Seven Hills WI President is guest judge on Great British Menu

We're excited to announce that our President, Kirsty Bowen features as a guest judge in the new series of the Great British Menu later this summer on BBC Two. 

The show returns to commemorate the Centenary of the Women’s Institute and this year the chefs must plate up perfection, as they fight it out for the chance to cook at a glorious banquet at London's historic Drapers Hall.

The challenge is produce 21st century dishes that honour the custodians of first class home cooking, and pay tribute to the generations of women who have helped make Britain the great culinary nation it is today.  The chefs have taken inspiration from the women in their families - their mothers, grandmothers and great grandmothers - and the pioneering women of the Institute, to turn home-cooked classics, into modern masterpieces.

The Women’s Institute was formed in 1915 to revitalise rural communities and to encourage women to produce food for our nation during the First World War. A century later the Institute is synonymous with British home cooking.  Right from the get go the pioneering women of the WI were a force to be reckoned with – promoting equality for women, education, and impeccable standards – and in 2000, the WI Calendar Girls produced a nude calendar which raised millions for charity and proved once and for all that the WI are anything but a stuffy organisation.

As ever, the regional heats will see all of the chefs’ dishes scrutinized by Britain’s most accomplished chefs and veterans of the competition. Winners of this first round will present their menus to the judging panel, award winning critic Matthew Fort, doyenne of British cookery Prue Leith, and restaurateur Oliver Peyton.  Joining the Great British Menu judging panel each week will be guest judges - longstanding WI members, mothers and home cooks - who will ensure the dishes going forward to the Great British Menu national finals measure up to the exacting standards of the Institute.

For further information or pictures please contact:

Francesca Sostero, Publicist Francesca.sostero@bbc.co.uk or

Vanessa Land at Optomen Television on 0203 227 5941 or vanessa.land@optomen.com

 

SHWI Eats: Inox Dine review

SHWI Eats is our dining out/foodie club where members can enjoy visiting restaurants across the city. Member and Food Blogger Ros recently reviewed the group's trip to restaurant, Inox Dine on her blog The Nibbly Pig.

Inox Dine was the chosen destination of the Seven Hills WI Eats group (of which I am a member!). The restaurant is nestled in the heart of Sheffield University’s campus on Durham road.

If you have been to the Octagon before, look at the skies to the right and you will see the Inox Dine sign on the 5th floor in the student union building opposite.

The restaurant focuses on using local quality ingredients to produce a predominantly British menu with fusion influences. As you walk in, you come to a smart bar area where you can take a seat and enjoy a relaxed drink, as we did while others arrived. I indulged in a bottle of the local(ish) beer, an IPA from Nottinghamshire’s Welbeck Abbey Brewery.

 

Blanche, a fellow WI member and the restaurant and hospitality manager at Inox, welcomed us to our table. It was in a quiet spot, but actually we had the place to ourselves for the evening as we were the only diners.

The table was attractively laid with lit tea-lights, bottles of water together with an appetiser of sliced focaccia with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

 

The first courses were brought in and the presentation was precise and delicate. I had the chicken roulade which was well-seasoned and had a decent flavour, in texture it was similar to pate/rillettes. It was served with a red onion and ginger chutney and toasted onion bread. I am greedy by my own admission and I could have eaten more, plus (in my view) you need to have the right balance of toast to roulade, so a few more slices of toast wouldn’t have gone amiss.

 

The young staff were friendly and attentive, efficiently clearing the plates and topping up drinks between courses.

For mains, I went for the teriyaki Moss Valley pork belly with a ginger and garlic noodle broth. Again, this was a nicely presented bowl of food with vibrant colour from the sprigs of coriander and sliced red chillies. The balance of soy, ginger and spice in the broth was well-balanced and very flavoursome. The belly pork was cooked spot on, the meat was tender and crisp on the outside. A comforting dish and my kind of food, as I love anything with Asian flavours.

