Let them eat cake!

Believe it or not, this colourful fellow is a cake. And a very delicious one too. The slumbering dragon and his lair filled with treasure was created by Kate from Jam Street Cafe for our recent cooks meet using a basic sponge mix covered with special fondant icing. Kate is a trained pastry chef, so she knows what she's doing, and she'll be sharing plenty of great baking tips in upcoming Cracking Good Food cookery sessions. This magic dragon certainly went down a treat, and is a perfect idea for St David's Day on 1 March!

Clare

Cooks meet, February 2010

As Cracking Good Food hurtles towards its official launch at Chorlton's Big Green Festival on Saturday 27 March, coordinators Adele, Jess and Beth thought it would be a good idea to get all the Cracking Cooks together, and last Tuesday evening was set as the date.

Adele's wonderfully homely kitchen was crammed with 20 chairs and stools begged and borrowed from various friends and neighbours, and the Cracking Good Food Cooking Leaders met for a briefing about the project and a chance to try out each other's food. One by one, everybody introduced themselves to the group and described their cooking background - from restaurant pastry chefs and events caterers to local grocers and full-time mums. The coordinators outlined the aims of the network and organisation, explained how the cooking sessions and Cooks On The Hop events will work, and answered queries that were put forward.

Next came the important business of sampling the various dishes that the Cooking Leaders had brought along with them. Included in the savoury spread was a delicious homemade cheese and onion quiche, some Aberdeen Buttery Rowies straight from Rob's oven next door, Juliet's clove-laden chilli con carne, an unusual take on veggie moussaka courtesy of Unicorn's Richard and a tasty curry with lovely fresh chapattis. Steve and Jay from new deli Hickson & Black's supplied the cheeseboard and Kim rustled up a sundried tomato flatbread there and then. Anna's chocolate muffins with a cheesecake topping went down a treat for afters, while Kate's dragon cake was so beautiful noone wanted to cut into it - but we were so grateful when Jess finally took the plunge, as the sweet sponge and icing concoction was fabulous!

Clare

Cracking Christmas, December 2009

Hats off to all those who braved the cold to take part in our Christmas dinner cooking workshop at Chorlton High School on Thursday 17 December. Cracking Good Food had heard that the supermarket ingredients that go into an average Christmas dinner travel a combined distance of over 49,000 miles before they even get to our plates, so we challenged Nina to find an alternative that wouldn't cost the earth. Nina's 5-8pm session (co-hosted by Action for Sustainable Living as part of their I'm Dreaming Of A Green Christmas campaign) aimed to show how easy it is to create a delicious festive feast on a budget, avoiding unnecessary airmiles by using locally sourced ingredients and cutting back on excess waste with top tips on using up leftovers.


After first shedding their own layers, the group was straight into peeling parsnips, stripping sprouts off their stalks and rinsing the soil from the "dirty" carrots (here's one of the participants, Bernard, looking on eagerly!), and it wasn't long before the kitchen began to fill with some lovely roasting smells. The apple gluhwein soon warmed everyone up and there was a great atmosphere as we all sat around the big table together, chatting and tucking into the tasty dishes that never seemed to stop coming from the oven. It might not have been Christmas Day, but the party spirit was definitely in abundance and everyone was sorry when it was time to leave – although when they did, they had plenty of new ideas and a good bundle of recipe sheets to try out at home!

Clare

Cooks On The Hop, October 2009

Despite it being a cold and windy October day, plenty of people gathered round to watch (and help!) us erect our gazebo in Darley Avenue. Laughing at the oddness of the activity, we battled on and eventually managed to perfect a sheltered cooking spot for our first attempt at Cooks On The Hop, when Cracking Good Food goes out and about into the local community to put on a cooking demo.

Seeing Kim throwing matchstick-thin carrots and leeks into a wok sizzling with hot chilli paste, passers-by were at our side like a shot eager to try some out. Pleased at how good veggie food was, even the teenage lads on bikes helped out with the chopping so they could have seconds.

The buzz of chatter and smells in the air encouraged more and more people to stop by, and soon stories were being swapped about favourite food. Some nice ladies even nipped back home to rustle up dishes to add to the table, including a fantastic coleslaw! It was almost like a proper old-fashioned street party – all that was missing was the music! Everyone enjoyed themselves so much, we promised to return to repeat it, and we will...

Adele