Celebrations in this first half of 2020 have changed dramatically. We’re forced to be more creative and mindful as we celebrate, finding new ways to come together. We have some ideas for how we can celebrate with our mothers both via video conferencing and in person to make the day even more special and memorable.

Tips for Mother’s Day Celebrations via Video Conferencing

1. Plan in advance: Mother’s Day is traditionally a day that phone lines are overloaded, and this is likely to be the case for video conferencing as well. Try starting your calls at off times — at quarter past or quarter to the hour — to help improve your connectivity. Also, make sure you’re not streaming anything on another device as that can impact your call quality.

2. Send the invitation: Send the invitation with instructions for how to download the application before the call. For those less technologically inclined, schedule a practice call to help them with their technology so that everyone can see and hear (and be seen and heard).

3. Set the scene: Find a fun background for your video conferences. Some apps, like Zoom, make it easy to change your backgrounds. Our friends at Wave Hill have curated a collection of beautiful garden photos that make great backgrounds, especially if you’re missing our Mother’s Day brunch at Wave Hill!

4. Share a toast or a meal: Depending on what time you’re having your call, encourage everyone to have a toast ready or you can even share a meal together. If you have a favorite family dish, encourage everyone to make their version of it. It may seem silly,but it can help everyone feel more connected. We’ve got some great recipes for you to try.

5. Remember to take a screenshot: Save a memory of the video conference by taking a screen shot. Take several and remind people to look at the camera and smile.

Tips for Celebrating Mother’s Day at Home

1. Make a plan: Plan a menu and activities in advance. Take stock of your refrigerator and pantry and decide what else you’ll need to get or what substitutions you can make. We’ve collected some of our favorite Mother’s Day recipes.

2. Involve the kids: A great activity for kids is to create an invitation for mom inviting her to join them for a Mother’s Day meal. You can even print out pages from our coloring book to use as a cover for the invitation.

3. Set the table: You’ve worked hard to prepare the meal, make sure the table setting is up to par. Use found items in your house to create a tablescape. Kaitlin Walsh, our director of design, used a variety of plates on a textured table cloth. Food presented in small dishes of varying height alongside flowers in a tall vase added color, texture and interest. If you don’t have flowers available, fruits, vegetables, and herbs in jars c an add a sustainable and decorative element.

4. Thank mom! Don’t forget to take a moment to thank mom before your meal and let her know how much you appreciate her. Using fancy glasses, even for non-alcoholic beverages, helps add to the festive mood.

5. Preserve the moment: Make sure to capture a photo together! Set up a tripod or prop your phone up and use the timer function to get all of you in the shot. It’s sure to be a memory that’s treasured.

Let us know how you’re celebrating Mother’s Day! We’ll be sharing our memories on Instagram and can’t wait to see yours.

Enjoy our first ever coloring book! Color in the pages and take a picture to share with us on Instagram!

We regularly invite guests to contribute to Great Performances’ blog. For this post, we invited Emilia Sochovka, MS, RDN, CPT, the resident dietitian and nutritionist for Embrace, to share her thoughts on maintaining overall wellness throughout Covid-19. Embrace extends Great Performances’ philosophy that life happens around food to the spaces where people work, collaborate, celebrate, and live. The first pillar, Embrace: Wellness, focuses on overall wellness, including mental, emotional and physical, specifically the relationship between food and health and how what we eat impacts how we feel.

Quarantine Wellness

By Emilia Sochovka, MS, RDN, CPT

Quarantine isn’t a productivity contest. Not all of us are doing fitness challenges, reorganizing our drawers and cabinets, reading a book every week and perfecting loaves of banana bread. For some people, those tasks might be their way of taking care of themselves. But there are many other ways to prioritize wellness. Above all, be kind to yourself.