 

I didn’t indulge in dessert but I can say that the sticky toffee looked very nice and seemed to go down particularly well with those who’d ordered it.

At £12 for 2 courses or £15 for 3, the evening offered value for money (as part of the Inox’s early bird menu served from 11.30am until 6.30pm Tuesday to Friday, or until 5.30pm on Mondays). It was just a shame that the restaurant wasn’t a bit busier to add to the atmosphere. That said, a good night was had by all!

Inox Dine

Level 5, Student’s Union Building
Durham Road
Sheffield
S10 2TG 

Website: http://inoxdine.co.uk/
Twitter: @Inoxdine

Ready? Ok! SHWI does Cheerleading

I am sad to say that I haven't made it to many SHWI meetings this year and I was especially gutted to miss Sam Cleasby last month. Yet, I'll also admit that I wasn't totally psyched about cheerleading; it's hard when you're as badly coordinated as I am! But, as usual, I had a brilliant time. And I'm pretty sure everyone else did too.

We started the meeting with the usual updates from Laura.  That really doesn't do the "Bainbridge News n Views show" justice at all as she manages to make the announcements intriguing and enticing and hilarious all at once. We are really lucky to have such an entertaining secretary! Before we began working up a sweat (and I really did, sorry!), we sang Happy Birthday and Jerusalem for Winnie - a lady in Sheffield with few family or friends who is about to turn 100! Happy Birthday Winnie!!

But alas, the time had come for me to flail my gangly arms and legs about out of sync and in the opposite direction to everyone else. It wasn't so bad at first as we did a nice little warm up; a bit of marching on the spot and some arm and neck stretches but then we had to clench and unclench our fingers quickly with arms outstretched - that's a lot more tiring than it sounds! So far so good though - I hadn't whacked anyone else or fallen over and everyone else was ready to start learning our cheer routine, and shaking pom poms.

The routine was set to the classic 90s rave song The Key: The Secret - great choice! We started with some basic footwork - got that. Then we did some arms - got those (forgot the name of the move though). Then we did them together - aaaaand that's when it all went wrong for me! Ha ha ha. But, everyone was having a great time and I didn't care! I was glad when it was our turn to move to the back so that other people could get a good view of the moves though.

We soon added some windmills followed by steps forward with arms and jumps backwards and then some sidesteps with turns and pretend pom pom shaking. It was all broken down into manageable chunks (phew!!) and then we got to practice in small groups with the pom poms!!!!!!!!! We were a little bit excited!

But, it didn't end there. We added some more moves - getting into a line and doing a coordinated arms up and down hands shaky thing and then stepping out on alternate sides before another spin and a snazzy finale of pom pom shaking. Once again, it was time for the pom poms but this time we had to shout "Ready! OK!" before we kicked off. We had to do our routines in three groups but that was great as it meant we all got to watch and cheer each other on (and I got to watch it again to try and remember everything!). I had to concentrate quite hard when it was my turn but I was very lucky to be stood behind the wonderfully coordinated Alice so I followed her lead. Obviously, we all nailed our routines!!!!

We had such fun cheering with Jessica!

By the end of all those moves I had definitely worked up a nice sweat and was very glad for the lovely warm down and a big glass of water.

Goooooooo SHWI!!

Leanne Sunter
Assistant Treasurer

We raised £1024 at Sheffield Food Festival 2015

Anna, Jen, Kirsty, Grace and Chelle help on the stall

We're very happy to say that our stall at this year's Sheffield Food Festival raised an amazing £1024 for our charity of the year. Our members worked really hard to bake some delicious treats and volunteer on the stall all weekend. Committee member Sam made two beautiful rainbow pinata cakes for us to raffle on both days. Thank you to everyone who helped, bought a cake or raffle ticket from us!

All the money we raised will go to SAYiT Sheffield. They provide support for young people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) or who are affected by HIV.
 

