A SEAHAM care home resident is beaming with pride after one of her beloved family recipes featured in Sanctuary Care’s charity cookbook.
Dorothy Dinsdale, who lives at Cedar Court Residential and Nursing Home, is one of the stars of A Lifetime of Flavours: Celebrating Food, Family and the Lives Behind Beloved Recipes.
Curated by Sanctuary Care, a not-for-profit care provider with 109 homes across the UK, the cookbook features 42 treasured recipes from residents aged 70 to 105 and celebrates the joy of cooking, memory, and continuity in later life.
Dorothy loved cooking her ‘Gran’s Mince Pot’ recipe – a dish of layered mince, onion, red Leicester cheese, chopped tomatoes and thinly sliced potato, for her late husband Stanley, and fondly recalls making it for her daughter Anne and her son-in-law Gordon when they came home from hospital with their newborn baby Sophie.
“Moving into a care home isn’t about leaving your old life behind, but continuing the things that bring you joy,” said Louise Palmer, director of operations at Sanctuary Care.
“Whether it’s recreating a childhood recipe or baking with friends, our chefs work closely with residents to make every mealtime meaningful, and A Lifetime of Flavours is a celebration of that love of food, family, and the lives behind it.”
The cookbook is free to download or can be ordered in limited print for a donation, with all proceeds going to Mental Health UK So far it has raised more than £4,700.
It also includes a foreword from 2023 Great British Bake Off winner Matty Edgell, who shares how food shaped his own family memories.