The Creative Connection

Give the gift of healthy food and package it up pretty! Food bloggers, crafty bloggers and their followers unite with this action-packed class brimming with healthy recipe ideas for daily nourishment AND gift giving. Wouldn't it be great to receive or give a gorgeous package of beautiful chocolates or cookies that were actually nutritious and super tasty? We often spend countless hours making and baking, but feel guilty actually eating and enjoying our treats since they’re not nearly as healthy as they could be. This class will focus on gluten-free, “super food,” and vegan goodies. Seasoned health-food blogger Julie Cove will inspire many creative ideas for adapting your favorite recipes. With one hands-on recipe and packaging, and four demo recipes, you’ll learn healthy eating tips and creative packaging ideas to share your homemade healthy goodies. You’ll also glean ideas from Julie's expert design tips for styling your treats—just in case you’d like to create and record some for your own blog. Using the latest crafting mediums and ordinary items, your packages will delight the senses. This workshop is like no other, tapping into your creative genius for whipping up some nourishing delights and presenting them for the WOW factor! Next Holiday Season, your family and friends will be impressed and grateful for your healthy treats!

Looking for a healthier, happier, and sexier you? Stuck in a rut when it comes to healthy options for kids’ meals and snacks? With Julie, the Alkaline Sister, learn how to consciously nourish you and your family! If you’re too busy crafting or blogging to prepare healthy meals, or you need a good dose of inspiration for quick healthy recipes, this workshop will inspire you. Making meal time more fun and a lot healthier is the focus of this class, while providing you with added energy to follow your creative passion. Seasoned health-food blogger Julie Cove will inspire many creative ways to kick start a healthy routine for you and your family. With nourishing recipes for snacks and easy meals, tips for grocery lists, pantry makeovers, and how to get more veggies into your diet, you will be armed with a new approach for feeding you and your family consciously. You’ll perk up with five recipes for healthy meals to increase brain power, creativity, and overall energy. She’ll also explore gluten-free, nutrient-dense recipes. Julie will offer recipe demonstrations and lots of sampling, along with hands-on participation to make this workshop a must-do! From healthy green smoothies to omega-packed granolas to ideas for kids’ lunches, you’ll be armed with the tools you need to make more nourishing meals. Are you bursting with endless energy every day? Is your lifestyle and diet serving you? Or are you sitting at your computer, or in your creative studio, and feeling dreary? Want more healthful energy? Looking for creative ways to make meal time more exciting and healthy? This workshop is for you!

The best place to start eating CLEAN is exactly where you are! Join bestselling cookbook author, Terry Walters, for a workshop that will fuel your passion for cooking and inspire you to nourish yourself and your family for a healthy and vibrant life. Whether you’re just bringing awareness to your food choices for the first time, or are far along in your journey, this workshop will give you the inspiration, the motivation and the tools to eat clean and live well! Your CLEAN START will include:

• Setting intention exercise for sustainable good health
• Overview of the basics of eating clean
• Hands-on cooking class
• Group discussion and plenty of Q & A
• Information about the health benefits of the seasonal produce featured
• Five CLEAN recipes
• Complete shopping list

Discover how eating clean can benefit your unique constitution and lifestyle so that together we can enjoy easy, delicious, and sustainable good health for ourselves and our planet. *For those with food sensitivities, this class is vegan and gluten-free.

NOTE: If you want this class make sure to pick Friday TCC handmade. If you have trouble registering, please contact us at tccevent@yahoo.com and we will do it for you with an email.

Come learn the basics of making homemade jam. This class covers the basics of the water bath canning method, necessary equipment, ingredient selection, and achieving a set (what makes jam jam). Students will receive hands-on instruction, printed materials, and a jar of homemade jam to take away.

Registration Closed. Alright ladies...it's time to reclaim the backyard barbecue. You can still let your fella fiddle on the grill if you want, but we're taking it to the next level! This 90-minute workshop will show you how using a smoker enhances the flavor and aroma of your food. MaryJane's own food stylist, Alyson Outen, will walk you through basic techniques, offer beginning recipes, and let you taste what all this fuss is about. Once the smoke clears, you'll know how to apply the techniques to not only meats, but also fruits, vegetables, and cheeses. Alyson will inspire and empower you to incorporate this ancient cooking style into your modern-day menus and she'll set you up with home simple smoking recipes to try on your own. Take Smoking Hot! and bring a savory bit of the outdoors to your dinner table!

