Three years ago TheLatestSupper was born. A time when I had been experiencing a lot of personal pressure & illness whilst caring for my wife. In a vain attempt to keep her strong, I started sharing with family & friends via social media, photographs of the meals I tried to offer up as a complimentary medicine of sorts. As I had learned from visiting a children’s ward at Singleton Hospital, when it comes to food & kids, then its healthy eating, however when it comes to food & poorly kids, then its ‘get them eating!’ Menu choices of chips, potato croquettes, chicken nuggets, baked beans, hot dogs, burgers, fish fingers and pasta shapes followed by creamy sugary desserts, is ok.

And so with this in mind & knowing her dietary needs vs her likings; I tried with all my being to keep her, making her strong so that the medical profession could do the rest. Several friends suggested with grins I put together anything from cook books to courses demonstrating how to light & shoot food. I plumpt for a blog & after rejecting “The Galloping Vicar”, “The Naked Priest” & a few other less than savoury (no pun intended) attempts at a name, I came up with TheLatestSupper. A homage to both the spiritual & earthly need to ‘feed our bodies & soul’.

Sadly, despite all the best of intentions, Sam didn’t make it. She left a huge chasm which no amount filling could ever patch up. So I continued, inviting friends, experimenting, learning etc, all in an attempt to survive. I have always found the stress of the kitchen therapeutic.

An aspect of cooking I particularly enjoy is baking. I love to work with dough and taste the freshness of bread whilst still warm from the oven. Equally I enjoy the challenge of making cakes, and have supplied a few large gatherings with my wares. Always for therapy and never for reward.

My mother taught me by example how wonderful it is to give, to share your table with people. As a diabetic I cannot tolerate bread or cake, yet I prefer give away my work and receive in return the satisfaction of knowing someone has enjoyed. That was my mother’s love to the world & one of many lessons she taught me.

So as it is written, it is better to give, we should open our homes and practise hospitality. The only problems with having a faith is, you genuinely have to believe what you preach; & make sure your body cashes the cheques that your mouth has written!

As I said earlier, three years of TheLatestSupper & in its wake is born “Brakes2Cakes”. An opportunity for me to thank the people who have helped me, helped my community, who face challenges but never mention their woes, whilst allowing me to take comfort in the kitchen & take purposeful exercise by using pedal power to shop & deliver.

Media feeds, social networks and the like, are full of comments documenting the decline of our communities and their spirit, yet instead of being a keyboard warrior, how about being a good neighbour, friend or even … a Samaritan?

This is not a business plan, this is not a campaign of self-publicity; this is an attempt to inspire others to do something for the greater good. The way it used to be. Society and community have changed – but anything that has changed, can change.

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