READY STEADY COOK
Gill, Carole, Janet, Sue G, Sue W, Nicky, Linda & Joyce

None of us were at all sure how (or if) this was going to work and we all sat silently looking at the kitchen table full of mysterious ingredients for several minutes, feeling very confused and struggling for some culinary inspiration. Where was Jamie Oliver when you needed him? As it happens he was presenting his new TV show Ministry of Food on the very same evening, coincidentally from a location just down the road, with another group of infamous Rotherham ladies.

We had all provided a marvellous selection of different ingredients (apart from Sue G who had picked up the wrong carrier bag, and instead of bringing aubergine and passion fruit had brought potatoes and bananas instead !!). Oh well – never mind. Joyce had brought coconut milk and other unusual ‘foreign’ delicacies – barberries from Iran and fried onion pieces from the Pakistani delicatessen. Janet was clearly hoping to create a delicious dessert with her marshmallows, Crunchy Nut Cornflakes and strawberries. We also had chestnuts, mushrooms, salmon, sweet potatoes, honey, peppers and Greek yoghurt to tempt our taste buds.

Seeing as Jamie didn’t seem to be coming we decided we had better get started and we (almost) sprang into action. The kitchen soon became a hive of activity – Nicky gave a very good pastry demonstration and Sue W discovered how to cook a sweet potato in the microwave. Janet and Carole got to work with the marshmallows and Linda tackled the red pepper and salmon. In the end we produced a delicious three course meal – salmon with pesto topping and stuffed red peppers for starters, followed by a sweet potato and roast vegetable flan with creamy mushroom sauce and then a honey nut berry pastry and marshmallow fancies.

It was all in all a very successful evening which we enjoyed in spite of Jamie’s absence. I think we surprised ourselves at how well it all turned out and we were certainly pleasantly replete at the end of it. Recipes will be available on request !