WEEKEND ON THE FARM WORKSHOP: COOKING VEGETABLES RIGHT
Instructor: Nancy Johnson Wirsing

When to be offered: Periodically in Fall & Winter 2017-2018
Where to be offered: Running Horse Guest Lodge, Gregory, South Dakota
Number of students: 4 maximum

Description of the workshop:
The Weekend on the Farm Workshop will be a 2 ½-day/2-night live-in and practical hands-on program designed to furnish those who enroll with the knowledge and skills needed to put them on the road to cooking nourishing vegetable- and fruit-centered whole foods meals. It draws upon the instructor’s newly-published cookbook – Cooked Alive! Life Savoring Whole Food Recipes to End Processed Food Dependence. Persons of whatever age, gender, or level of cooking skill are welcome to enroll. The only requirement is the determination to escape processed foods dependence.

The focus of this workshop is on vegetables and fruits – to those too often lowly-regarded foods that governmental and private food authorities have been exhorting us for years to eat in much greater quantity. Its approach is neither vegetarian nor vegan, but it shares with these schools of cooking a lofty esteem for vegetables. It starts from the premise that vegetables, along with fruits and nuts, have stood at the core of humankind’s diet from its earliest beginnings and that these foods are now an inescapably integral element in the maintenance of human health and well-being.

Learning to prepare vegetables and fruits right provides a means for making a smooth and effective transition to whole foods cooking and liberation from processed food dependence, dependence that almost invariably undermines health. The workshop will be found useful not only by relatively novice cooks but also by experienced cooks desirous of knowing more about whole or unprocessed foods cooking techniques. The workshop will supply methodical, detailed, clearly-worded step-by-step guidance. How to prepare vegetable- and fruit-based dishes will be demonstrated and ample opportunity will be provided for hands-on practice with varied whole foods recipes. Those enrolling in the workshop will be encouraged to visit and use the instructor’s blog site in the weeks and months following the workshop and to chat with the instructor as questions arise.

Workshop structure:

• FRIDAY:
  • 3:00 to 5:00 pm. Workshop participants arrive at the Lodge and settle in to their rooms.
  • 6:00 pm. Participants gather in the Great Room for a brief orientation, followed by evening dinner.
  • 6:15 to 7:15 pm. Dinner
  • 7:15 to 8:30 pm. Presentation and discussion: What is processed foods dependence? And why is it important to overcome it?
• SATURDAY:
  • 7:30 to 8:15 am. Breakfast
  • 8:30-11:30 am. Session One: VEGETABLE STIR-FRY
    • How to prepare and cook a successful vegetable-centered stir-fry
      • 1 Tools/utensils required
      • 2 Selection of food ingredients
      • 3 Cooking the stir-fry
    • 12:00 to 1:00 pm. Lunch
    • 1:00 to 4:00 pm. Session Two: VEGETABLE STEW
      • How to prepare and cook a successful vegetable-centered stew.
        • 1 Tools/utensils required
        • 2 Selection of food ingredients
        • 3 Cooking the soup and stew
      • 6:00 to 7:30 pm. Workshop enrollee-prepared dinner
      • 8:00 to 10:00 pm. Movie
    • SUNDAY:
      • 7:30 to 8:15 am. Breakfast
      • 8:30 to 11:30 am. Session Three: VEGETABLE SALAD
        • How to prepare a successful vegetable-centered salad.
          • 1 Tools/utensils required
          • 2 Selection of food ingredients
          • 3 Assembling the salad
        • 12:00 to 1:30 pm. Workshop enrollee-prepared lunch
        • 1:30 to 4:00 pm. Session Four: XXXXXXXXXXXX
          • How to prepare a
            • 1 Tools/utensils required
            • 2 Selection of food ingredients
            • 3 Assembling the salad
          • 4:30-5:00 pm. Farewells and departure

 WORKSHOP COST: $600 (inclusive of lodging and all meals), to be paid in full and in advance at time of registering for the workshop.