Photos by Finally Recognized

For the Baby Blessing Cooking Party:

• we will work together to find a date that works for you and your guests.

• you will think of six to eight guests who you would like to invite and provide me with their contact information.

• we will work together to identify three recipes that you would like to cook, selecting from a recipe bank I provide.

• you will provide me with three photos of you.

• you and your guests will bring aprons and a sharp knife (if they have a favorite knife).

For Postpartum Services:

• we will work together to find a day of the week and timeframe that works for the deliveries and support services.

• for immediate at-home support, you will communicate with me about your expected time of arrival to your home.

For General Nutritional Support:

• you will think about your goals and expectations.

• you will complete an extensive intake form.

Ideally, we aim to schedule the cooking parties around 34 to 36 weeks gestation. 

These can be scheduled any day of the week Monday through Sunday that works for you and your guests.

Generally, the ideal timeframe on any given day tends to be 10AM to 1PM.

Generally, we aim to prepare two soups or stews and one tray / pan sheet / oven recipe. Ingredients are based in whole, real, nourishing foods that are locally sourced when possible and almost entirely organic. I have a list of recipes that I can provide you to browse, or you can give me any recipes and I am happy to scale them. 

In the postpartum period, we want to focus on warming, nutrient-dense foods. Recipes tend to include bone broth, ginger, garlic, and other warming foods. 

For my own Baby Blessing Cooking Parties, I prepared a batch of chili (stew meat, bone broth, beans, vegetables, dried chilis, and more), African peanut stew (vegetables, bone broth, curry powder, ginger, garlic, peanut butter, edamame, and more), and beet balls (pureed liver, ground beef, egg, beets, carrots, onions, and more). 

For now, the cooking parties will be hosted at my home in the Mission District of San Francisco.

In the future, I would love to find a way to make the cooking parties mobile, so that they can be in your own home!

This is a tremendous way for you to be with your community in this sacred time. There is power in cooking together with your own community to help prepare you for the postpartum period. 

Ideally, during the cooking party, we will identify a few guests who would like to make regular visits to you after your baby arrives. For example, perhaps one friend may identify that Saturdays will work for a visit for the first four weeks postpartum and another identifies that Wednesday would work. I want to help harness your community to prepare you with the support you will need.

Also during the cooking party, we try to talk through what kind of help you think you would need from your community postpartum and be able to have an open and honest communication with them.  

Upon arriving, three cooking stations will be set up with all the ingredients and cooking equipment you need. Guests will opt for which station they would like to work.

Before cooking, we will go over some logistics together and then have everyone set a brief intention for their cooking. 

During cooking, I will be supporting each station and helping where needed. Generally the cooking itself takes about 2 hours.

After cooking, we will come together to share a meal together and help guide the conversation around your postpartum intentions. Additional options during this time is to play any games and / or make birthing flags together. 

After you leave, I will wait for the food to cool, package, label it, freeze it, and clean up. Once your baby arrives, I will deliver the frozen foods to you. 

• Opt to do a Baby Blessing Cooking Party instead of a baby shower! 

• Ask for contributions as part of your baby registry.

• Set up payment plans for these services together.

• Think about this as your food budget postpartum. 

• Explore whether you could use your FSA / HSA funds toward these services. I can work with you to determine eligibility. 

Why a Baby Blessing Cooking Party as opposed to many other meal options postpartum? 

There is magical power in home cooked food that is prepared with and by your loved ones. You can also have choice in what foods you are choosing to nourish your body and be assured that they use the most high quality ingredients coming from the best possible sources. 

Absolutely! As long as one designated guest can hang with the children, children are more than welcome. We will work together to ensure there are enough guests to cover the various cooking needs. 

• Meat and Broth Components - Root Down Farm, Sonoma County Meat Co., and Left Coast Grassfed

• Dairy & Eggs - Alexandre Farm

• Produce - Blue House Farm and other certified organic producers

• Beans, Whole Grains, Spices, & Other Items - Rainbow Grocery and Costco

Christopher Muzar with Finally Recognized Photography lovingly shot the majority of photos on this website.

Guests from cooking parties shot the remaining photos.