A school for the culinarily curious
Making everyday magic in a place like no other
Today is the official opening day for the Culinary Curiosity School: This has been a dream of mine FOR YEARS, and I've been funneling all my creativity and teaching energy into making some classes that are unique in the world of online workshops, and that I created to meet the need for interconnected, multi-topic approaches that I wasn't seeing anywhere else.
The Culinary Curiosity School is the natural extension of my work in food history, fermentation, and research, my passion for teaching, with a bit of magic:
And I chose to open it now after seeing so many people hungry for new ways to connect with the world around them, to reconnect with their love of food, or simply to experience something new.
I am SO EXCITED to share this with you: And so proud to share the class lineup I've created.
Unlike your typical cooking school, my classes include everything from guided meditations (food- and nature-related, of course) to writing and research classes, as well as more traditional skills-focused culinary education.
It's anchored in curiosity, the importance of history and preserving stories (and of our work as stewards of those stories), and viewing ourselves as part of an interconnected world.
They provide practical instruction alongside inspiration and creativity, through demonstrations and recipes but also (again, unlike any other culinary school I know of) through meditations and visualization practices, journaling prompts, and more.
Every course is inspired by 20+ years of my own practice and by the work of some of my favorite interdisciplinary creative thinkers including Sophie Strand, David Zilber, Sandor Katz, Suzanne Simard, and many others.
Classes are open for preorder, and if you order now you get them for less $, and get instant access the moment they open up.
And, if you order my legacy classes (like Preserving Abundance) you get instant access to the original version PLUS free access to the new expanded version when it drops next year.
And when you buy courses as holiday gifts, I’ll send you a digital thank you card with your custom message so you can print or email it to your recipient.
Just leave your message in the order comments, OR email me at hello@root-kitchens.com
There is so, so much magic in store in this new space: I'll continue offering the self-study, self-paced programs that I'm known for (like Preserving Abundance), but I'm expanding the School to include programs like:
*Finding your Food Story which includes multiple paths of study, a big resource library, and live virtual sessions on everything from food writing to research to using meditation to connect to new ideas.
Unlike my other classes, this one includes collaborative, live virtual sessions to talk through your research questions and to learn new skills around our class themes, alongside a self-study program: If you preorder now, you’ll be ready to go when sessions start next year.
Make sure to use the discount code below!
*Preserving family recipes and cookbooks an expanded version of my previous class on preserving family materials, now with a section on disaster preparedness for paper materials.
*Mycelial meditations and microbial meditations guided meditations and journaling prompts for connecting to the natural world and yourself in new and exciting ways.
And that's just a small sample: I'm so excited to bring all my passions together in a place for learning and creativity, where you can come and be nourished in unique and unexpected ways you won't find anywhere else.
Nourishing community: A unique school structure
In addition to helping you learn and connect to the world in new ways, the School is also an opportunity for me to streamline the community care aspects of my culinary education work.
Read on if you’re curious about how I’ve built accessibility into our pricing structure (or just click the link above if you’d rather just see the classes!)
For years, I offered scholarships to my online and in-person classes for folks who otherwise couldn't afford to join. I'm super proud that, since 2018, I've awarded over 60 scholarships AND raised thousands of dollars for charity and mutual aid through this work.
However, I also realized that the scholarship process itself created a barrier, because people needed to reach out to request assistance (and asking for financial assistance is tough, no matter how much you need it).
The Culinary Curiosity School, then, became an opportunity to improve on this model and serve the community even more deeply. You'll notice now that almost every class comes with a 3-tier pricing model:
·     The supported tier is for folks who need financial assistance to attend. If you want to attend, but can't afford full price, please choose this option! Supported tier spots are trust-based and no questions asked: if you need this tier, it's available for you!
·     The full price tier is what it costs to run the program and to equitably pay myself and my assistant for doing this work. If you can afford to pay full price, I ask you to choose this tier.
·     The pay it forward tier is for folks who have a bit of extra abundance to put towards one of the supported tier spots to help another community member access my programs. I'm so grateful for everyone who chooses to support the School in this way!
The only exceptions are private sessions or guidance sessions with me, and our classes that are already in the $10 range.
I’m hoping this serves as a new model not only for what culinary education can be, but for how we can price it supportively.
To celebrate, please take 40% off with the code CURIOSITY and thank you, thank you as always for being a part of the magic of this work!