Today This is Haslemere had the pleasure of attending a fabulous cookery class. ‘Cooking with what’s in your cupboard’ was a fabulous event held at the Haslemere Methodist Church that used recipes inspired by the British journalist, food writer and activist Jack Monroe. Jack has published seven cookbooks, all focused on creating delicious meals which can be made on a budget.

The event was set up by local Haslemere resident Lee Lees who is an active member of Three Counties Vineyard Church assisted by other volunteers from the church in conjunction with Floss from Christians Against Poverty. Head chef was Wai, who certainly knows a thing a two about how to create delicious home-cooked meals on a budget.

Split into two groups, attendees rustled up a selection of delicious dishes, all of which cost very little to make. These included Chilli Roasted Chickpeas, Fish Kedgeree and Black Bean Daal and the meal was finished off with a delicious oat crumble.

As well as cooking together, the group also had a discussion about healthy eating, where time was taken to discuss the importance of each of the different food groups. They also talked about tips to save money on your weekly shop. 

And, of course, the group then all ate together afterwards. 

It was  truly wonderful and heartwarming event, as well as being incredibly useful and educational for those that attended. Fingers crossed it will be the first of many - there are certainly plans to hopefully run this monthly in Haslemere and, if the feedback from today is anything to go by, they'll be queued out the door for the next one! We'll confirm dates as soon as we have them.

Massive thanks must go to Lee for organising the event along with chef extraordinaire Wai. Thanks too to volunteers Sam and Emily for their help and to Floss. Lee also wanted to extend a thank you to the Haslemere Food Bank for donating some of the ingredients and to the Haslemere Methodist church for use of the space.