V for Life's Roving Chef, Ollie, recently visited a memory café in Wembley, making a tasty meal for people living with dementia and their partners. 

In October I visited the Memory Café, Wembley. A wonderful group of people living with dementia attend this group, and their partners come along, too. The weekly meet-ups are organised by Megan Donnellan, a personal trainer and pilates instructor. She leads some exercises with the group, before they sit down together to share a meal. The sessions are a great opportunity for people to socialise, engage in some fun activities, and take a short break from caring for their partner.

Because it was the start of autumn, and there was a slight nip in the air, I thought we would make some pea and lavender soup, accompanied by quick breads. The group was enthusiastic with the bread making, showing real skill and mastery that was greater than my own! Many of the Indian women in the group said the types of bread we were making were second nature to them. The simple soup was satisfying in its simplicity and freshness, with the lavender adding a gentle, sweet floral note that was not too overpowering.

After filling our bellies we returned to the kitchen to follow up with dessert, in this case a delicious, rich chocolate avocado pudding. It's super simple, and requires no cooking – just blending of all the ingredients together. It went down a treat. Megan thought it was "the best choc avocado pud" she had ever eaten (apparently she’d tried many expensive shop bought ones before). Because it is a low-sugar, healthy dessert we all felt quite good about consuming it.

See the recipe below. The other recipes we made on the day are available on our website. Just check the recipe section.

Chocolate Avocado Pudding

Serves 2. Preparation time: 10 minutes.

Ingredients

• 1 ripe avocado
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup almond or soy milk
• 1–2 tbsp maple syrup or sweetener of your choice

Instructions

1. Blend all ingredients in a blender.
2. Refrigerate until chilled.

If you run a community group for over 65s, and would like a visit from one of our Roving Chefs, please get in touch with our training co-ordinator, Ellie: ellie@vegetarianforlife.org.uk or 0161 257 0887.