One of Sam's incredible pinata cakes

Sheffield Food Festival this weekend

Last year's volunteers on our stall

It's Sheffield Food Festival this weekend (Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th May) and once again, Seven Hills WI will be peddling our wares! We have a stall in the Peace Gardens (close to Browns Restaurant) selling homemade cakes and baked goods from 10am - 5pm on Saturday and 11am - 5pm Sunday. All the money raised goes to our charity of the year, SAYit.

The Sheena Amos Youth Trust (SAYiT) is an independent charity which has been running in Sheffield since 1999. A sexual health charity, they work with young people up to the age of 25, particularly those who are most vulnerable or marginalised including LGBT people or those affected by HIV.

Please come down and help support our charity of the year!

SHWI is So Bad Ass - Talk by Sam Cleasby

On 16th April, once again a huge group of wonderful women came together at Electric Works. There was of course a selection of delicious homemade cakes from members and a welcoming atmosphere which always makes me feel like we are all women with the same needs and ideas.

Our guests speaker was Sam Cleasby, and although I had heard a lot about her (particularly in the preceding weeks) I wasn't sure what I would get out of her talk. I knew she would be talking about her struggle with Irritable Bowel Disorder and Ulcerative Colitis, and definitely about her experiences of other people's responses to her. Following her open letter to a lady who tutted at her for using a disabled toilet, I was interested to hear how she dealt with such attitudes on a day to day basis.

However, I was mistaken if I thought this would simply be a revealing talk about one woman's struggles. The evening helped me (and I'm sure many others) to look at myself in a different way, and unburied feelings I had kept locked up for several years previously. (Whoa deep!)

After an update from the ever hilarious and entertaining duo of President and Secretary; Kirsty and Laura, and a break to refuel with some delicious homemade treats, Sam introduced herself to the waiting audience of ladies. She seemed to be so flattered and excited to speak to the group, but from my view, we were excited to hear her strong voice which had so recently received national exposure.
Sam began by explaining her illnesses to us, and I found it fascinating and heart breaking to hear what she had been through. Regardless of this, she came across as a strong and confident individual, who could even makes light of her experiences - already she came across as a true female role model. Her ability to explain her condition and what this meant, provided the group with a true insight into what this sort of condition could mean for people all over the world. It also made me realise that even when somebody may not 'look' ill, or as if they are struggling physically, appearance can certainly be deceptive. It made me want to be much more caring of others around me.

However, it was Sam's focus on the general state of women's self image that I found most thought provoking. Her ability to encourage a positive approach to body image was astounding, and her belief in her own body following her struggles was wonderful. As she questioned the social expectations of women and their bodies, I looked around me and realised that all I saw was a room full of awesome women. I had no feelings that some of us were better than others as a result of the way we all looked. I just loved being in a room full of people who were all listening and relating to what Sam was preaching (and she was preaching! Preaching the positives of being a woman, and actually how brilliant our bodies are for getting us through every day!).

Sam's talk and overall attitude to the way we should see our bodies (and not listen to the media/society) has inspired me to go and fight the cause on my own grounds. I have been in touch with Sam as I am now going to put together some lessons to teach our Y6s at my school to love their bodies, before they themselves head into the battle grounds of adulthood and societal pressure.
We all need to remember how much our bodies do for us, and actually, why can't we start thanking them, instead of punishing them?

To read more about Sam's amazing story, visit her website www.sobadass.me

SHWI Eats - The Bhaji Shop, Thali Cafe

SHWI member and blogger, Ros Arksey has written about the recent SHWI Eats trip to The Bhaji Shop for her food blog, Nibbly Pig. SHWI Eats is one of our spin-offs that organises trips to local eateries around Sheffield. She's kindly allowed us to post it below....

The Bhaji Shop, thali cafe, was our chosen venue for the March outing of the SHWI Eats group. This was my first visit to the cafe and first outing with the group, as I’m a ‘newbie’ Seven Hills WI member. Yes, it was inevitable that I was going to be drawn to the group which involved food…

Positioned on Chesterfield road, the Bhaji Shop is relatively new, having opened last year. It is run by brother and sister Matthew and Melissa, who between them and the wider Holdsworth family have plenty of culinary experience. (Many of you may be familiar with the famed bhajis from their dad's business ‘Masterchef’ based in Attercliffe).

