Cryfield 3 Pudding Competition: 4th November 2009

Follow-up to Cryfield 3: the start of the pudding competition from Courgettes and Limes: Recipes and Rhymes

6 November 2012

Haha! Here’s a blast from the past: I was editing the tags on this blog entry when I hit save for later button by accident, thereby changing the publish date on this entry!

Many people ask me what it is that I do, in my residential life role. I normally end up telling them a selection of the good, the bad and the ugly. Some stories of when you know that what you’ve said or done had really helped a student, some horrid grief that a student has given you and then the vomit… It doesn’t really do the residential tutor role any justice but it gives them a flavour of it. There is rather a lot more that goes on in the general humdrum of residential life. We go around the blocks to try and get to know the students and in doing so end up answering questions on topics such as heating, fridges and personal tutors. Then there are the nights when you don’t get any sleep, for one reason and another. And of course, we run events for students. In my first year as a resident tutor, I ran a pudding competition in my block with 84 students. Pretty much all of them took part. In those early days of blissful ignorance of a disease called ‘apathy’ so commonly caught by students, I did not realise what a monumental achievement it was to have the whole block take part.

I found these photos lurking in my photo archives. I can’t claim any credit for them. One of my students took them and then passed them onto me to publish online, which I never got round to. It’s a hazy memory now, but I remember being pretty sleep-deprived by then and losing the will to write any blog entries regularly. So here are some photos of what the students got up to. Finally! And all because I accidentally hit the ‘save for later’ button. (photos courtesey of my Cryfield 3 kitchen 5 2009 students)

spotted dickbakewell tart

1. spotted dick; 2. bakewell tart (the winner)

bread and butter puddingsticky toffee pudding

3. Bread and Butter Pudding and Chocolate Rice pudding in the foreground; 4. Sticky Toffee Pudding

triflehungry students

5. Trifle; 6. Students lining up

The Cryfield Pudding Competition is on Wednesday 4th November. We’ve decided to stick to english puddings this time round and if it’s a success, then we could have an international spin on things… tiramisu, cheesecake all spring to mind.

We’re hoping that, as competitors, you have fun with each other in the block, have enough puddings to taste and discover all the hidden talents that you have.

The rules are relatively simple:

  1. The competition will happen on the evening of Wednesday 4th November.
  2. Entry costs £1 per person (this covers cost of food and the rest will be donated to a charity).
  3. At a 8pm the puddings are to be brought down to the common room where the judging will take place.
  4. There are seven kitchens so there will be seven types of puddings. Each kitchen makes a pudding – or several of the same version.
  5. The puddings will be judged on the following: flavour, originality and presentation.
  6. Students must produce the recipe that they followed plus photographs or a video that show who took part in the making of the puddings and how it was made.
  7. Each kitchen must make enough of their pudding so that they can feed their kitchen.
  8. There are extra points available: Extra 3 points if all the students in your kitchen take part, 2 points if 2 students don’t take part, 1 point if 3 students don’t take part.

And here’s the bit that you’ve been waiting for allocations of kitchens and puddings:

Kitchen 1 – Trifle
Kitchen 2 – Bakewell Pudding
Kitchen 3 – Spotted Dick
Kitchen 4 – Crumble
Kitchen 5 – Sticky Toffee Pudding
Kitchen 6 – Bread and Butter Pudding
Kitchen 7 – Rice Pudding

The judges are Cryfield Resident Tutors and we’ll provide bowls, spoons, cream and custard. Looking forward to it!

ps. please use the comments facility, if you would like to suggest a charity that we can donate the proceeds to. If not, David and I will pick one and let you know.

Cryfield 3: the start of the pudding competition

Perhaps it was inevitable? … that food would be involved in my scheme for breaking down cultural cliques, sharing British culture and encouraging social integration and between UK and international students. I discussed it with Lucy, the resident tutor in Cryfield 1, last night who came up with this and the action plan. Tonight I mooted the idea of a pudding competition with several groups of residents in my block and they loved it. So folks, it is definitely ON!

The rules are relatively simple (but not yet set in stone so suggestions welcome).

  1. The competition will happen on the same evening in the next fortnight (an evening that the Cryfield resident tutors will choose).
  2. There are seven kitchens so there will be seven types of puddings. Each kitchen makes a pudding – or several of the same version.
  3. I’ll give them each the name of the pudding to make and a recipe for it, which they can either choose to follow or adapt. We need to be able to recognise what pudding it is once it’s finished.
  4. Each kitchen must involve all the people (who would like to take part) in the making and baking of the puddings.
  5. At a certain time the puddings are to be brought down to the common room where the judging will take place.
  6. There will be a criteria for how the puddings will be judged – to be revealed later.
  7. I’m mulling over the idea of giving extra points to kitchens if they involve 3 or more international students in the process.

Currently, I am thinking that judges will be the Cryfield Resident Tutors. I haven’t discussed it with anybody else yet.

I’ve also given them some more suggestions to think about:

Everyone who would like to take part contributes 50p and the proceeds go towards their favourite charity (as a block) and covering the costs of the food.

Or – they could choose to cover costs of food amongst their kitchens and make it a social event.

So, I need seven suggestions of british puddings. And if you’d like to be a judge then it can be considered…

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