Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Workshop Update: the Upcoming 2016 Wildcrafting Season

Hi Folks!

We have been receiving lots of friendly emails and PMs on instagram about our Wildcrafting Workshops so wanted to give everyone an idea of the pay structure, curriculum, and sneak peek at our plans for the upcoming 2016 spring season. 


MUSEUMEATS 2016 SPRING WILDCRAFTING WORKSHOPS






















Who: Camille Flanjak, director of MuseumEats Food Collections (@agaricusaugustus) is the wild foods consultant for the Acorn Restaurant and supplier to many more. She has certifications in theory, permaculture, wine, and wildcrafting. To learn more about her, check out her profile, listed under "Contributors" in the right hand scroll bar.

In 2016 we will be linking up with several other teachers so that we can expand our focus beyond wild food collection. We've got some truly inspiring and enthusiastic chefs, herbalists, permaculturists, weavers, and plant medicine-makers on board. Stay tuned for their bios and workshop dates.

What: Hands-on, all-day wildcraft training and forest stewardship workshops that happen rain or shine.* These workshops are especially tuned into foodies and service industry professionals who want the ultimate experience of local terroir: to see how native foods express the character of the land and how we can gain food security by learning about natural systems.

Where: Public workshops meet and drop off in East Van in the Safeway parking lot at Broadway Station unless otherwise scheduled.

When: Meet at 9:30 AM to carpool to our spots (driving time may be up to 90 mins). Potluck-style lunch around 1:30 with snacks in between. We aim to arrive back in East Van by 6pm.**


Cost: Wildcrafting Workshops are $50 per person. 


MuseumEats does have a NOTAFLOF policy, so if cost is an issue, you can apply for our mentorship program by emailing Camille at museumeats@gmail.com. We are also hoping to host pay-what-you-can classes that are supported by grants. 

For private/group bookings, enquire at museumeats@gmail.com. 


Registration is only complete upon payment: this is to ensure that we can fill each of the seats available with committed people. For this reason we also cannot offer refunds. If you're registered and not able to attend, please contact us as soon as you know and we will try and fill your seat with folks on the waitlist and get you booked for another date. Because payments include a membership to MuseumEats, your place in a workshop will be valid for one full year until from the date of purchase.


Curriculum: Varies with the type of workshop. For service industry folks, training is geared toward the local food movement and 'terroir,' as well as sustainable harvest, integration of forest food systems in the consideration of menu planning, and how to process wild products into safe, edible foods. 


Every workshop you'll be going home with wild knowledge, medicine, and/or food. Some days we'll provide a pocket knife and booklet, others we'll make tinctures on-site. There's always a surprise goodie or two that Mama Gaia throws in.

Payment options: Once workshop dates are released you may pay via EMT to Camille at museumeats@gmail.com or through paypal. 

As always, stay tuned to our blog for updates on workshop schedules, themes, and special events like our Annual Mushroom Dinner and secret brunches.

*Please come appropriately dressed- gumboots and parkas are encouraged on rainy days, and sunscreen is important on sunny days.
**If you aren't able to bring anything to share for the potluck don't worry. Also, we welcome all kinds of food so if you have any allergies please share this information with facilitators ahead of time.

***IF THERE IS A WAIT LIST for the workshop you'd like to join: In this day and age people do cancel, so the admin at ME will contact you if a space comes available and we promise to be honest and forthright if the list is excessively long or if we think you have a good shot of getting in.


Saturday, October 17, 2015

MuseumEats Events, Fall 2015

Here is a list of this season's MuseumEats events as well as the links to their individual pages for details and to make reservations.

This list will be updated regularly with new events, so feel free to check back often. 

For enquiries about private workshops and dinners, please email us at museumeats@gmail.com

September
26 Mushroom ID and Conscientious Collection Workshop
27 Mushroom ID and CC Workshop
28 Mushroom ID and CC Workshop (full- service industry folks)

October
10 Mushroom ID and Conscientious Collection Workshop (full)
11 Mushroom ID and CC in ASL (full)
18 Mushroom ID and CC Workshop (one spot left)
19 Mushroom ID and CC Workshop (full-service industry folks)
25 Mushroom ID and CC Workshop (full)


November
1  Corpse Reviver Brunch (SOLD OUT)


Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Corpse Reviver Brunch @ the Smallflower, November 1st



This is a 100% gluten-free and vegan-friendly brunch put on in collaboration with chef Heather DosmanMuseumEats' Camille Flanjak, and the Smallflower Cafe & Bakeshop

Omnivores do not fret- if you don't have dietary restrictions, there will be omnivore-friendly add-on options!

There will also be cocktails and coffee to revive your corpses from the creepiest of previous evenings. 

