On the Other Side

We are about 3 weeks into this COVID-19 quarantine and watching all my fellow small business owners stop, pivot and KEEP GOING during this time has really be something! Restaurant owners are making their own deliveries, boutiques are creating incredible on-line presences, farms have started delivering to individual households, and learning has gone all digital! This last one is our niche and for this analog girl, learning how to digitize on a dime has been.. interesting.

Even before we opened the brick+mortar location, I knew we’d have to digitize to scale the operation, but I certainly did not think it would be 7 months into it.

This is a tough time for nearly everyone, we must be even MORE creative to keep our businesses afloat and we must also display compassion and continue to give back to our communities. I really miss our Give Back Sessions we started - it was a monthly event where a local celeb, chef or someone really cool would come in and present and the proceeds went to the charity of their choosing.

My response to all of this madness is to take a deep dive into the digital world and offer FREE COOKING classes 2X a week. Over a glass of wine one night this idea presented itself. On glass #2, it scaled. The cooking classes evolved into the Plant-based Quarantine Cooking Show - a live “show” streamed on Facebook Live and Zoom at 2:00pm CDT on Sundays and Wednesdays. All recipes are 7 ingredients or less and each show is 30 (ish) minutes long. I pack each episode with tips/tricks and ways you can sub out ingredients if you don’t quite have everything on hand.

The show has started to get some traction: people are cooking along with me, there’s been a bit of press here and here and I’ve also collaborated with Frida’s to offer Ingredient Kits locally if someone doesn’t want the trouble of going to the grocery store - which is a huge PITA now.

You’ll find the #PBQcookingshow on social media and after this quarantine lifts, the “q” will have a new meaning and this little show will take a growth spurt. I’m excited to work hard on this.

I go to the shop once a week to water the plants and get the mail. The calendar is usually full of classes, events and announcements. I’m actually amazed at how busy this modified schedule is keeping me.

At it again! The Center for Plant-based Living collaborates with Frida’s who is offering Plant-based Quarantine Cooking Show Ingredient Kits.

The Ingredient Kit for the Chickpea Salad Sammie Show

Rick and Natasha vooked along at home during the show. Love it!!

Wall of fame. xo