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ANOTHER YEAR OF PIVOTS LEADS TO EXCITING NEW EVENTS FOR KITCHEN TOUR As such, this year, the Committee’s range of events have embraced a theme of cultural sharing and international inspiration including a virtual international cocktail class, a virtual Italian cooking class, a virtual recipe exchange, and finally a pinnacle in person garden party. The year kicked off with the repeat of a wildly successful addition to the 2021 Kitchen Tour Greeting JLW Garden Party attendees. season with a virtual recipe collection. More than 100 recipes April 30, the Kitchen Tour Committee were collected across the League with dishes hosted approximately 200 attendees at spanning from Southern comfort foods JLW’s historic Loughborough House for to Caribbean entrees. Donors received a an elegant taste of springtime around the digital booklet of the compiled recipes for world. The event utilized the League’s ininspiration in their own kitchens. door and outdoor spaces to highlight local On April 7, 2022, there were approxand international cultures through carefully imately 30 attendees for the Commitcurated dining options, musical selections, tee’s virtual event, “A Taste of Italy: an and decor. “We were so excited to welcome Interactive Cooking Class” with Professor League members and friends in person as Francesca Seaman. Seaman led the class in we celebrated our perseverance as a group creating a Campari cocktail, a spring salad, and the diversity that makes this League so and a saffron risotto with asparagus and special!” said Morgan and Barry. • shrimp. This event followed an “Around the World Craft Cocktail Class” in February where approximately 30 members joined Chrissy Sheffey of Charismatic Creations to explore favorite international cocktails and mocktails. While the Committee initially anticipated having an in person tour, Morgan and Barry quickly found homeowners weren’t quite ready to have a few hundred people tour their home, even with COVID-19 precautions. Therefore, in response to a need to pivot from the traditional Kitchen Tour event, the idea to create the 2022 Guests enjoying a sweet treat Kitchen Tour Garden Party was born. On
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Photo courtesy of Julianna Dinsmore
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or the third year in a row, one of the Junior League of Washington (JLW)’s most anticipated events has been caught in the crux of required change due to the pandemic. This year, that change resulted in an awe-inspiring outcome. The 2022 Kitchen Tour Committee, led by Annie Morgan and Sophie Barry, has embraced not one, but two pivots over the course of the year. Replacing the traditional Kitchen Tour event, this year the Committee met members where they are through a combination of virtual pre-events, a virtual recipe collection, and an in person garden party with an international and multicultural theme. After much debate, the Committee determined that 2022 would have to be another year of change from the typical in person, “kitchen tour” format. However, exactly what the 2022 format would be was a moving target as the world continued to approach in person events with cautious optimism. By remaining flexible and embracing the uncertainty of the moment, the Committee created a successful series of events that engaged women in different ways. “We’ve been finding the energy to go with the flow this year,” says 2021-2022 Co-Chair Annie Morgan. “After this became another year of pivoting, earlier this year Sophie Barry [Co-Chair] and I decided that the most important aspect of the event was for members to feel engaged and excited about the League and Kitchen Tour’s work.” “This year, no matter what the format, we knew that we wanted to center the Kitchen Tour around a theme of cultural sharing and diversity. After all, hosting is a way of bringing people together and exchanging ideas - something that eventually we’ll all be able to do again,” shared 2021-2022 Co-Chair Sophie Barry.
Meredith Shields