Email us at museumeats@gmail.com to reserve your table. Please provide us with the following information when booking:
-how many people
-your contact information including phone number
-any allergies or dietary restrictions
-you choice of mains.
Seating is limited to jump on this one fast :-)

Seatings: 
10 AM
11:30 AM (4 seats left)
1 PM

Menu
$15 plates all vegan and 100% gluten free

Starter: Bloody Fingers

Mains:
Stuffed cauliflower Brains
Bull's Blood Beet
Tempeh, Mushroom and Kale Entrails

Dessert: Finally! You get breakfast dessert with this brunch!

A Few Add-ons:
Pork Belly (this is the real thing) $4
One Egg $3


Join us on the events page on Facebook for menu updates.

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Fall Workshop Update


This September MuseumEats Food Collections has been gently harvesting greens, roots, medicine plants and mushrooms and it has already been a generous season. We've also got a couple of Wild Dinners in the works in collaboration with some gifted social activists, chefs, bartenders, restaurateurs, and sommeliers- one is free, another will be coursed and paired with wines, while still others may be held in restaurants, featuring a plethora of mushrooms similar to the Mushroom Masquerade we conducted last year.

We have already hosted around 85 people in this year's Workshop Series and are working to build co-mentorships and community through our facebook page.

If you are interested in what we are doing and love mushrooms and wild herbs, there are some public spots available in our Wildcraft Workshops for October 10, 18, and 19, and open availability for deaf folks and signing allies for October 11th. Please note that the October 11 date will be taught in ASL without interpreters.

To register, either EMT your payment from the sliding scale of $30-60 to museumeats@gmail.com or use the pay pal button below. We do have a No-one-turned-away-for-lack-of-funds (NOTAFLOF) policy, so if you are keen but money is a barrier, email us and we can work it out.



Sliding Scale Menu
Workshop Date
None of this amazing, creative, and inspiring stuff would be possible without the people who share our passion. Thank-you so much to everyone who comes with open hearts and minds to build that connection between source and stomach with us.

Camille
MuseumEats
meelsmeals.blogspot.ca


Friday, September 25, 2015

Forager's Feast Potluck!

Looking for someone to share your wildcrafted goodies with? Wanting to learn more about how to cook wild food, build community, and harvest ethically? Want to do this all for FREE?

Here you go.




If you want to join us, make sure you register on eventbrite as soon as possible - seats are limited to 40 people.

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/foragers-feast-tickets-18643231407

Monday, September 21, 2015

Sustaining Spirit (feat. Social Yoga and the Sunshine Coast Community Forest)

This weekend was amazing. Social Yoga invited me to lead a workshop on the Sunshine Coast the day before my 30th birthday and the forest had many gifts for us. 

Beautiful cluster of Lepiota Rachodes;
Very typically situated at the edge of the forest in sunflecks
After doing some research, I led the group into the Sunshine Coast Community Forest (SCCF) to discuss stewardship and holistic observation, and to explain why going into the Community Forest is a important thing to do consciously.


Adolescent Deer Skull;
consumed either by bear, coyotes, or mountain lion?
 Not only is this space supposed to be stewarded and sustainably harvested by timber companies, it is also utilized and looked after by the shishalh people for food, medicine, ceremony, and traditions that date back to since forever. Nature bros buzz around on ATVs, coyotes stalk prey in packs, mountain cats leap onto cedar posts from high ground and drag their nails down the length of them, and wildcrafters stumble in awe and amazement into bear dens. 

Smelling Sparassis Crispa before we gratefully harvested it

Without fail, whenever I decide to end a foray, whether with a group or just a friend, and take 'stock' of what we have harvested, something magical appears like the cherry on a sundae. I say this with utmost confidence and wonder. We could actually smell this cauliflower fungus when we first walked into this patch of forest from 25 metres away. It weighed close to 3 pounds.

Camille, probably describing the flavour palette of this fungus
like a mushroom sommelier
Forests are host to many things beyond what the mainstream culture classifies as "nature" and by recognizing this, we may start to understand their value beyond timber. 

Our group of social yogis and our bounty
We stopped along the way home to observe the Culturally Modified Trees in the cedar groves and discussed forest conservation, touching lightly on the Dakota Bowl Bear Sanctuary, which is being occupied by folks concerned about how the SCCF is being managed. 

Amazed at our humongous gift! 
Back at the incredible lodge, we revelled in our finds and practiced doing mushroom spore prints and making tinctures out of oregon grape, turkey tail, and usnea. 

The rest of the weekend was filled with other awesome workshops such as calligraphy, yoga, sourdough bread-making, and DIY self-care. If this kind of retreat is something that interests you, say hello@thesocialyoga.com and Anita will let you know what other fun things she's got planned. 

