At New Copford Place, our Colchester-based residential care home, the residents and care team have started the Yuletide Season getting festive with a Mince Pie Bake-A-Thon Competition.
“As Christmas is just around the corner, I wanted to do a fun and festive activity for the residents to get our twinkling, magical season underway,” said Chelsey Leather, the Activities Coordinator at New Copford Place.“Knowing how much everyone loves the iconic television baking show, I thought it would be a lovely idea to host our own Mince Pie baking competition.”
Chelsey arranged for three teams to go head to head in the Mince Pie contest. “The teams were made up of residents and the Kitchen Team,” continued Chelsey. “Each team gave themselves a team name too. The Kitchen Team where The Fancy Chefs and the two residents’ teams were The Perfect Chefs and Team Mismatch. The residents on Team Mismatch thought that was the perfect team name for them as they all come from very different backgrounds, but since living at New Copford Place, they have all become great friends.”
In a competition which would have received many special handshakes from a well-known, ‘Hollywood’ Baker, the teams wasted no time once they heard the word ‘Bake’. “It got rather competitive,” added Chelsey. “The Fancy Chefs used their special, secret ingredient in their mincemeat and wouldn’t tell anyone the recipe. The Perfect Chefs decided upon a traditional mincemeat with Team Mismatch pulling out all the Christmas stops with a mincemeat laced with Clementines and whisky.
“Our Judge – our very own Christmas Pau-lbauble, Chris Harris our Maintenance Manager – tried the pies without knowing which team had baked which batch. Chris loves mince pies and was very honoured and excited to take on the role as Judge.”
After much deliberation – and quite a few tastings, just to be sure – Chris awarded first place to The Fancy Chefs with Team Mismatch coming a close second. “The Fancy Chef winners were awarded a pretty festive mini Christmas Tree which they are proudly displaying in the Kitchen where everyone can see and admire it,” continued Chelsey.
“Making the Mince Pies and getting everyone involved was great fun,” said 91-year-old resident, Pam Skipp. “We all had a wonderful time, laughing and joking with each other.”
“It was lovely to hear the residents reminiscing as they were making their mince pies,” added Daniel Sabau, the Registered Manager at New Copford Place. “Baking can evoke memories, whether it’s a memory of cooking with loved ones or even the smell of a freshly baked loaf of bread. The residents’ conversations were about how their Mothers and Aunts used to make the Christmas Mince Pies and Christmas Puddings and many recalled how there was always a race to see who would find the lucky Sixpence in the pudding.”
“Baking has many benefits for everyone, but especially for older people. It can be an artistic and imaginative pastime which can also be calming. This, in turn, helps with relaxation and reducing stress,” added Chelsey. “It can trigger and activate the senses – feeling the soft flour, rubbing in the cold butter, the smell of the tasty bakes in the oven and, of course, tasting the scrumptious results.
“The three teams did amazing bakes, with no soggy bottoms in sight. All the mince pies were delicious, but didn’t last long, and magically disappeared during afternoon tea. There definitely wasn’t any left for Santa to try on Christmas Eve,” concluded Chelsey.
Find out more about New Copford Place care home by calling 01206 210 397 or emailing enquiries@fote.org.uk.