When COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the Town of Niverville’s cooking classes, the recreation department took them online. So far, it’s been to rave reviews.

The kids cooking classes had been held at the Niverville Credit Union Manor kitchen, with the adult classes being held at the town office. When the pandemic hit and all the town’s recreation initiatives were put on hold, town staff had to to brainstorm how to carry on.

“It was a collaborative effort,” says Angela Janz, the town’s recreation programmer. “We also had initially planned in-person classes for spring and were really excited to offer them, as we had grant funding from Healthy Together Now. We had the new idea for the online classes approved and moved forward.”

The classes were already funded by Southern Health-Sante Sud, to be led by registered dietician Rebecca Rempel. When they decided to offer the class online, Rempel offered to try her hand at videography.

“Rebecca is amazing. She took care of the videoing and editing and we promoted it through social media,” says Janz. “We went with prerecorded vs. live as there are often glitches with the live video meetings, and this way it kept things clean and simple. I know it was a learning curve for her to create the video, but she’s got it all figured out now, so it’s much easier. She gives the recipes, I do the ingredients/shopping lists, and verified items can be purchased locally.”

Learning video production has been challenging and Rempel admits that her home setup is humble. Without an equipment budget, Rempel decided to test how well she could produce video using only her iPhone and existing software that came with her computer. Her tripod is very small, so she uses a stack of shoeboxes and books to achieve the right height.

The video quality is decent, and the editing is simple, but Rempel says the biggest challenging is not having people to interact with.

“Videoing yourself cooking is scarier than being in front of people,” Rempel explains. “You can’t interact with an audience. You can’t see the light bulb moment when they get it, or if they don’t get it. You can’t see that you need to elaborate on the point or help make sure they get it.”

She sees the classes as much more than just a way to teach about ingredients and cooking technique, but to encourage a healthy lifestyle, share ideas about making cooking less stressful, and really have a lot of fun.

“A cooking class is more than just about putting a fork into your mouth. We talk about what gives you the most amount of energy, [and] how to cook in big batches so you can have it on hand and not have to feel the pressure of cooking everyday. There’s a lot of practical knowledge that can be experienced in the kitchen and not just taught in a clinic. That’s where the magic happens.”

Translating all of that in-person “magic” onto the screen is certainly a challenge, but the videos have been well received. The classes have also reached a larger audience than the in-person classes would have. Another advantage is that viewers following along at home can pause and rewatch segments for anything they may have missed.

“We’ve always had a good response, but now the cool thing is if people couldn’t attend a class, they can actually find time to watch the video when it suits them better,” says Rempel. “It suits a busy lifestyle.”

Janz says the first video has had more than 700 views so far, and the second has had almost 500.

Despite her inexperience with video, Rempel’s love for cooking and helping others in their approach to food make her a natural in front of the camera. Her clear instructions make it easy to follow along with the recipe while her humour and candid approach make it enjoyable to watch.

“For me, I do love cooking,” Rempel says. “It’s relaxing. It’s a form of therapy. I like putting flavours together and working in my kitchen with my kitchen tools and making myself a delicious supper. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right. You can definitely make something that’s very simple that tastes good and is healthy.”

As a dietician, Rempel’s approach doesn’t just focus on the nutrients, but also on having a positive relationship with food.

“You can see a lot of Instagrammers or bloggers out there giving drastic messages, but it can be a guilt and shame spiral, which is a recipe for disaster,” says Rempel. “With all of this stress people are doing through, being on lockdown, people are talking about the ‘quarantine 15’ and it’s a bit of a vicious cycle. It’s not the worst thing in the world to use food as comfort, as long as that food is not replacing other healthy ways to gain comfort, like family or journaling or sleep or going for a walk.”

Two more classes are being edited for release at the end of June on the theme of barbecue side dishes and Rempel is excited about the line-up of recipes.

“A lot of people like their burger or steak,” she adds. “They know what they like and don’t want to mess with that. And on the side, a lot of people are used to a potato or a starch, and they could really use a few more ideas… I don’t actually own a barbecue, so I had to go to my parents to film the barbecue portion. One of the recipes I’ll be showing is called ‘Blooming Onions,’ and it went over very well with my picky Mennonite family.”