Embrace extends our philosophy that “Life happens around food®” to the spaces where people work, collaborate, celebrate and live. For many people right now, our home is the space where we need to support our health and well-being. Here are some at-home tips from Embrace Wellness:

Quarantine Wellness Tips

Reaching for snacks more often than you’d like? Enjoy all your favorite snacks by making a large snack plate for a meal. A lunch or dinner snack plate could include apple slices, chai spiced almond butter, baby carrots, dill pickle hummus, crackers, cheese and chocolate.

Looking to move your body? Celebrate traditional dance from Senegal and Rwanda with the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Do a guided meditation and stretch or take a virtual walk with Wave Hill. Listen to jazz from Jazz at Lincoln Center while moving around your home.

Missing the opportunity to travel? Spices not only have health benefits, but they also bring global cuisines to our kitchen. Bring more flavor to simple proteins, vegetables and grains by making your own spice blend.

In whatever way you’re taking care of yourself and your family, we’re here for you. If these activities don’t interest you, that’s ok. What’s most important is that we are practicing self-compassion and doing what feels good to us.

Photo by Megan Markham on Unsplash

Since the coronavirus pandemic hit New York City, trusted environmental nonprofit GrowNYC has worked hard to keep their over 80 food access sites open and safe for the public, and has been building out distance learning resources to continue to support educators and the general public as learning spaces move remote.

GrowNYC’s Greenmarkets, Farmstands, Fresh Food Boxes, and delivery to emergency food providers are crucial to the hundreds of thousands of NYC residents who rely on them as sources of fresh, healthy food.

This week they launched a free Fresh Food Box program for low income New Yorkers who are undocumented, unemployed, or struggling in high need neighborhoods.

They are committed to helping the most vulnerable New Yorkers, but cannot do it without your help. Visit grownyc.org/donate to support their work.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. We’re delighted to share a book written by Julie Cerny’s, former Education Director and Manager of The Sylvia Center’s Learning garden. Although we strive to honor our planet every day, Earth Day is a great time to refocus and realign and perhaps even pick up new habits that will yield results and honor Mother Earth all year!

Staying home may make it a little more challenging to celebrate Earth Day this year. Remember though, that one of the best ways to engage with nature is to eat it! Food GROWS. Food is nature and we can be a part of growing it (even if all we have is a sunny windowsill). I wrote The Little Gardener: Helping Children Connect with the Natural World as an engaging illustrated guide for parents, educators, and others who want to help children explore the natural world through gardening. When we grow food, it’s easier to see ourselves as a part of natural systems and to experience first-hand how our choices affect the Earth, for better or for worse.

And remember, too, that a garden can live in a bucket, in a backyard, or in that small strip of earth between the road and the sidewalk. Grow wherever you can. It will be worthwhile.

Q&A With Julie Cerny

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Jon Ronsani, our farmer at Katchkie Farm, has provided his tips for celebrating Earth Day with an activity that will yield results and honor Mother Earth all year!

Starting Your Own CITY Garden

A great way for city folks to celebrate Earth Day is to get a garden going, either in raised beds or in containers. We must not forget how strong an ever-present nature is. A few seeds, some soil and water and something is growing!

EASY PLANTS FOR STARTER GARDENS

The most container friendly plants are herbs. Basil, cilantro, and dill are very easy to start from seed and will get growing in no time.  If you have access to raised beds, radish, spinach, beets, and lettuce can be directly sown in the garden this week.

GET YOUR KIDS INVOLVED IN GARDENING

Get the kids to help!  In the days of an agrarian based economy, kids were viewed as an economic asset to the family. Make it so again, if only for an hour.  Gardening is such a wonderful experience for them.  Digging in the dirt, planting seeds, watering, and tending plants is a very wonder filled experience for them.  Then when they get to harvest, eat and share what they have worked on, it is a lesson they will never forget.

GARDENING RESOURCES

As for resources.  Fruition Seeds is wonderful resource for gardening know how as well as seeds. During my days in Copake, I was able to meet master gardener Margaret Roach, who also hosts a gardening pod cast “A Way to Garden.”  She is wealth of gardening knowledge. Don’t be shy, mistakes will be made and fun will be had!

