The Arlington Cooking Club

_{September 26th, 2023}
The idea for a resident cooking club started in the resident council. The residents discussed meals, what they would like to see coming from the kitchen, and their passion for food. During this discussion, our activities director, Angela, advised the residents that they would be able to use supplies from the kitchen to create the recipes they were longing for. The Arlington Cooking Club was born! Two of our active residents in the cooking club, Tanya and Melinda, discussed with me further some of their ideas for the future of the cooking club.

Melinda explained how she sees the club to have two main purposes, cooking for fun, and cooking for fundraisers to use for additional activities. The residents feel joy in cooking recipes that they made in their own homes. Tanya prepared the peanut butter fudge for our most recent bake sale (and it got rave reviews!). She says that her father taught her and her siblings how to make fudge when she was young. She then proudly exclaimed that she was the only one of four girls who ever made it right!

To ensure resident safety, our activity aides handled any hot preparation (getting things in and out of the oven, melting things on the burner), but our residents did the rest! They stirred, measured, and portioned all of the necessary ingredients.

The proceeds from their most recent bake sale stayed with the residents for they to have extra spending money at the El Dorado casino on their most recent resident outing. Next on their list is to create a cookbook to sell. They are excited to add their favorite recipes to share with everyone! They are also looking ahead to the holiday season, in hopes of putting together cookie tins. We are so proud of our residents for their ingenuity and efforts and look forward to seeing where they lead the Arlington Cooking Club!