As the name suggests, the food at ‘Bhaji’ focuses on spice, offering Indian-influenced wraps, curries,  bhajis and samosas - to mention a selection.  As we were taking over en masse (about 30 of us) we were lucky to have the opportunity to try a bit of everything from the menu with a buffet.

We arrived at 6.30 and were greeted by the colourful turquoise exterior and swathes of twinkling fairylights. The style made me think of the film Amélie with it’s warm kooky design and quirkiness. We even had our own special welcome written up on the blackboard.

Once everyone arrived and was seated, there was a real buzz and cosy atmosphere. Every table had a dish of poppodoms, chutney and raita, so we got stuck into those whilst watching the activity in the kitchen. It wasn’t long before Matthew let us know that the food was ready and served, then the queue formed quicker than you could say ‘bhaji’.

Everything was served together, so you could do starters first  and come back up for your main course of curries. Alternatively, depending on your strategy, you could use your time efficiently and pile your plate high with a bit of everything!

There was a real mix of tempting homemade delights to choose from and the aromatic smells were tormenting to those of us near the back of the queue!! There were big bowls of golden crisp bhajis, sweet potato fritters and samosas, plus coriander and plain flatbreads, coleslaw and green salad. Then there were large dishes of more ‘mains-style' meals with prawn Keralan curry, chickpea and sweet potato tagine, chargrilled harissa lamb steak, earthy daal, chunks of crisp paneer and tender marinated chicken skewers and rice. There was a selection of condiments too, I enjoyed the sweet and sour pineapple chutney.

There was plenty of food so there was no danger of anyone leaving hungry. We were well looked after by staff, with water constantly topped up as well as a seamless flow of dishes being brought through from the kitchen. I managed a few trips up to the buffet table so I could try as many of the different dishes as possible, (but I only had a small plate!). I think I managed a bit of everything, I enjoyed it all but my favourites were the king prawn Keralan and the spicy chickpea tagine (which reminded me of chana masala).

It was an enjoyable evening with lovely food, as well as an ideal chance to get to know other foodie-minded WI members too. I definitely plan on returning to the Bhaji Shop - but next time it will be a more sensible portion, as I was still full the next morning!

Having checked out their Facebook page, the menu changes regularly (with daily specials) and you can grab a lunchtime wrap or salad, go for something more substantial with a thali selection with curry or just indulge in a cup of tea and dessert.

The Bhaji Shop

53 Chesterfield Road,

Sheffield S8 0RL

Facebook

Tasseled bracelets with Bobbins & Buttons

March's meeting kicked off in the 'usual' way with an introduction and welcome from President Kirsty and then it was onto the normal monthly WI business of announcements, spin off group details and information for planned events and news from WI federation. I should perhaps point out to new members and guests that whilst the news announcements and highlights are always interjected with a little SHWI humour - March was slightly 'unusual' and we had the awesome treat of a Birthday Bainbridge! This led to a lengthy and somewhat hilarious take on our normal SHWI announcements, I only wish we'd got it on video! If you missed anything, don't forget to check out Facebook for details of spin offs, events and to chat to other members.

There was then a quick break for cups of tea, coffee, mingling and some sampling of the amazing cakes and bakes brought by our lovely members - did you know that when you bake, you get free entry to our monthly raffle? I always say I'm trying to watch my weight, and was sorely tempted by the white chocolate blondies but when I saw the beautifully presented chocolate cake with the hidden star inside I weakened, and yes it was as good as it looks. 

Our guest craft activity leader for March was another of our members (you really are a talented bunch!) - Lauren Misiukanis, from Bobbins & Buttons skilfully demonstrated tassel making and bracelet construction to an enthralled crowd.