The Columbia Land Conservancy

Katchkie Farm is in Columbia County in a community that is passionate about protecting the land.  We are proud to support the work of the Columbia Land Conservancy.

Check out the video below for a special message from the Columbia Land Conservancy and visit their website for some great digital resources they have created to celebrate Earth Week. Don’t forget to show your support.

Each year in April, we put our mind to what we can share with you for Earth Day. Not because it’s the only day we should think about it, but because it’s an annual reminder to realign and refocus our efforts. As with all things that become habitual, an annual marker to really stop and reflect can be incredibly helpful.

So this year, as we mark our annual celebration of Earth Day, take a moment to reflect on what you’re already doing and perhaps find a new, tangible and actionable way to to improve your relationship with Mother Nature and honor and respect the planet.

Check out what our amazing and creative team members at Great Performances are doing!

Mike Deuel, Executive Chef of Catering Operations & Anastassia Batsoula-Deuel, Party Chef

We’ve been busy processing some of the leftovers from the GP kitchen that didn’t have an outlet elsewhere for various reasons. Anastassia and Natalia, Anastassia’s mother and fellow party chef with Great Performances, have been busy turning the leftovers into creative meals. When we come up with something delicious, we’ve been sharing with our neighbors.

This weekend we organized seeds, planted garlic and beans, watered our tomato plants. We are planting everything! Different sorts and varieties of herbs; flowers for bees, insects and birds; and so many different vegetables: beans, beets, peas, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, hot & sweet peppers, variety of leafy greens, celery, onions, garlic, artichokes, horseradish, rhubarb, ginger, turmeric and scallions to name a few.

We’re eagerly hoping our fruit trees and shrubs will produce this year. We have five varieties of plums, three varieties of apples, two varieties of peaches, and two different cherry trees, as well as a fig bush that is starting to show mini figs.

Anastassia and Natalia have also been busy making sourdough EVERYTHING, including delicious sourdough English muffins, and sharing with the neighbors as well. The only thing Mike will not let them share is the wine I’ve made; I need that to enjoy while reflecting on the day’s work.

Kaitlin Walsh, Director of Design

While I’ve been staying at home, I’ve had some extra time for projects. Here are some of the things I have been doing.

1. Vegetable scraps. I’m saving all scraps from my veggies and use them to make stock. I’ve already made two homemade stocks which I then make into soup or freeze in ice cube trays.

2. Herbs that may spoil. I’ll either put them in ice cube trays and top with olive oil or cook at a low heat in the oven and make into dried herbs (if you don’t have a dehydrator).

3. Saving the ends of green onions, chives, leeks. I’ll keep the root ends in water until they roots, then replant them. It’s a practice I learned from my mom and one that’s “trending” right now.  I have them in a bunch of shot glasses in the kitchen window.

4. Craft packages. I’ve been finding odds and ends around the house and putting them in little kits which I then send to my nephew. It can be as easy as pipe cleaners, pop sickle sticks, clothes pins, pom poms, cotton balls, and labels.

5. Pressing flowers. It’s a craft I’ve been practicing for years as I’m fortunate to have access to flowers. These can then be used on various crafts including cards, jewelry, etc.

I’ve been very conscious about saving scraps and “thoughtfully” cooking to get the most out of every vegetable and cut of meat. It’s interesting because it’s the way my grandparents were raised through the Great Depression. Everything was recycled or repurposed. If food scraps weren’t used for a stock, they were used to feed the worms, that were used to catch fish. It was endless.

Justin Schwartz, Executive Chef, Production

Because we are stuck at home we have spent a lot of time rethinking our space. We live in carrol gardens, and our apartment building had a front garden that was just sitting there waiting to be claimed. I called my landlord and asked to take over the front garden and they were thrilled to give over its care to us.

