Blend.
http://blendcookeatshare.yolasite.com

We all know that what we eat can affect how we feel physically. Eating well can also improve our mood and mental health, increasing serotonin and reducing lethargy. More than this, the experience of cooking and eating with others can really add something special to our lives. Blend, a social enterprise based in Sharrow, runs a number of activities for the community designed to optimize these three levels of food-related well-being.

One of Blend’s most successful regular events is the Healthy Cook Along. This is an opportunity to learn to cook new dishes from around the world and share a meal with others in your local community. The sessions attract a wide range of local people, including young families teaching their children the basics, students wanting to expand their repertoire and older people seeking new skills, perhaps after divorce or bereavement. The cooking activities encourage people to cooperate and get talking and the atmosphere is relaxed and welcoming, with a sense of collective achievement once the food is served. At £2 for adults or £1 for kids with all ingredients and equipment provided, it’s a pretty cheap activity.

If you aren’t a beginner in the kitchen but would like the opportunity to gain more technical skill, the Advanced Cook Alongs are targeted at you. These sessions focus on much more adventurous dishes made with seasonal, local produce. Any additional income generated is ploughed back into Blend’s other food related projects. Their most recent menu was themed around game and included pigeon, watercress and black pudding salad, roast pheasant and sticky toffee pudding. Yum.

The Blend website describes their Saturday morning Baking Club as ‘a laidback event to bring people together to bake bread, drink coffee, read the papers and enjoy the start of the weekend’. The club provides a chance to bake the basics plus some well-deserved treats, sharing tips and recipes with other keen bakers, from beginners to experts.

The ‘BIG’ events were inspired by the national Big Lunch campaign. This has now developed into a regular quarterly event including a meal and family activities, which are a great chance to meet people living in your area. For those who wish to progress onto a career in food or community work, Blend also has a number of volunteering opportunities.

Upcoming Blend events:

HEALTHY COOK ALONGS

£2 adults/£1 kids at The Old Sharrow Junior School, South View Road

Thursday 26th January – Thai vegetable kebabs and satay sauce, Thai green curry and Pad Thai

Thursday 23rd February – Moroccan chicken tagine, cous cous, aubergine salad, sardine tagine, carrot salad

Thursday 29th March – Vietnamese (menu to be confirmed)

ADVANCED COOK ALONG

£10 per person at The Old Sharrow Junior School, South View Road

Tuesday 6th March - Menu to be confirmed

BAKING CLUB

£2.50/kids free at The Old Sharrow Junior School, South View Road

Saturday 28th January

Saturday 25th February

Saturday 31st March