Then it was time to grab our cups, fill them full of beads (42 small or 32 large - unless you have somewhat chunkier wrists, such as myself in which case you may need a couple extra).

Lauren worked the room and was on hand to deal with tassel traumas as well as any extra hints and tips needed - the resulting bracelets all looked fantastic and all so different. 

After a long day at work there was something calming about sitting at a table with some new and old SHWI chums, just threading beads and chatting. We ended up with a room full of happy and glamorous SHWIers!

Big thanks to Sharrowvale based, Hudson & Wood for the raffle prize of a Citrus Massage & Facial! I'm now off to stick tassels onto anything and everything!

Caryl Carson

SHWI Committee member

We choose SAYiT as our charity of the year

At our February meeting, Seven Hills WI members voted SAYiT as our charity for 2015. A local independent organisation, SAYiT (Sheena Amos Youth Trust) supports young people who are LGBT or who are affected by HIV.

Fundraising events planned include Seven Hills WI’s annual baking stall at Sheffield Food Festival. Last year, we raised £1170 over two days by selling cakes and organising a best in show competition.

Sally Carr, Strategic Manager of SAYiT said “In the on-going quest to address homophobia, biphobia and transphobia in our society we know that we still have a long way to go, and the support of the WI will help to address this outdated and hurtful prejudice. We will use the money raised to continue our educational and awareness raising work which aims to make society a better place for everybody.”

Kirsty Bowen, President of Seven Hills WI said “I am very pleased that we have chosen SAYiT to be our charity in 2015, the WI’s centenary year. The WI has never shied away from important issues and we hope that we can make a real difference to young people affected in our local area.”

For more information on Seven Hills WI and our fundraising, email us at sevenhillswi@live.co.uk

Charity and Cake

February 2015 brought a visit by one of our own - Claire Kemp and voting for our 2015 charity. As always we started the night with this month's WI business. We really are busy ladies with more activities than ever - we have nearly every base covered: You can gorge on tasty food with SHWI Eats, then burn off the calories with SHWI Runners and the SHWI Slimming group, whilst keeping busy with SHWI Mad Skills, SHWI Crafts, SHWI Cine-Club, SHWI at Night and SHWI Mummies! And now, with a SHWI night out in the diary, we can even get our groove on. Anyway, back to business … 

Our wonderful Fundraising and Campaigns Officer, Sarah Willoughby, introduced the charity voting process. We had 5 truly deserving charities to choose from this year put forward by  our members. But the winner was The Sheena Amos Youth Trust (SAYiT), an independent young people’s charity based in Sheffield that provide support, information and opportunities for young people aged up to 25 who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) or who are affected by HIV. Now onto the cake… 

Claire kicked off the evening by explaining how she became a cake queen. Originally from an architecture and design background, Claire created her cake empire to combine her passion for baking with her professional design skills and artistic flair. 

She launched Claire Kemp Cake Studio, in 2011, with a 1:100 scale cake of The University of Sheffield's Arts Tower building that was almost 80cm high. Her bakes are extraordinary, not only are they very pretty but they are mini feats of engineering. 
 

Claire gave us a demo of her exquisitely smooth icing skills – divulging a few secrets along the way. So what did we learn? Claires’ top tips included:
· Use icing sugar to roll out icing, but only on the underside. DO NOT flip over the icing (like one would with dough).
· Avoid wooden rolling pins.
· Always roll forward (rolling backwards creates air bubbles).
· Grey icing is surprising gorgeous!

I was really impressed with Claire’s cakes and will definitely be trying out her tips - I hope everyone else found it just as informative as I did! Next month we have jewellery-making with another one of our wonderful members – Lauren from Bobbins & Buttons (extra materials charge of £2 per member, and the start of our fundraising for SAYiT … see you there!


Alice Bullas 
Commitee member 

P.S A big thank you to The Broadfield for donating voucher for a pie & a pint for our raffle.