I dug up all the plants (which we of course composted) with my son (who had a cute little red shovel) and turned it into a lesson about ecosystems, plant roots, soil you name it! Hes really enjoyed being a part of the process and seeing the grass seed we planted together germinate and grow has really put a silver lining on social distancing.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Since we can’t gather outdoors to celebrate Mother Earth, let’s turn to our indoor gardens.
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👉Log into Instagram and show us your selfies with your indoor plants and we’ll select a winner who will receive seeds from the Hudson Valley Seed Library and a day at Wave Hill with lunch or afternoon tea for two at the Café at Wave Hill once it reopens (valued at $150).
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1. Take a selfie with your indoor garden / house plants
2. Post it to your Instagram account and tag @gpfood @wavehill and use the hashtag #earthdaycontest by noon EST on 4/21/2020
3. Tag a friend
4. Follow @GPFood and @wavehill
5. Check back on 4/22/2020 to see who’s won! Good luck! 🍀

At Great Performances, we embrace creativity and continue to look outside our walls to find inspiration from our friends and partners. We regularly invite innovators, creatives, business leaders, chefs and others to contribute their expertise to us and to our blog.

We’ve invited Kathryn P. Haydon, an expert in creativity, founder of Sparkitivity, and author of several books including The Non-Obvious Guide to Being More Creative, No Matter Where You Work, to guest author a blog post for us. Ms. Haydon shares how we can take steps to continue moving forward even in these challenging times.

CREATING POSSIBILITY IN TIMES OF CHANGE

In the midst of daily shifting information, it can feel as if you’re treading water in the middle of a deep lake. It might seem like you’ll never get to shore.

In The Non-Obvious Guide to Being More Creative, No Matter Where You Work, I defined creativity as: “breaking through the inertia of no by seeking new possibilities and finding valuable solutions.”

When you find yourself in the churning and uncertain waters of change, you can use the science of creativity as you would use water skis—to lift you atop the current, master the changing conditions, and keep moving forward.  Here’s a cheat sheet on how to do it.

Set A Vision

The first step is to establish a vision. A vision gives you a horizon point toward which to move. It sparks feelings of hope and possibility.

Let’s go back to that churning lake. You are scared, you are cold, and you are tired of treading water. Ask yourself, What would be great?

It would be great if . . . I were standing on the shore outside of this lake.

Right now, in your current circumstances, what would be great?

What do you wish?

What is your ideal present condition?

Paint a vision with words:

It would be great if . . .

Turn Problems Into Possibilities

You have a vision; you see yourself standing on the shore of the lake rather than treading water within it. But presently, you are still stuck in the lake.

Turn that problem into a question that invites the new thinking necessary to create possibilities. Start your question with these six magic words: What might be all the ways . . . ?

I am stuck in the lake. => What might be all the ways to get out of this lake?

Even better, form your question to reach for your vision:

What might be all the ways to reach the shore of this lake?

See how merely asking the question in this way loosens the problem’s foothold? It opens the door to possibility!

Try it yourself. What problem are you facing that is keeping you from the vision you stated above? Turn it into a possibility question. Begin with:

What might be all the ways . . . ?

Suspend Judgment

Once you have posed your possibility question, it’s essential to be open to any and all possibilities that arise as you answer it. Silence criticism and allow bad ideas, good ideas, and crazy ideas all to surface.

As Alex Osborn, the inventor of brainstorming, said, “It is easier to tone down a wild idea than to think up a new one.” The toning down and refining will be done in the next step, but for now, keep dreaming up new possibilities.

How many ideas are enough? Sometimes you’ll want to set a timer and think up as many as possible in 5 or 10 minutes. Other times, you’ll aim for 15 ideas or for 100. It depends upon the nature of the challenge and how original you need to be to solve it.

Choose Your Idea And Make It Better

Once your bucket is filled with possibilities, it is time to look through it and consider which have the most potential. Take a clear look at your constraints and your criteria for success.

Don’t be afraid to consider working with an idea that appears impossible at first blush. Don’t be afraid to consider the crazy.

Don’t be afraid to try something that scares you just a little.

The process described above is tried and true. It is universally applicable to sticky problems at work or at home. Try it, and see what’s possible.