Sink or Swim!

And the award goes to... this giant chinese skimmer aka the spider!

Last Monday I cooked dinner for a local soup kitchen for the very first time. I spent Saturday afternoon getting ready. Flyers and grocery list in hand with $200 in my wallet, I headed out the door. Two hours later and $5.38 over budget I drove home with the goods. Shortly before six, it was off to the bakery with Jim to pick up the day's leftover bread. I kid you not, we filled the back of the pickup truck. That is a lot of bread my friend. So I decided to add bread pudding to the menu!

Monday. The morning is mine because the afternoon won't be. I've got my To Do list ready.

Start time 1 pm:

Boil vats of water
Oil the frying pans
Chop onions in record time
Fry up onions
Cut up 20 lbs of sausage
Toss sausage in with onions

1.45 pm:

Vats of water now boiling
Throw in 2.5 lbs of pasta/pot
Stir pans of sausage and onions
Stir pasta
Stir sausage and onions
Stir pasta
Think. Fast. Think
Stir sausage and onions
Stir pasta

2 pm:
 
Using a giant spider, I start scooping the cooked pasta in large stainless steel pans
Stir sausage and onions
Carry pan #1 to island and stir in oil to prevent clumping
Fill pan #2. Island. Oil
Turn off burners for sausage and onions
#3. Island. Oil

2.30 pm:

#4. Island. Oil
Line up jars of tomato sauce
Yikes. Jars are sealed shut and won't open!!
Hammer lids with a knife. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
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Pour sauce into sausage and onions mixture. Quickly. Quickly.
Rinse out jars with tomato juice. Faster. Faster!

THIS IS IT. THIS IS WHERE I SINK OR SWIM!!

2.45 pm:

Line up ingredients for bread pudding
Turn oven on to 325°F
Fill pot with 5 L of milk
Think of how to warm up milk without burning and without having to constantly watch and stir
Set pot in pot full of leftover hot pasta water to act as double boiler
Crack 30 eggs into bowl
Add brown sugar, cinnamon, freshly ground nutmeg and vanilla
Check milk. Ready.
Chop up 1 1/2 lb of butter into squares. Add to milk to melt.
Whip up egg and sugar mixture
Slowly add warm milk and butter mixture
Butter 4 shallow pans. Add chopped up bread (thank goodness I cubed the bread on Sunday!)
Toss raisins on top

I AM SWIMMING!!

3.15 pm:

Set bread pan in oven and fill with egg and sugar mixture
Pan #2. Oven. Fill.
#3. Oven. Fill.
#4. Oven. Fill.

I AM ENJOYING MY SWIM!

3.30 pm:

The team will start rolling in
Start washing mushrooms.
Eilleen walks in. "Eilleen, how would you like to wash mushrooms?"
Take romaine lettuce to dishwasher room ready for the next batch of volunteers to work on
"Eilleen can you chop the mushrooms please."

INHALE! EXHALE! HA!

3.45 pm:

Start assembling pasta dish
Turn 2 ovens on to 350°F
Toss sauce and sausage with pasta, layer of mozzarella, layer of mushrooms, layer of pasta and sausage, final layer of mozzarella. Foil. Oven.Toss sauce and sausage with pasta, layer of mozzarella, layer of mushrooms, layer of pasta and sausage, final layer of mozzarella. Foil. Oven. Toss the pasta, layer of mozzarella, layer of mushrooms, layer of pasta and sausage, final layer of mozzarella. Foil. Oven. Toss sauce and sausage with pasta, layer of mozzarella, layer of mushrooms, layer of pasta and sausage, final layer of mozzarella. Foil. Oven.
Check bread pudding

I'M OUT OF THE POOL!

4.00 pm:

More volunteers roll in. They know what to do.
An hour and a half to show time! We bag bread. We slice bread. We butter bread. Garlic bread it is!
Check bread pudding
Check pasta casseroles
Butter baguettes and sprinkle garlic powder
Eilleen cubes bread to make croutons for the Caesar's salad

4.15 pm

Take bread pudding out of the oven
The dining room is ready
The coffee... something's wrong with the coffee machine. Too late to brew another pot.
Open the door. The guests start to flow in.
Line up the apple juice. Stir up another jug of OJ. Put out the water jug, the kettle and tea bags, milk and sugar.
"When will the coffee be ready?" They are cold and look for it. "Sorry no coffee today."
They drink hot tea instead.
The volunteers keep refilling.

5.00 pm

Prep the serving table. Serving spoons, tongs. Count out 103 plates. 
Head count: 55 guests

5.15 pm

Who is serving?
Dish out the bread pudding
Broil and slice the garlic bread
Who will say GRACE?
Head count 80+


5.30 pm SHOW TIME!

Set 2 serving stations of cheesy pasta casserole, Caesars salad and garlic bread
GRACE
2 tables at a time, our guests line up for their supper
Seconds.
Volunteers also eat.
Clear the serving station.
Set out the bread pudding.
Dessert line up.
Leftovers are packed and handed out.
Bags of bread are put out.

6.30 pm

Dinner is over and the last guests leave. Satisfied (I think).
We wash: dishes, utensils, pots and pans, tables, kitchen surfaces.
Put out the garbage, recycling and the green bin.

7.00 pm

It's done.
Approximately 160 servings.
Total cost per setting: $1.46