Like any good book, the glossy Kaipatiki Book of Recipes & Handy Tips was launched two weeks ago with a bit of a do - sandwiches and speeches at the Beach Haven Bowling Club. And, like any self-critical writer, some of this group were already spotting errors and planning changes for the reprint.
"We were all involved. Some of us did recipes, some could do poems, some gave tips," explains Linda Roberts, who contributed two quick and easy recipes for chicken, and the useful advice that stretching your arms above your head cures hiccups.
She moved to the complex 10 years ago from Beach Haven, and keeps an eye on others in the village.
Kelly Dakers ("I'm 81 and not worried about telling people my age") is the self-appointed teacher of the group - she helps neighbour Ming Wei, from Wuhan, in China, with her English and wrote several of the poems and sayings scattered through the book.
Mrs Wei has taken to learning Western cooking. Her shortbread nearly didn't make it into the photo, as it was devoured by the others, and she is thrilled at making Kiwi favourites like banana cake.
Neighbour Jinju Lin is the gardener of the group, with sweet spring peas already topping the bamboo poles, and pots of spring onions already good for picking.
Tony Wall, the group's jokester, reckons his best cooking efforts revolve around microwaving a pie from the supermarket over the road.
"But I was trying and testing out the recipes. I'm a food critic, see," he says. "I'm very old-fashioned. It's the woman's obligation to do the cooking, the man's obligation to appreciate it."
Brian Tangaroa (Ngati Whatua o Kaipara) says that while he was brought up on the land, catching eels and foraging for puha, cooking is new to him. He's exactly the person Ms Whiu had in mind when she and Ms Mincham came up with the idea for the booklet.
"We work in community development, from babies until death," Ms Whiu explains. "A couple of years ago the local board wanted more consultation with people here. So we'd come in with a campervan, pull the chairs out and door knock all the units. Over a cup of tea, we realised that there's a wealth of knowledge here that people could share."
Most of all, newly widowed older people told her that cooking for one was a chore, or a mystery. She distributed forms to all the social housing complexes for people to write out their recipes and tips.
The format was flexible - when people like Mrs Dakers wanted to include poems, the tip book included poems.
By June the forms were collected and a local printer had formatted the book and the show was on the road.
The launch was important. "It's all about the collaborative approach, connecting people socially. So we picked people up and took them to the bowling club for a lovely lunch.
"The club encouraged people to become members. Everybody loved it. They didn't expect it to look so good."
Ms Whiu is keen to spread the idea into other Housing New Zealand areas, so that seniors can share with younger families: "They brought up families with no money, they have all the wisdom. We can go far and wide sharing that wisdom.
"I had to be a cook, with five children," says Mrs Roberts. "I had to get something simple on the table. We could help these young ones, as well as the people around us."
Simple, small scale and connected: a pretty good model for the rest of the city bureaucrats.
