VIRTUAL

Feasts of Connections:

Cooking, Cultivating + Community in the PNW

Tuesday, April 8, 2025
5:30 PM - 7:30 PM

What to Expect

From our kitchens to our local farms, the food we grow, share, and enjoy fosters a profound sense of belonging, weaving together memories, emotions, and relationships.

Our region’s rich bounty not only nourishes us but also creates multifaceted connections and grounds us in a sense of place.

Feasts of Connections is a celebration of these deep-rooted ties. We will acknowledge, celebrate and share the ways food brings us together, shapes our identities, and strengthens our ties to the land and one another.

Each speaker brings a unique perspective on how local food and farming cultivate community, honoring the role of food in shaping our lives and the region we call home.

Included in the $67 ticket price:

  • Appetizers from Renee Erickson’s Sea Creatures and items from her new book, Sunlight and Breadcrumbs: Making Food with Creativity and Curiosity

  • Amaro tastes from Fast Penny Spirits

  • Wine from woman-owned Brook & Bull from Walla Walla.

  • Additionally, you will be able to purchase books from locally-owned Book Larder.

About our partners:

Washington Farmland Trust: Washington Farmland Trust conserves farmland to protect the environment, provide a livelihood for farmers, ensure access to local food, and support rural economies. To date, Washington Farmland Trust has conserved 34 farm properties, totaling 3,747 acres.

Brook & Bull: Founded in 2016, Brook & Bull is a women-owned winery that focuses on producing fine varietals and untraditional blends with a low oak profile. It’s sister winery Vital Winery is a non-profit, with proceeds supporting Walla Walla Valley vineyard and winery workers access to affordable health care.

Fast Penny Spirits: Fast Penny Spirits is a woman-owned and operated, award-winning amaro distillery and Certified B Corp. Based in Seattle and inspired by the founder’s Italian heritage, the company is committed to stirring up change. With a constant eye on environmental impact and a 3% Pretty Penny give-back program, Fast Penny Spirits is dedicated to supporting and empowering women and women-identify business leaders, local communities, and the hospitality industry.

Date: Tuesday, April 8, 2025

Location: Seattle, WA

Duration: 2 hours

Time: 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM

SPEAKERS

Renee Erickson

Celebrated Seattle chef, restauranter and author

Celebrated Seattle chef, restauranter and author Renee Erickson reflects on growing up in the Seattle area and how food has intertwined with her creative life in her new cookbook Sunlight and Breadcrumbs: Making Food with Creativity and Curiosity (which includes her photographs and artwork as well). “Cooking is very much about responding to and transforming the best ingredients the earth and sea offer us and, in turn, reflecting the world around us,” one of so many thoughtful perspectives she shares in those pages.

Lissa James Monberg

Sixth-generation shellfish farmer at Hama Hama

Lissa James Monberg is a sixth-generation shellfish farmer, at Hama Hama on Hood Canal. In addition to providing outstanding oysters to fans near and far, Hama Hama creates unique opportunities for people to appreciate a ‘taste of place’ at their Oyster Saloon (outdoor dining within view of their oyster beds), their farm shop, and through special events on the farm. As their website says, “Our mission is pretty simple: utilize low impact farming methods to grow world-class oysters, have fun, and leave something good for the next generation.”

Petrina Fisher

Co-Founder of Skylight Farms

Petrina Fisher and her husband, Jonathan, launched Skylight Farms in Snohomish in 2012, with a commitment to preserving our natural environment and nourishing the community with sustainably grown food. Part of Skylight Farms ethos is to provide food for those in need, which they do through partnerships with groups such as Farms for Life. In addition to her work as a farmer, Petrina serves as Development Manager for Washington Farmland Trust, where she secures funding to support the organization's work to conserve farmland and help first-time and marginalized farmers access resources and get on the land.

Cynthia Nims

Seattle culinary consultant and author

Cynthia Nims is a Seattle culinary consultant and author whose most recent books are Oysters and Shellfish. Much of her work has focused on Northwest food traditions, both through recipes and through stories that provide context related to the history, environment, people and other factors that root those foods in the region. She also recently launched Long Live the Recipe Box on Substack, to inspire and encourage people to preserve cherished family recipes.

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