WHIDDON’S resident Cooking Club has recently relaunched across 22 residential care homes for the first time in three years.
Kicking off from July, the program will run until June 2025 with delicious recipes every fortnight.
Each month features one sweet and one savory dish chosen from Whiddon Cooking Club’s very own recipe book filled with recipes from residents.
Whiddon Beaudesert’s latest class was held on August 16, baking Nerida’s Yummy Rice Bubble Biscuits with Whiddon Chef Billie Auld leading the demonstration and Wellbeing and Lifestyle team member Susan Curtis offering assistance.
Although the baking process didn’t take long to complete, the residents were happy to stay and mingle.
“It was quite good – it was uplifting, and they were giggling, having a chat and interacting well,” Susan said.
“We get them together and they have a go at cooking. It brings back a lot of memories from when they used to cook.”
Chef Billie has been with Whiddon for 16 years and was excited to be able to teach the residents for the first time in their cooking club.
“This my first one; I enjoyed it. I think each time we’ll do a little bit more and we’ll become more hands-on and more involved,” she said.
“Maybe they could teach me a thing or two about cooking as well, maybe some conversations about what they used to cook – I could learn a few things.”
The class of seven had a go with rolling and flattening the biscuits as well as share a few stories about their cooking back in the day.
“One of the residents, I did overhear her say that it reminded her of when she used to cook for her family and make biscuits – that was really sweet,” Billie said.
“That’s what this is for, to jolt their memories of what they used to do, because they come into a facility and they don’t get to do that anymore – so, this is all so they feel they haven’t lost those skills and they still enjoy it,” Susan said.
