INSTRUCTORS: Angel Schatz, Shelia Prescott, & Hannah Bealle
WHEN: Thursday, October 14, 2025, 5:00 p.m - 6:30 p.m.
WHERE: Austin Central Library (Meet in the demo area on the 1st floor.)
COST: Free with Registration
Join us for a delicious dive into the world of gourmet fungi!
Led by the experts from the Central Texas Mycological Society, this cooking class blends culinary artistry with mushroom know-how. We’ll kick off with a short educational presentation on mushroom species (both cultivated and wild) followed by a live cooking demonstration and a tasting you won’t want to miss.
On the Menu
🍄🟫 Chicken of the Woods Tikka Masa: A seasonal-favorite recipe starring the meaty, flavorful Laetiporus sulphureus.
🍄 Seasonal Beverages: Chaga Chai.
All ingredients are responsibly sourced, with mushrooms from regional farms and wild patches carefully identified by trained experts. Whether you’re a fungi fanatic or just mushroom-curious, this event will satisfy your appetite for flavor and fun!
About the Instructors
Angel Schatz - I grew up in Missouri with ten siblings, and the first mushroom I ever learned was—fittingly—the Destroying Angel. It was my introduction to how powerful and mysterious fungi can be.
Before CTMS, I worked as an experience designer and animator in the tech world—but eventually, I left that world to plug into a very different kind of network: the earth’s internet—mycelium. Now I’m a forager, urban gardener, and mycology educator.
Through CTMS, I get to share my passion for the ecosystems of Central Texas and help people connect to the fungal kingdom in ways that are joyful, practical, and community-powered. Whether we’re growing mushrooms from recycled blocks or helping trees survive drought through mycorrhizal fungi—we’re building soil and solidarity.
Hannah Beall Hannah’s passion for cooking and growing sprouted early, often overshadowing her academics. Though pursuing a degree in journalism in college, she spent the majority of her time transforming her backyard into a thriving garden and improving upon her culinary skills when she should have been at the library.
In 2017, after becoming a mother, she embraced the pursuit of farming as a career, agreeing to take over operation of a 30-year-old organic vegetable farm in Burnet, TX at risk of closing for good.
After honing her skills and completing Farmshare Austin’s “Farmer Starter” program, she managed Hairston Creek Farm successfully for two years.
There her knack for food preservation blossomed, creating delightful products from surplus produce and foraged ingredients.
The uncertainties of the pandemic led to the sale of the farm, prompting Hannah to launch “Han-Can,” a cottage food business specializing in preserving locally-sourced ingredients from all of the farm friends she’d met along the way.
Post-pandemic, she contributed to Urban American Farmer’s “Farm School for Chefs” and Sustainable Food Center’s “Farm Viability” team.
Today, as Farm Manager at Central Texas Food Bank, she continues her journey, merging farming expertise with a passion for giving back to the community and sustainable food systems.