If you're interested in MuseumEats wildcrafting (what I call "sustainable foraging") workshops, email us at museumeats@gmail.com

Waving from beneath boughs of cedar,

Camille
Instagram: @agaricusaugustus
Blog: meelsmeals.blogspot.ca

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Introducing the Membership Program!

MuseumEats is realizing that people have super busy lives and that workshops should be a little more flexible. Hitherto: the MuseumEats Membership Program.

Here's how it works.

There has always been a sliding scale: $30-60 and the NOTAFLOF (no-one-turned-away-for-lack-of-funds) policy. There will be no change in this structure, except that in the past this has only applied to one workshop.

From now on, contributions are considered a 1-year membership to MuseumEats which means:

1) If you contribute to MuseumEats and sign up for a workshop but have to miss it, you can make it up at any of the workshops in the following 12 months for no charge.

2) You will have access to advanced registration for workshops before they are posted on the website.

3) Subscription to our newsletter and facebook page with updates, workshop information and secret supper invitations. This also means if you want to promote a food-security related event you can do so through our sites.

4) Subsequent workshops will still be $30-60 and NOTAFLOF and monetary contributions will renew your membership.

This is going to be retroactively applied to all of the contributions made this past year, so everyone can benefit.

Thank you so much for your enthusiasm, inspiration, co-mentorship, questions, and forest stewardship. Looking forward to sharing more with you.



Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Opening Ceremonies: The First Foray of the 2015 Season

After a dreamy weekend of camping and gregarious rings of lobster mushrooms and gigantic white chanterelles, Camille hosted MuseumEats' first workshop of the fall season with the staff at Burdock & Co.

Here are a few pictures of the goings-on and a little bit of bait to get signed up for our upcoming workshops.










Friday, August 28, 2015

Fall Workshop Series!


Kelly Farrell of Feast of Fields

Hello Folks! 

It's mushroom season and I am very happy to announce that we have many dates including two Mondays for service industry folks and a variety of Sundays and Saturdays. 

DATES ARE AS FOLLOWS:
Saturday, September 26
Sunday, September 27
Monday, September 28 (full)
Saturday, October 10 (wait list)
Sunday, October 11 ASL CLASS for deaf folks and allies- email for registration
Sunday, October 18 (2 spots left)
Monday, October 19
Sunday, October 25 (FULL)
Tuesday, October 27
Saturday, November 7 
Sunday, November 8 (FULL)


Seats are limited, so in order to secure your place, please pre-purchase via pay pal at the bottom of the page, or via EMT through MuseumEats facilitators: museumeats@gmail.com.

Who: Camille Flanjak (this series' wildcrafter) is the wild foods consultant for the Acorn Restaurant and supplier to many more. She studies permaculture and wine and is under mentorship with Don Elzer of the Wild Forest Tea Company. Cam has a degree in Critical Theory and Critical Studies in Sexuality from UBC and is certified in First Aid, clowning, and WSET level 2. She also conducts workshops in ASL. To learn more about her, check out her blog, meelsmeals.blogspot.ca. This season we'll also be linking up with some herbalists and other foragers and mycologists to enrich the workshops.

What: Hands-on, all-day wildcrafting and forest stewardship workshops that happen rain or shine.*

Where: Meet ups and drop offs are in East Van in the Safeway parking lot at Broadway Station.

When: Meet at 9:30 AM to carpool to our spots (driving time may be up to 90 mins). Potluck-style lunch around 1:30 with snacks in between. We aim to arrive back in East Van by 6pm.**


Cost: $30-60 sliding scale. In order to break even with materials and transportation, the minimum cost per person per Sunday is $30. If cost is an issue for you but you are really keen, email Camille at museumeats@gmail.com. Nobody will be turned away due to lack of funds. 

Registration is only complete upon payment: this is to ensure that we can fill each of the 8 seats available per workshop with committed people. For this reason we also cannot offer refunds. If you're registered and not able to attend, please contact us as soon as you know and we will try and fill your seat with folks on the waitlist and get you booked for another date.


Every workshop you'll be going home with wild knowledge, medicine, and/or food. Some days we'll provide a little knife and booklet, others we'll make tinctures on-site. There's always a surprise goodie or two that Mama Gaia throws in. 

*Please come appropriately dressed- gumboots and parkas are encouraged on rainy days, and sunscreen is important on sunny days. 
**If you aren't able to bring anything to share for the potluck don't worry. Also, we welcome all kinds of food so if you have any allergies please share this information with facilitators ahead of time.

***IF THERE IS A WAIT LIST for the workshop you'd like to join: In this day and age people do cancel, so the admin at ME will contact you if a space comes available and we promise to be honest and forthright if the list is excessively long or if we think you have a good shot of getting in.

Payment options
EMT payment to Camille at museumeats@gmail.com
Using paypal, select the price, date, and buy now button below.


