At Friday’s cookery session we were delighted to welcome a few more new members to our group. We started the morning with a cuppa, a biscuit and a chat, before getting started on the food preparation.

On the menu was lasagne served with salad and garlic bread.
Our member Connor cooked the lean mince and added peppers, onions and mushrooms, and made the bolognaise sauce for the lasagne. Everyone helped to prepare tomatoes, onions, lettuce, peppers, mushrooms and cucumber for the salad

Lunch was followed by a game of bingo, a quiz, and some yummy banana desserts. Our volunteers did an amazing job as always, and it’s great to see members old and new making friends, building confidence, and learning new skills.

Our new member Amanda has chosen Carbonara for another delicious pasta dish next week.

Thirty-five people attend our cookery session last Friday, when attendees made cheese pie. Members peeled the potatoes for the pie (to which we added crispy bacon bits), and prepped cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage and carrots to serve on the side.

Whilst dinner was cooking Ffion hosted the quiz and bingo, which everybody enjoyed. Thank you to everyone who volunteered – you worked very hard as always. Next week we will be making lasagne, chosen by the lovely twin sisters Elizabeth & Christine.

At the latest session our Reconnect through Cookery members made pizza. They used tortilla wraps for the base, and added tomato puree and cheese. Some members added pineapple, peppers, sweetcorn, pepperoni, and chorizo.

Well done to everyone for doing a great job prepping the salad and making your own pizzas – they were delicious. We will be back on December 8^th when we will be making jacket potatoes with various fillings, as chosen by our member Richard.

Chicken curry, chosen by our Volunteer Nick, was on the menu at Friday’s cookery session. We served the curry with rice spring rolls and prawn crackers. The group enjoyed prepping the ingredients, as well as taking part in the quiz, raffle, and colouring competition. Thanks to everyone who bought a raffle ticket we managed to raise £38 for Children in Need.

Massive thanks to our kitchen volunteers – Cheryl Smith, Zoe Dummett, Amy Jones, and Rees Powell – you did an amazing job as always. Thanks also to Ffion Poole for being quiz master and organising the raffle. Next week our new member Ryan has chosen pizza.

After cookery the group took part in the third session of digital awareness and mindfulness delivered by Sangeet from WISE KIDS. We watched a video about two people talking online and then meeting up, and it turned out they were very different in real life compared to how they’d represented themselves online. If anyone would like to join us for these sessions they are every Friday at our Cookery session, from 1:30 – 2:30, but please email us first at: enquiries@caerphillypeoplefirst.org

At Friday’s cookery session members prepared broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, cabbage and potatoes to cook and serve with sausage, Yorkshire puddings and onion gravy. Everyone did a fantastic job and the food tasted delicious.

Thanks to everyone who volunteered in the kitchen, and also to Sangeet for delivering the second part of the digital awareness and mindfulness course. Next week we will be making Chinese chicken curry chosen by our member Nick.

Spaghetti Bolognaise was on the menu at Friday’s cookery class. Well done everyone – you did a great a job prepping and cooking as always. Thank you to all our volunteers who always work so hard in the kitchen, especially those working on the pots.

During the second half of the session some people took part in our weekly quiz, and others joined Sangeet from Wise Kids to take part in a focus group. This is in preparation for our Digital Wellbeing advice and mindfulness course that will run for the next six Fridays after cookery. We ended the day with a mindfulness meditation.

We will see you all next week for sausage mash and onion gravy chosen by our member Sian.

Our members did a fantastic job making tuna pasta bake at the most recent cookery session. Not everyone is a lover of tuna, so some added sausage or ham and cheese to theirs. After making the pasta bakes everyone prepared a healthy salad of broccoli and peppers that we pan fried in olive oil, and carrots which we glazed with honey and air-fried. I think everyone hit their target of 5 portions of fruit and veg!

Thank you to Cheryl and Rickell for all your hard work in the kitchen, and to and Ffion for being an amazing quizmaster and calling the bingo.

Next week is our Halloween party when we will have prizes for the best carved pumpkin, best fancy dress, and best spooky dancer. There will also be raffles, quizzes, bingo, and lots of spooky tunes to dance to. On the menu will be jack-o-lantern pizza, spooky Halloween sausage, and graveyard cake. See you all next week.