WHAT’S THIS ALL ABOUT…

Instead of our High Tea Fundraiser this year, we're bringing back a beloved classic to raise funds and our appetites! And spread hope at the same time.

We'd love you to contribute to our new initiative...

The ‘Silver Linings’ Cookbook

So how did this come about? let me fill you in ....

‘Every cloud has a silver lining’ has become a proverb spoken to call out signs of hope in the midst of unfortunate and gloomy situations. The phrase is often used to encourage us to ‘look on the bright side’.  

We can thank the poet John Milton for it. In his masque Comus, written in 1634, he has a scene set in a forest. Through this wild place a lady and her two brothers are travelling. They stop for a rest, and the two men set off to gather berries, leaving her ladyship on her own. They don't return and she is left all alone, frightened out of her wits as night falls. She prays to God for deliverance, and asks Faith and Hope to console her. Her prayers, she is sure, will be answered, because she is sent a promising omen: "Was I deceived, or did a sable cloud/Turn forth her silver lining on the night?/I did not err, there does a sable cloud,/Turn forth her silver lining on the night,/And cast a gleam over the rufted grove."

When a cloud looks like its edges are shining and silvery, it’s because the sun is behind it. When we see the silver lining we are reminded that the sun still shines even behind the clouds and we take hope that the skies will clear again.

There is no doubt that COVID 19 has cast it’s unfortunate and gloomy presence onto our horizon. It’s rained on our parade, it’s cast a shadow over our days and it’s been accompanied by a season of staying inside.   Cancelling our annual Her Community High Tea fundraiser is just another disappointment for our team this year.

BUT the cloud of COVID 19 has also come with silver linings, in our family Eliza found a new love for bike riding, Troy saved 2 hours a day commuting, Jesse humoured his parents by watching their old favourite movies, and I amongst other things enjoyed time to cook all sorts of delicious treats.

With all the cooking I pulled out my trusty Kingsway Cookbook aptly titled ‘It’s what you’ve done with it!’ after Aussie movie classic ‘the Castle’ (….someone remind me to put that on Jesse’s list.) Some of you may be lucky enough to own or even feature in this elusive out of print cooking companion.  (It was a fundraising initiative by the women of Kingsway over 10 years ago to support the work of freeing women in Cambodia from Sex Trafficking.)

So as the Her community team met recently to figure out what to do instead of our high tea it dawned on me that NOW was time for the Kingsway Cookbook Volume 2.   For starters we’ve all been cooking or at least eating more and secondly we felt it would provide a way to share, along with our recipes, the silver linings of COVID.  

Our Her Community theme this year is to ‘Shine Bright’, and sometimes that looks like the slivers of light coming from behind the clouds.

So we would love for you to submit a recipe along with a photo and one of your silver linings to be included in our cookbook. To make the process as simple as possible we have created a template for you to fill out here.

All money raised from the sale of the cookbooks will be donated to Kingsway Care’s Platform 9 crisis refuge for families experiencing homelessness and/or domestic violence. Specifically, the funds will be used to brighten up some of the common areas and bedrooms with paint, encouraging prints and some of the little touches that the existing budget just does not cover. By doing so we can come together to bring a silver lining and a message of hope to those experience the worst of gloomy and unfortunate days.

As a bonus, our cookbooks will make a fabulous Christmas gift for those near or unfortunately far away at this time!  Stay tuned for more details on how to order.

We will have both hard copies and eBook versions available.

For now, select and submit ta favourite recipe and COVID 19 silver lining by completing the form here.  Any questions or for help in submitting contact Ruth, Bernie, Robyn, Mel or Me. 

x Kym & the Her Community Team