Author and Professor Janis Thiessen is coming to share her newest project with us. The Manitoba Food History Project is an oral history project based out of the University of Winnipeg. The goal of the project team is to produce a comprehensive history of food manufacturing, production, retailing, and consumption in the province of Manitoba from 1870 to the present day by focusing on oral history by way of interviewing and cooking together.

Canadian author and winner of several awards, including the Amazon First Novel Award, McNally Robinson Book of the Year, and the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction, Michael Kaan is joining us to speak about his book, The Water Beetles. This is an engrossing story of adventure and survival in 1941 Japanese occupied Hong Kong. Inspired by the diaries of his father, this mesmerizing story captures the horror of war through the eyes of a child with unsettling and unerring grace.

Lunch is included in our next travelogue presentation. Come along with us and taste the traditional flavours of the Baltic Coast. We will visit Scandinavian capitals and Baltic ports with an emphasis on historic St. Petersburg, Russia. The presentation includes lunch and a slide show, illustrations of famous landmarks, and notable characters such as Peter the Great, Rasputin, the Hermitage, Church of the Spilled Blood, Yusupov Palace, and The Peterhof: the summer palace built to rival Versailles. This is an adventure you won’t want to miss!

Join us for a lovely lunch and some afternoon entertainment from Leo Gosselin and his Chapman Stick. Leo has studied at the Dick Grove School of Music, Los Angeles, and Capilano College in North Vancouver, completing a Diploma in Commercial Music, as well as further studies in jazz. His appearances include TV, radio, and many live performances. We have welcomed him back by popular demand.

Join us in the kitchen for a fun time preparing simple recipes to share with your kitchen mates, with some leftovers to take home and enjoy.

This session will provide you with simple recipes (appropriate for cooking for 1 or 2 people at home) and the basic skills you need to replicate these dishes in your own kitchen