If you can't stand the heat... but we couldn't stay out of the kitchen as it was FoodCycle day. Gill had come in early to make pastry for quiches but once they were cooked the oven was turned off and the focus for Gill and Martin was on making salads. It was lovely to see Chanel who was on food collection, but then returned to join Gail, Susannah and Neill in the hosting team. A lovely summer menu which guests and volunteers enjoyed . A mixed melon starter, quiche with warm potato salad, mixed salad and coleslaw. And for dessert a fruit salad with a fruit lie and fairy cake. Well done team. Good food from GoodGym.

We had a fabulous turn out from GoodGym to support at FoodCycle this afternoon, and with a fridge full of eggs the cooking team had to come up with some new and innovative ways of using them to produce a delicious and nutritious meal. Gill had arrived early and made a start on pudding - using up some of the chocolate Easter eggs that had been donated a while ago, and about 20 hens eggs to create some delicious chocolate tarts. Lucie and Gill then made a start on the main course with some help from one of the new FoodCycle volunteers and one of our more experienced friends. Peppers were decapitated, roasted and then filled with a spicy rice filling and topped with an egg. The starter was a delightful crushed and roasted potato dish made up by two more of the FoodCyclers.

It was good to have Sam back with us on pot washing duties -she is incredible at this vital role. And Darshini joined us as a host along with Susannah, and Chrisshane (who was eggperiencing her first time as a volunteer at FoodCycle. They did a grand job of setting up the tables, serving the guests and clearing up afterwards.

It really was an eggcellent effort from everyone and the guests were eggstatic about the delicious meal.

There was a Tex-Mex vibe to the meal at FoodCycle today and we had 5 GoodGymers helping to make it success. Gill arrived very early as she was Project Leader in the kitchen and got the church unlocked, and prepared the kitchen for the cooking team before turning her attention to the dessert - home made churros and a warm chocolate sauce. Lucie arrived and was soon making magic with a like of potatoes, turning them into delicious spicy wedges to accompany fajitas while Neill and Bauryzan started setting up the hall, laying the tables and getting everything ready for the guests. Martin joined the kitchen team and created 5 trays of cheesy nachos for the starter. It was good to be able to provide a themed menu and we had lots of happy guests. Neill and Bauryzan did a great job hosting and clearing up after. Another fabulous team effort.

Another fabulous evening at FoodCycle for 5 Goodgymers. Whether in the cooking team or hosting team there was a great camaraderie for the volunteers tonight, who were absolutely on fire. Three course were prepped and served in record time and it was a delicious menu. Carrot and potato soup to start, then tofu carrot, cashew meat(less) balls on a mountain of spaghetti with tomato and red pepper sauce, followed up with fredh fruit salad and cake. 33 sit down guests and 10 takeaways enjoyed the home cooked fare and it was lovely to see so many empty plates. We had some really positive feedback from the guests too. Another successful task - well done team.

Foodcycle was really well supported by Goodgym today and it was lovely to have three of our newest members swelling the ranks if the hosting team alongside some of our regulars. Gill was doing a double shift on food collection - having collected earlier in the week, she dropped of one car load of food, which was an upper body work out in itself, before reloading the car with last week's empty crates and returning them to Sainsbury's before collecting some more produce. As the cooking team were very depleted she then stayed on for an hour and a half of the cooking shift as well. Martin got stuck in with the kitchen team too and soon a delicious meal was in the process of creation. Omar was a late sign up but arrived early and was soon able to show our newbies, Susannah , Fayemi and Bauyrzhan , how to setbup the hall for our guest. as always a delicious meal was served and the hosts did a great job of making everyone feel welcome. Thanks team - Foodcycle really appreciate all you do.

GoodGym's weekly session with FoodCycle was another success. While there were only two of us at the task, both Lucie and Gill worked hard in the kitchen to turn a rather meagre amount of surplus food and a whole heap of carrots into a sumptuous summer meal.

Lucie got started on prepping carrots, lettuce, cabbage and other salad items for a summer slaw, which was going to provide the main element to some summer wraps. While the rest of the team were busy prepping vegetable Bolgnaise for the main course, GIll kept her attention on preparing the desserts. Channeling her inner pastry chef, she had decided on a puff pastry apple and custard tart inspired by a "tarte fine au pommes" recipe she had seen in a French Recipe Book. Peeling, coring and slicing 30 apples took some time, and then the pastry needed rolling out, cutting to size and baking. It was a good job she had arrived early to get started. There was custard to be made and cooled, and a side of peach and grape salad to be prepped.

But our little team worked tirelessy and even helped with the washing up. The meal went out to around 36 guests and we even had enough for second helpings as well as meals for 8 of the Foodcycle volunteers.