A great food photograph can often be the missing link to bringing your blog up to the next level of success. Covering both the importance of creative storytelling and technical digital photography techniques, this workshop will cover basic lighting, understanding of post-process editing, and gear to creative composition. Essential topics on food styling such as how to make ugly food look pretty and the value of styling props will be included as well. Diane and Todd will demo a live food shoot from storyboarding, to lighting, to food styling, to final shot.

What’s the key ingredient to eating healthy, saving money and stewarding the planet for generations to come? A return to our nation’s organic farmstead roots of independence, self-sufficiency and frugality, blended with the spice of modern living and a passion for transforming our planet. Join Lisa Kivirist, author of Farmstead Chef, and trade in toxins, food additives and fake food for homegrown and homemade cooking, from preserving the harvest to stocking your pantry. Author, farmer and innkeeper Lisa Kivirist will share simple, practical tips for organic eating on a budget, offering strategies that celebrate the homespun frugality spirit of our nation’s farmstead roots. Do you feel overwhelmed by all the expensive organic options there? Lisa simplifies strategies for healthful food purchases and cooking approaches, wrapped in her philosophy that eating should be a celebrated, joyful act that strengthens our families, communities and spirit with every bite. Lisa will share recipes from her new cookbook, Farmstead Chef, that showcase a range of recipes for homemade and healthier pantry staples, like hot cocoa mix, vanilla extract and even maraschino cherries and graham crackers. Value-packed strategies for shopping the supermarket and farmer’s market will be covered as well as buying bulk and creative approaches to preserving your garden harvest.

Saturday afternoon registration closed. Saturday morning open. Do you harbor dreams of proudly making your own ricotta, chèvre, crème fraiche, Amish cup cheese, cottage cheese, and cream cheese? After a brief introduction to cheesemaking, Janet Hurst, Homemade Cheese author, will then demonstrate how to make fresh mozzarella cheese. Afterwards, workshop participants will make their own cheese. All supplies and materials, including farm-fresh milk, will be provided. Participants will take home their finished cheese along with a recipe or eat it on the spot, served with bread and crackers. Additional supplies (kits) will be available for purchase as well as Janet’s book, Homemade Cheese. The workshop will run 90 minutes. Workshop is limited to 12 participants.

Want to take control of your health and arm yourself with natural healing knowledge? Food as Medicine will show you how to make your kitchen a hub of healing energy. You’ll learn how to restore your body’s dietary wisdom, how your diet can help you prevent illness by eating the right things in the right amounts, and how you can balance your diet for optimum health. Food as Medicine is a 90-minute workshop that will show you how to prepare healing meals to cure what ails you. The instructor will explain how to use your diet to complement the healthcare you get from modern medicine. Learn the healing properties of various foods, collect and walk through recipes for common remedies, and discover the art of balancing food groups for a better body. Food as Medicine will show you that health is often no further than your kitchen, and no more mysterious than the contents of your refrigerator.  

Registration Closed. If you’re making the switch to a gluten-free diet—congratulations! You’re embarking on a new life free of the complications of gluten intolerance. Embrace this new beginning by picking up tips on shopping and eating out, customizing your recipe collection, and cooking for a family of gluten and non-gluten eaters alike. Gluten-free Lifestyle is a two-hour workshop that will help you to transition to your new diet without feeling deprived. If you’re unsure about converting recipes, replacing flour, or searching for hidden gluten culprits in your cupboard, Gluten-free Lifestyle is the workshop you need. The instructor will guide you through traveling smart, eating in restaurants, reading between the lines on menus, and asking your waiter the right questions. You’ll go home with some tried-and-true recipes for gluten-free breads and desserts and learn how to adjust your diet to maintain a good nutrient balance. The instructor will also share her tips for cooking appetizing meals for a family of both gluten and non-gluten eaters. Let Gluten-free Lifestyle be your first step on the journey to a gentler and more satisfying diet!