Feed and Cook With Love - My 2nd Bloggers Meetup

 

 

After the last Bloggers' Meetup in August, Edith suggested that we bloggers come together, pool our strength, cook and prepare food for a good cause. The good cause? Cooking for elderly folks. And so, the plan was drawn. Edith liaised with an old folks centre (Peace Connect) near her home and we bloggers would sponsor a meal for them, a lunch for 80 pax. Wow, that's quite alot of people to feed and we would have to recruit all the manpower we can.

Next up was deciding the menu. There were some criteria to consider, for example: low salt, low sugar, less oil content etc. Finally, we decided on the menu as:

1) Fried Bee Hoon, recipe by Jane
2) Taukwa with bean sprouts, recipe by Edith
3) Braised Mushroom with Meat Sauce, recipe by Shirley
4) Stir Fried Mixed Vegetables, recipe by Jo
5) Red Bean Soup, recipe by me

Once the menu was decided and the details ironed out, we started inviting volunteers by word of mouth. The response was warm and we had a total of around 19 volunteers; bloggers and non bloggers alike joined in for the event which we named as Cook and Feed With Love.

We split the cooking tasks among 5 teams, one team for each dish led by a total of 5 team leaders: Shirley, Edith, Jane, Jo and me. The team leader would coordinate with her/his team members on the amount of food each member would be preparing.

In the morning on 16th October, the volunteers gathered at Peace Connect, lugging along trays and containers of food that were prepared for the event. We set up a simple 'buffet' serving counter where we dished out the food to the elderly folks. These elderly folks reside in single room flats located in neighbouring blocks around Peace Connect and they would come down for their daily meals; breakfast, lunch and dinner. Simple fare is served to them for their meals and these include; biscuits, bread, confectionaries etc; all sponsored by various organizations.

After 11am, the old folks started streaming in and in a brief moment, the whole place was bustling with activity. The old folks tucked into their lunch with joy and even had a karaoke session where they sang songs like '我问天', a hokkien number which is the theme song of  '爱', a taiwanese soap opera that has high viewership in Singapore. When lunch was over, the old folks started to leave and we helped clear the place.  

  

It was a meaningful yet fun-filled saturday morning spent at Peace Connect. With the success of this Cook and Feed With Love event, we are looking forward to upcoming similar community projects. Thanks to all the volunteers for making this event a success. It definitely was a great pleasure meeting up with them.

Volunteers (Bloggers):

Edith from http://preciousmoments66.blogspot.com/

Shirley from http://kokken69.blogspot.com/

Josephine from http://sugareverythingnice.blogspot.com/

Jane from http://passionbaker.blogspot.com/

Jess from http://bakericious.blogspot.com/

Eelin from http://thebatterbaker.blogspot.com/
Wendy from http://wensdelight.blogspot.com/
Doris from http://testedandtasted.blogspot.com/
Winnie from http://www.winniebakerz.com/
Judy from http://busygran.blogspot.com/
Christine from http://yummykoh.blogspot.com/
Esther from http://bakingoncloud9.blogspot.com/
Sheryl from http://sweetandhappyending.blogspot.com/

Volunteers (Non Bloggers):
Adeline
Chervon
Jie Sian
Sharon
Ping

Family Lunch - Inspired to Cook

Home. Sense of belonging. Ties. Love. Understanding. Support. These are what comes to mind when I think about my family. They are absolutely my best source of motivation when it comes to baking and moving on in life.

Last Sunday, we gathered at my elder brother's place for lunch. Ever since my brother moved out to his new place, we have made it a point to keep in touch by gathering for meals on sundays fortnightly. Going over to his place meant one thing - getting to see my beloved little furry family member, Ashley.

Say hi to Ashley, a 2 year-old male Maltese. Yep, you must be thinking Ashley is a female. That is what most people would preceive upon hearing the name. I thought 'Tigger' would make a better name as Ashley can be quite active sometimes. While most Malteses spot long straight hair, we try to keep Ashley's fur short to facilitate ease for grooming.  

Photo of Ashley taken by my sis-in-law some time back. She uses a Canon D90.

In the morning, I accompanied my mum to Sheng Siong near the Woodlands Causeway. We managed to grab hold of bamboo clams, crabs and a red sea bream, all alive and kicking. There is no way that they can be any fresher!

The sumptous lunch includes; Simple Stir-fried Bamboo Clams, Chili Crab, Stir-fried Cauliflower and Bell Peppers with Crunchy Water Chestnut Bits, Teochew Style Steamed Red Sea Bream and lastly White Radish Duck Soup with Enoki Mushrooms. All the goodness of a complete homemade meal! Yummy is the best word to use here.

We could not find the chili crab paste that we bought and my mum had to do the sauce from scratch using condiments like tomato sauce and stuff. The chili crab sauce was slightly on the sweet side, but we definitely welcomed it as most of us take spicy food moderately and not to a point where it is fiery hot. I hardly have the chance to eat steamed sea bream and find that the meat is too soft and fine textured for my liking. There is no firmness to the bite and the flesh simply melts into the mouth. Everybody enjoyed the white radish duck soup and every bit of it was slurped up.

With inspiration from my mother's cooking, I will probably feature dishes that I cook in time to come. Bakertan would then be Cheftan for a day when the moment comes, haha. In case you wonder if bakertan knows how to cook. The answer is yes, but bakertan only knows how to prepare limited dishes like Baked Honey Chicken, Beer Battered Fish and Chips, Fried Calamari Rings, Vongole Pasta, Fried Chicken Wings with Chinese Style Marinate, Sweet and Sour Chicken etc...