Anna Wind, our Healthy Eating coordinator, reports:
We had our first luncheon of the season at Harborview yesterday. Six residents came out in the cold and joined me to cook, socialize, taste new things, and share a delicious, healthy meal. We reviewed knife skills, and shared tips about vegetables like leeks and celery root. The soup we shared was made from Roasted Butternut Squash and a memorable quote of the afternoon was ” I’m glad that you made this, I never would have tried it myself, but I really like it!.”
The dinner conversation was lively and informative, ranging from concerns about the ownership of the housing, interest in home grown herbs and produce, challenges with advocating around health issues and pensions, and appreciation of the resources available in this area like TIP and At Home Downeast that offer support in navigating these challenges.
A bonus educational activity developed when I learned that a few participants had never used some basic ingredients before, so I did a little demo of garlic prep and we cooked it three different ways for people to try, this seemed eye-opening and fun for folks.
I asked about topics they might be interested in exploring and the consensus was that everyone would welcome Martha Cole if she wanted to join us next time to answer nutritional queries. They were also interested in some form of senior-focused exercises that would help them to maintain their mobility.
One thing that was clear, besides a good time had by all yesterday, there isn’t much liveliness going on in their community. They told of an old activity director who helped to unify the residents and provide a sense of camaraderie through programming, but that seems to have passed with her time. One woman suggested that some other folks might be interested cooking with us in the future and I will reach out to them for our next luncheon, which will be scheduled for February 12th, 11-1pm. We will likely make some form of bean soup unless another brilliant idea comes to me that is more valentines themed. Everyone certainly enjoyed the afternoon of good food and company!