Tasting Togetherness: Whiddon’s Resident Cooking Club is back on the menu

The Whiddon Cooking Club will bring new connections into kitchens across the not-for-profit providers’ 22 residential care homes for the first time in three years.

Proving there is nothing sweeter than the rich connections cooked up in the kitchen, award-winning care provider, Whiddon has proudly relaunched their successful Cooking Club initiative.

The Whiddon Cooking Club will see residents from each of Whiddon’s 22 residential aged care (RAC) homes, including Whiddon Narrabri Robert Young and Jessie Hunt, come together each fortnight to enjoy the shared experience of creating delicious home-cooked family recipes.

Kicking off from July, the program will run through to June 2025, with twelve months of delicious recipes lovingly drawn from the intergenerational family cookbooks of Whiddon residents.

Each month features one sweet and one savoury hero dish, shared by residents and collated into the Whiddon Cooking Club’s very own recipe book.

Whiddon residents will be able to get their hands dirty with 12 months worth of recipes to enjoy.

In bringing these beloved dishes to life, residents are encouraged to share their culinary heritage, embrace social connections, and importantly flex their cooking skills, with the support of Whiddon’s chefs and wellbeing team.

The Whiddon Cooking Club program is one of many creative ageing initiatives championed by Whiddon, with the aim to bring enjoyment and improve the health and well-being of residents through creative expression.

The program also complements Whiddon’s care philosophy which places relationships at the heart of great care.

First launched in September 2020 across eight Whiddon homes, the Whiddon Cooking Club experienced a joyous 10-month ‘bake time’ before the COVID-19 pandemic forced its ongoing hiatus in 2021.

Now is the perfect time to serve up the reimagined Whiddon Cooking Club, according to Whiddon chief customer experience officer, Michael Monteleone.

“We know food holds a special place in the hearts and memories of our residents,” Mr Monteleone said.

“There is also immense joy in the connection that comes from creating and enjoying meals together,” he said.

“That’s why it was so important for us to bring this program back to residents across all our residential care homes.

“We enjoy seeing our residents show our chefs a thing or two.”

Robert Young resident Jean’s scrumptious Banana Cake Muffins recipe is reproduced below from the cookbook.

All we can say is, bon appétit!