Welcome to the Community Kitchen, where you bring the juice and together we make the sauce. 🙌

Note: Italicized language is for the facilitator to read to themselves, the rest is meant to be spoken aloud at their discretion.*

Note*: This recipe guide is meant to be adapted and tweaked to suit each group’s tastes. This is your community; you are encouraged to remove or replace any steps or agreements that don’t feel authentic.*

Preparation 👨‍🍳

Arrival

Note: We recommend giving up to 10-15 mins to arrive and if folks aren’t able to arrive in that window, we advise closing the kitchen so as to not disrupt the flow.

• Chop it up

  • Let’s have 5 mins to chat as folks arrive.

• Grounding Practice

  It’s easiest to cook in a clean kitchen, so let’s take a moment to slow down, tune in, and tidy up.

  • Feel your spine and sit, stand, or lay in a way that supports it. If it feels comfortable, close down your eyes and take a few deep breaths.

  • As you arrive in this space become aware of anything cluttering your mind or clinging to your heart; the weight and worries of the day/week before you arrived here. All of it and all of you is welcome here. Feeling all of this, take some deep breaths and allow them to wash your slate clean of anything preventing you from being present right now.

  • Next, remember the feeling of this group, past meals you’ve shared, moments of laughter or of grief, the collective sauce you create together, and begin to return to that space you all inhabit.

  • Continue to breathe deeply and open your eyes as you come back into this container.

  • Regard the folks you are sharing this community kitchen with and welcome each with a smile, nod, or whatever feels right to you.

  • Let’s all take a breath to arrive together.

    Note: (Here is an opportunity for your community to create your own ritual of arrival. It could be a breath, a chanting, a gesture, or simply the acknowledgement of crossing the threshold into the kitchen. Get creative, have fun! :P)

    • Welcome fellow cooks😊

Container

Now that we’ve cleaned the kitchen, let’s go over some housekeeping items.

• Each participant gets a designated amount of time to share*; we can choose someone to be the timekeeper, or agree to do our best without **one. *(Time is adaptable to the size of the group and time period)
• Pick an order in which participants share (Ex: Oldest to youngest, in order of Birth Day/Month, hair length...)
• It’s encouraged that participants refrain from using the chat or having side conversations as it can distract from people’s ability to listen deeply.
• If tension arises or someone shares something that feels uncomfortable, feel free to slow down and address it in the moment, though it’s designed for there to be time to clean it up at the end.
• Please take care of your body. You are encouraged to get up and stretch, use the bathroom, get water etc.
• It is our intention to create an environment together that is safe to express.
  • To support that intention, the following agreements are offered (Feel free to use them and we encourage you to craft your own that serves your community’s purpose).

Agreements

• Source Locally - Speak from personal experience. Ex: “I love tomatoes”, rather than “everyone loves tomatoes.”
• Source Organically - Be authentic and honest in your communication. You’re encouraged to express yourself the best way you know how. All of you is welcome.
• Source What’s in Season - Be spontaneous, share whatever’s ripe and present. Try not to plan out what you will say before your turn (we know it’s hard) because it hinders your ability to listen.
• Come Hungry and Keep an Open Palette - Reserve the capacity to listen to others and stay curious about new flavors.
• Messiness is Welcome - Both cooking and life are messy; this space is meant to hold it all. Your shares don’t need to be fully thought out or eloquent, just let them spill out.

The Cooking Process 🥘

Preface: It’s okay to be slow to respond; remember some sauces need time to simmer.

Last Week’s Leftovers:

• This is a space to check in on shares from past Community Kitchens.
  • Ex: Someone wanted accountability on a habit they’re trying to form, a member mentioned they had a job interview coming up, or there was a share about a family member having health issues.

Kitchen Inventory:

Note: Kitchen inventory is optional if you feel participants have capacity to answer spontaneously and/or the group is short on time

Take a few minutes to check in with yourself. We’ve set the container and now it’s time to fill it.

Here are some Primer Questions for reflection:

• What’s your Juice Cup level (How are you feeling in this moment)?
• Take notice of what ingredients you’re bringing to the kitchen today. What’s ripe? What feels present?

Note: At facilitators discretion, written below is a possible assist in reflection (after 30 sec-1 min)

• These ingredients may grow from relationships to family, friends, society, technology, education, nature, work, health, etc.

Recipe(s) 📒 ****

(Choose one, afterwards move on to Bon Appetit)