November 7th 9:30 AM

Looking forward to sharing with you all soon,

Camille
MuseumEats




Friday, June 26, 2015

Local Wine Dinner @ The Acorn Restaurant

For the past 6 months I've been working with the Acorn Restaurant, serving in the front-of-house and delivering them some foraged foods. This Sunday at the Acorn features a 5-course vegetarian dinner paired with wines made by Richard Kanazawa of BC's Kanazawa wines.

I think this is a unique and wonderful event because it gives vegetarian and vegetable-loving diners an opportunity to have a finely tailored, coursed, and wine-paired meal without compromise, which rarely happens in haute cuisine.

Last I checked there were still a few tickets, so if this is something that piques your interest have a look.

~Camille

VINTAGE AND VEG @ THE ACORN


Sunday, June 14, 2015

Summer Foraging Series

Hey Wild People!

First of all. You're awesome.

Second, if you're interested in foraging classes this summer with MuseumEats, here's your chance and the details:

Workshop 1: POSTPONED in honour of Aboriginal Day of Remembrance, Carfree Day, and Father's Day (June 21st). Stay tuned for a new date.
Workshop 2: Herbs, Shoots and Plant Medicine, Sunday, June 28th (FULL)
Workshop 3: Berries, Preserving Wild Nutrition and Tinctures Sunday, July 12th (2 spots left!)


We added a MONDAY workshop on July 6th which is now full. (FULL)
Because of the high demand for weekday workshops we will be adding another in a couple of weeks, as well as adding a date on the Sunshine Coast. 

Seats are very limited, so in order to secure your place, please pre-purchase via pay pal at the bottom of the page, or in person through MuseumEats facilitators: museumeats@gmail.com.

Who: Camille Flanjak (this series' teacher) is the Executive Forager for the Acorn and a wild foods consultant with MuseumEats. She studies permaculture and wine, and has been obsessed with mycology since she was a 'tween. Kaylie Barfield (co-teach) is the head chef at Nuba Hastings and the Mad Scientist/Chef at MuseumEats. Kbar has been studying foraging for several years, as well as been obsessed with the geological history of the PNW since Kbar moved here 8 years ago.

What: Hands-on, all-day foraging workshops that happen on Sundays, rain or shine.*

Where: Meet ups and drop offs are in East Van in the Safeway parking lot at Broadway Station.

When: Meet at 9:30 AM to carpool to our foraging spots (driving time may be up to 90 mins). Potluck-style lunch around 1:30 with snacks in between. We aim to arrive back in East Van by 6pm.**

Cost: $30-60 sliding scale. In order to break even with materials and transportation, the minimum cost per person per Sunday is $30. If cost is an issue for you and you are really keen on self-sustainability, we want you to tell us because maybe we can work something out. Email Camille at museumeats@gmail.com if this is the case. 

Every workshop you'll be going home with wild herbs, vegetables, greens, and/or mushrooms. Some days we'll provide a little knife and booklet, others we'll make tinctures on-site. There's always a surprise goodie or two that Mama Gaia throws in. 

To learn more about Camille, visit her blog: meelsmeals.blogspot.com

To learn about museumeats, go to museumeats.blogspot.com

*Please come appropriately dressed- gumboots and parkas are encouraged on rainy days, and sunscreen is important on sunny days. 
**If you aren't able to bring anything to share for the potluck don't worry. Also, we welcome all kinds of food so if you have any allergies please share this information with facilitators ahead of time.


Here's the button to pay via paypal:


Sliding Scale Prices
Which Date
*IF THERE IS A WAIT LIST for the workshop you'd like to join: In this day and age people do cancel, so the admin at ME will contact you if a space comes available and we promise to be honest and forthright if the list is excessively long or if we think you have a good shot of getting in. 

Looking forward to being wild with you all. xo



Thursday, March 26, 2015

Spring Updates and Fall Backs

MuseumEats has gotten lots of inquiries about workshops this spring - We would LOVE to set some up, but all six of our hands are totally full until summer. Maybe if Cam gets a pinkie free she'll host one, and will definitely advertise on the blog. But that'll be a really full pinkie.

We are bounding into spring by collecting all its sweet, green shoots and keeping an eye to hardwood trees for oyster mushrooms. Besides foraging we all have many other projects happening:

Camille has started foraging and serving for the Acorn Restaurant, volunteering for Growing Chefs, and studying WSET's level 2 in wine while she wraps up the last of her permaculture certificate. Kaylie is working on her permanent residency and has taken on the hefty role of Head Chef at Nuba Gastown. Julie is tantalizing palates at Burdock & Co and tagging along on oyster deliveries and wild food forays to deepen her understanding of food source.

While we work on our individual projects this spring, feel free to have a look into what we deem as the climax of our 2014 Foraging season.