Festive Grow, Cook, Eat

After an incredible launch this year for our new Grow, Cook, Eat project, Freyja Davis has ended the year on a high with some very festive treats for local people. She shares what she’s been up to and offers some ideas and support for our Northamptonshire community.

Festive Get Togethers 

As our way to celebrate the incredible work happening in our local communities, we hosted a little festive gathering for all the members of the Grow Cook Eat community at The Green Patch.

Firing up the pizza oven for the final time this year, we enjoyed festive pizzas with homemade cranberry sauce and camembert topping, homemade mulled Christmas cordial and some decadent brownie bites. The perfect winter wind-down. I’m looking forward to hosting more events like these in the new year, and anyone can sign up to my newsletter to stay up to date with what events are happening and when.

Green Patch Christmas meal 

Weeks of prepping paid off as we got together for a very special Christmas celebration. With our dedicated team of volunteers, we’ve been prepping an array of accompaniments to go along with our Christmas meal. Two kilograms of cranberries for a delicious, tangy sauce, and four red cabbages later, a hearty winter warming braised red cabbage side dish became the perfect addition to a very well-earned celebration of the incredible team of volunteers we’re so lucky to work with down at The Green Patch.

In mid December we hosted the meal at the gorgeous space at Johnny’s Happy Place and we welcomed 60 wonderful volunteers from The Green Patch for an evening of festive feasting and carol singing. A beautiful evening – curated by Groundwork’s volunteer engagement officer and all-round queen, Ella Cardinali – was enjoyed by all. Thanks to everyone who came.

Festive Recipe

Every month I add a new recipe to our special recipes page. We’ve recently had something for Halloween, and something for Diwali, so for this month it had to be festive baking. Take a look at our recipes page to get started with your own homemade crunchie.

Free Christmas Dinner  

Everyone deserves the right to have a Christmas dinner. If you’re looking for support this Christmas, here are some details.

Corby: Free Christmas Lunch

  • St Andrews Church, Corby
  • Call Tristan 07734 086957

 Kettering: Edens Centre – Free Christmas Lunch

  • 12pm-2pm
  • Edens Centre, 21 Montagu Street, Kettering NN168XG 

I want to take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the incredible community of Grow Cook Eat-ers! It’s been jam-packed for sure as we’ve grown, cooked and eaten in every season across North Northamptonshire. With your invaluable participation, we’ve not only grown in numbers but nurtured a vibrate movement forging a resilient community of food enthusiasts and green thumbs alike.

I look forward to doing a lot more with you in 2024!