You love to cook, but can you get paid for it?

WEST CHESTER, Ohio - So you love to cook, and people say you're pretty good at it. But can you make a living from culinary passion?

Jennifer Vogel believed she could. As she and Doreen Grontkowski became friendly at a Mom's Club in suburban Cincinnati, they both realized they were ready for something new after several mainly stay-at-home years. Both were in their early 30s, and both had marketing experience.

"And we both had the same love for food," said Vogel, who had become an avid Food Network viewer and received chef's training at the Midwest Culinary Institute in Cincinnati.

After a year of planning, they opened The Learning Kitchen. Vogel spent the first day demonstrating how to make risotto and handing out free samples, while Grontkowski showed off top-line cookware in their retail boutique. Cooking-class bookings piled up.

Nearly three years later, they plan to expand their thriving business, which quickly sells out classes such as couple's "date-night" cooking for $150-$160 a session.

Even in a sour economy, some people have been able to turn the joy of cooking into a sweet career, whether it's a successful small business or running a restaurant kitchen. It's a sizzling field; witness the ever-expanding lineup of cooking and reality TV shows such as "Rachael Ray" and "Top Chef," and the increased interest in serving fresh food at home.

While many people enjoy the creativity and satisfaction of cooking, "the industry is truly a bastion of entrepreneurship," said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of research for the National Restaurant Association. He said the number of people attending culinary schools and seeking food careers is growing.

Surveys show that nearly half of restaurant employees aspire to run their own restaurant and, as employment and sales strengthen again in an improving economy, the association projects double-digit percentage growth for chefs' and head cooks' jobs over the next decade.

Still, small-business failure rates can be daunting, with fewer than half of new businesses expected to survive five years. Restaurants and cooking businesses often face even longer odds. And the recession has meant tightened credit and more-frugal consumers.

New businesses can benefit from relatively low-cost marketing online and digitally. The Learning Kitchen got a jump-start from online bookings, and has expanded to include a Facebook site, and use of Groupon and Foursquare for mobile marketing.

Another successful, locally based cooking business, launched about four years ago, has been heavily dependent on its online presence. Cooking With Caitlin began in Cincinnati with a catering business and a web site with recipes. It now includes online cooking classes, a two-hour "Foodies Night In" with interactive cooking information via Twitter, a Facebook page, a radio show and live demonstrations.

Chef Caitlin Steininger received classic Le Cordon Bleu training at the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago; when she returned home to Cincinnati, she formed the business with her sister Kelly Trush and a friend, Molly Sandquist. They started with catering, but found that working so many nights and weekends was tough on their families. So they focused more on marketing partnerships, such as becoming part of Cincinnati.com's blogger network and drawing people to their site with more tips, interactivity and videos, and with public demonstrations and appearances.

Now they're working on a cooking show for local cable TV. Trush said they were able to start the business with little debt, using catering revenue to build it, and got into the black in about two years.

"You have to be patient," she said. "You have to be flexible."

"If you're interested in starting your own business," added Sandquist, "make sure you, love, love, love it!"

Vogel and Grontkowsi said they started making money before the end of their first year. They credit teamwork and a sound business plan developed with the help of Score, a nonprofit organization that offers free counseling for entrepreneurs.

"People asked, 'Aren't you scared, how do you sleep at night?'" recalled Grontkowski. "But we did our research to a T, we made no assumptions and we had an evolving business plan."

"The only moment of doubt I had was just before we unlocked the door that first day," Vogel said. "I thought to myself, 'What if nobody shows up?'"

Instead, they were packed from start to close.

"Far better than we expected," Vogel said. "At the end of the day, we met back here at this table and just exhaled: 'Wow!'"