In case you missed it we have been working for some time with East Lothian Girlguiding arranging a cooking competition between units in the county, to produce tasty, nutritious and appetising recipes from the basic ingredients of a food parcel we supply, along with basic simple household items.
The final, a MasterChef style “cook off” competition took place at the end of March and was kindly hosted by Preston Lodge Home Economics department. It was presided over by 3 independent judges: Rev Canon Anne Dyer Chair of the Foodbank Trustees, Iain Gray MSP and Denise King CEO of Girlguiding Scotland.
After a furious hour of chopping and cooking the judges were ready to taste the food, and the girls were cleaning their work stations and trying not to look over at the judges. The judges emerged from their judging huddle and declared that the Winners were 1st Aberlady guides, with their vegetable stir fry and easy apple crumble. 9th Musselburgh Guides came in second place with their leak and potato soup and ham and pesto pasta. And 1st Belhaven Guides took third place for their tomato and pepper pasta and biscuit crunch.
Judge Denise congratulated all the the girls who took part in the competition saying “All the finalists had worked hard to come up with innovative recipes using items from the foodbank’s list. For several of the girls this was their first experience making nutritious meal from scratch without help from an adult and they demonstrated brilliant teamwork as they worked together to create delicious meals. This is a brilliant example of how Girlguiding Scotland members are taking action and being a force for good in communities – all while learning new skills and having loads of fun”.
Fellow Judge Anne said that they had been delighted by the enthusiasm of the Guides as they took part in the competition. She said “They’ve clearly thought very carefully about what it means to live alone or on a low income and maybe supported by a foodbank parcel. The food they produced was delicious.”
Mr Gray said “This is a really good coming together of two very important institutions in the East Lothian Community – Girlguiding and our now established foodbank. The units had a good time and came up with fantastic dishes and have a more in-depth understanding of the foodbank and what it does. It is important that people learn about the work of the foodbank. We all wish we didn’t need a foodbank in East Lothian but we do. ”
We would like to thank the judges for supporting the competition, along with Musselburgh and Dunbar Rotary group, which sponsored prizes for the contestants.