WeFiFo - whats it all about and Dinner at Maria's

So WeFiFo, whats its all about then, firstly its stands for "We Find Food" Its sort of an Airbnb supper club equivalent meets "Come dine with me" but in a good way. 

Its a way of home cooks, chefs and foodie people to find each other and hold unique food experiences, may be make new friends and eat delicious home cooked food.

WeFiFo events are being held up and down the country, so there is sure to be one near(ish) to you, we popped along to the lovely Maria's and Alan's who are our nearest hosts for Sunday tea, a proper traditional Sunday roast,but more of that later. There is is an amazing range of food related  events on offer so I am sure there is something for you to sign up for and to have your own WeFiFo experience.

If you are a budding chef you can start cooking, host events and earn, just check out the website for more details and lots of advice and guidance on getting started.

• You can turn your cooking into cash !
• Discover home cooked food near you
• Cook the food you love for paying guests
• Share food and meet new people
• What's not to love about WeFiFo

This is the lovely Maria our host who is passionate about sharing good food with local people in a friendly environment, with WeFiFo you are eating in your hosts home so its a friendly relaxed atmosphere. 

She's been a WeFiFo Home chef for a while and has hosted many varied and different events at various locations in her local area, it all started for her fund raising for a family friend and it went from there.  

Initially it is a little strange that you are turning up a someone house you have never met before and you are going to enjoy a meal with people you have never met before, but once you get over that initial meeting then you are off and running and by the end of the evening you are chatting like old friends. 

Booking our WeFiFo experience was pretty easy via the website, hosts post their events and you book on using Cookies (The WeFiFo currency) You can purchase Cookies using paypal or credit card and also get them as rewards for sharing and posting on social media)

The atmosphere at our event was very friendly and the chat was wide ranging covers from philosophy to Manchester Pride .

Our main course was succulent roast slice of beef served with a rich gravy, yorkshire pudding (gluten free one's especially for me :-)), crunchy roast potatoes, roast carrot and parsnip batons, cauliflower cheese (gluten free too), tenderstem, beans and peas. All delicious and a great roast dinner.

Maria had created for our pudding after all we are up North here, a delightfully decadent Champagne pavlova with strawberries, billowing with cream. Big piece for me then please....

Chocolate anise cake, again gluten free, rich dark and decadent.

Then to finish a selection of European cheeses with a variety of accompaniments.

A thoroughly enjoyable evening, great fun and something out of the ordinary, it's not just about the food its the whole atmosphere that counts. Maria would love to host something more rustic some if one of my foodie friends has a barn we can use then please get in touch. Of course if you fancy becoming a host Maria is happy to give you some hints and tips to get started.

Here is a blog post from Maria about her WeFiFo story

Here is a video of a WeFiFo event filmed at Maria's 

Our Cookies to enjoy our WeFiFo experience we given free of charge, we were not compelled to write a positive review and all viewss, opinions etc are our own. Thanks to Maria and Alan and the rest of the party for an enjoyable introduction to WeFiFo.

The Mill - St Catherines Park.

I am so excited to tell you about a new venue in my local area, The Mill at St Catherine's Park opened on Monday 24th November 2014 to the general public.

This amazing building and its surroundings have been 10 years in the making for the dedicated staff and volunteers of St Catherine's Hospice. The building is home to a fabulous cafe, plus meeting and therapy space, but more importantly its also a hub for information and wellbeing for families faced with life shortening illnesses.

St Catherine's does such important work in my local community and The Mill enhances their provision as it enables the hospice to invite the local community to share St Catherine's Park in a more holistic sense and provide neutral space for the community to share.

We were privileged to be invited to view the beautiful building, the impressive facilities and to taste some of the exciting local dishes on the menu. The two storey building has the cafe/lounge area downstairs and has three multi purpose meeting/therapy rooms upstairs, the whole venue is of course fully accessible for all.

Outside the building is situated in St Catherine's Park which is being developed sensitively to create a beautiful woodland and wetland area for all to enjoy.

The Mill is run as a social enterprise with all profits going to St Catherine's Hospice Care, the Commercial Catering team have been recruited specifically to run the Cafe at the mill and the menu demonstrates the passion of the team in the local sourcing and the creative dishes featured. We should also not forget the volunteers as well who are an important part of the team at the Mill providing advice, guidance and support or assisting in the cafe.

Local Suppliers include

• Leagrams of Chipping (Cheese)
• Mrs Kirkhams of Goosnargh (Cheese)
• Butlers of Inglewhite (Cheese)
• Ribble Farm Fayre of Longridge (Fruit, veg and fresh produce)
• Oncore, Preston (General Grocery)
• Ewood Foods, Accrington (Grocery)
• Meadowfield Foods, Bamber Bridge (Grocery)
• Brendan Andertons of Longridge (Butcher)
• Morris Bakery of Coppull (Bread)
• C&G Neves of Fleetwood (Fish)
• Holme Farm of penwortham (Eggs and Milk)
• Fiddlers, Rufford (Lancashire Crisps)
• Moo 2 you, Samlesbury (Ice Cream)
• Exchange Coffee, Clitheroe (Coffee and Teas)

An impressive list I think you will agree, so please pay them a visit whilst in the area. The team is also planning afternoon teas and themed seasonal menus plus they will be organising the catering for many of the fund raising events held in St Catherine's Park for the hospice.

The canapes served at the launch were miniatures of the dishes on the menu and very tasty they were too, the cakes looked and tasted amazing as you can see from the pictures.

Check out their website, facebook and twitter pages for more information and more pictures of the venue and the food.

The team are waiting to welcome you.........