An abundance of fruit

I’m sorry for not keeping our blog more up to date, I hope you agree with me that our clients should be our priority and they have been keeping us very busy. I’ve just returned to the office after being on Radio Sheffield reviewing today’s stories in the news with Rony, we had good fun and he likes to throw all sorts of stories at his guests he asked me ‘if I liked flap jack?’ This gave me the opportunity to speak about Ben’s and the apple flap jack we had made last week with Gavin one of our clients, which I would highly recommend, it was delicious.

Abundance a local charity, collects unused fruit from trees around Sheffield donating it to local charities we have had pears, plums and lots and lots of apples. I have taken a number of individuals into the kitchen with me to prepare a number of apple dishes; we have also made Apple Crumble, Eve’s Pudding and most recently Tarte Tatin prepared by a client who is a trained pastry chef.

I never get over the joy of watching people participating in an activity; it’s a lot to ask them to do for many of our clients their lives are very chaotic. However they turn up to cook and the majority haven’t cooked in years they are hesitant and some will be shaky because they will not have had a drink. With lots of reassurance they begin to join in and start to relax and enjoy the time spent one to one in the kitchen, which can be quite comforting and homely with all its warmth and smells.

So many people come into the kitchen and say “it won’t work”; “it won’t taste right it won’t rise”. They all have such negative experiences and such low expectations of themselves they are so incredibly hard on themselves. I make sure that what ever we choose to make with help they will be able to make it and it always tastes great!

Once they have finished cooking everyone gets to share in their endeavours as it becomes part of our lunchtime menu. Initially all you hear is silence as everyone tucks in to their meal and then, one by one each of the street drinkers congratulates the pudding maker. Not only do waists lines start to swell but the person who took the risk  to help with the  cooking, starts to stand up taller and then their pride begin to swell too.