up in St. Louis and Israel, where the family lived for six years. A member of Young Israel, she graduated from Epstein Hebrew Academy and Clayton High School. Klein now lives in Westchester, New York with her husband Michael, a sports agent, and their 1½-old daughter, Andi. 

After graduating from New York City’s Fashion Institute of Technology, where she did a little modeling on the side, Klein realized her true passion was cooking. So she went to the Center of Kosher Culinary Arts (CKCA) in 2011, and continued to train with a six-month externship at The Prime Grill, a high-end kosher steakhouse in Manhattan.

Five years ago, she started a website, dinidelivers.com, where she blogs and offer all kinds of recipes, including ones that are gluten free. She also is a personal chef with a handful of clients, some for whom she prepares healthy, kosher meals.

“I think the biggest myth about kosher cooking is that it’s bland, boring, heavy and unhealthy, which is just not true,” said Klein. “I do fresh, clean flavors, using a lot of natural ingredients, herbs and citrus. You also can adapt all of my recipes to be kosher or non-kosher. If I’m cooking a chicken recipe and you need it to be kosher, use kosher chicken. If not, use regular chicken.”

Every Tuesday Klein posts a video on YouTube, which is linked to her website. Her goal is to someday have her own Jewish cooking show on the Cooking Channel. Given her outgoing personality, infectious smile and zest for cooking, chances are better than even that will work out.

Last week, about 30 people paid $30 to attend her kosher cooking demonstration, which served as a fundraiser for Epstein. She showed them how to prepare — and then had them sample — tomato-peach skewers with balsamic reduction, chicken-chorizo paella (using Jack brand kosher chorizo) and kale-Waldorf salad (go to dinidelivers.com for the recipes). 

 “My approach is as a busy mom who wants her family to eat well and healthy,” she said. “I don’t want to be a chef for 50 clients because then I wouldn’t have time to do all the other things I like to do.”

Oh, and the name of her website and business, Dini Delivers. Not only is it an agreeable alliteration but Klein will deliver her second child in November.

Speaking of kosher cooking . . . 

The Fourth Annual KC Kosher BBQ Festival will take place Sunday, Aug. 16 from 11 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Free and open to the public, the event takes place on the grounds of the Ritz-Charles, 9000 West 137th Street, Overland Park, Kansas. Donations at the door will go to JFSKC Food Pantry.

The festival features live music and cooking demonstrations by noted local and national chefs and pit masters. Food Network’s Simon Majumdar will head an interactive celebrity judging panel. 

New this year is the Kosher Kids Q Competition, a barbecue contest for children, ages six to 12. In addition, a “kids zone” includes bounce houses, slides, face painting, games and more.

As a strictly kosher event, each team will be provided kosher brisket, chicken, beef ribs and turkey breasts as well as smokers and utensils. Team competition closes at 30 teams with trophies being awarded in all of the meat categories as well as an overall grand champion.

For more information, go to vaadkc.org.

Very special

Congratulations to Josh Spalding, 30, a Congregation Shaare Emeth member and St. Peters resident who was part of Team Missouri, one of the softball teams that represented the United States at the Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles. Team Missouri came in second in its division, losing in the final game on Saturday to Team Arizona by a score of 22 to 5.

“We haven’t yet spoken to him yet because he just returned last night,” said Josh’s dad, Richard Spalding, on Tuesday. “But we are very proud.

“Every time we called, he couldn’t talk because he was so busy. But he did say he made a lot of friends from a number of countries and got the VIP treatment at a Dodgers game.”

Josh, who is a big-time Cardinals fan and loves Superman, plays catcher and right center field. His father says his son has been involved with Special Olympics for 12 years and also competes in basketball and bowling. “He played soccer as well but hurt his knee,” Richard Spalding added.

Four other members of Josh’s 13-member team were from the St. Louis area. The five play together regularly on a team associated with the Fort Zumwalt School District. Josh, who has a speech and language disability, graduated from St. Charles West High School. He lives on his own and works as a production worker at BCI Workshop in St. Peters.

The Special Olympics World Games, which drew about 6,500 athletes to Los Angeles from 165 countries, ended Sunday.