Like Fine Wine... — Seniors keep busy in the kitchen

We all have memories of our grandmother’s home cooking â€" the aromas from her pot wafting throughout the house.

Homemade delicacies these days are few and far between, with processed foods taking precedence because of convenience. Well, the ladies who know best are back in the kitchen, through an initiative founded by the National Council for Senior Citizens (NCSC).

NCSC Parish Organiser
Beverly Edwards gives
out samples of the
pumpkin punch.

Marva Morris from the Red Hills Senior Citizens’ Club
made a lovely orange marmalade.

Gizzadas lined neatly in a row, courtesy of Angela Dudley from
Riverton Meadows.

Sasha Dixon (left) joins her grandmother Rena Roberts at the National
Council for Senior Citizens culinary fest.

Coconut Toto by Iris Thomas.

Jennis Dunbar presented 'blue draws' for her assessment. Photos: Christina Hoo Fung

The NCSC is an agency of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security catering to senior citizens in Jamaica. Here, seniors are priority, and the council has implemented programmes and activities meant to not only empower the seniors, but also to improve their quality of life. In addition to art and craft and poster and essay competitions, the council has developed a culinary programme, with senior citizens whipping up delectable dishes, as well as jams and jellies and wines.

Introduced in 1983, the culinary programme affords seniors a chance to interact and to display their culinary skills as well as provide an income for a few.

Instructors from the NCSC may do a demonstration, and introduce to the seniors new recipes they can try at home; many of these golden agers have even created their own recipes, and have gone on to enter competitions â€" Linnette Johnson's Yam Punch, for example, won silver at this year's JCDC Food Festival.

Workshops are held weekly, monthly or quarterly, either at the NCSC head office on West King’s House Road, or at the various senior citizens’ clubs. According to Parish Organiser Beverly Edwards, the seniors are very receptive to the programme, with an encouraging response not only from the seniors themselves, but from their families as well.

Thursday Food caught up with some of the senior citizens on the day of their culinary assessment. Here's a little of what they shared.

Source: Jamaica Observer: Jamaica's Best Newspaper