A Dramatic Day

There was some excitement in the dining room at the Wednesday Community Meal today because of an unhappy and unruly guest who was itching for a fight with a tablemate.

Fortunately no one was hurt and according to longtime volunteer Dave, the hero of the day was another guest who has experience working as a bouncer.

"He knew what to do and quickly got between them and kept them from hurting each other," said Dave.

Nearly all of our guests are polite, kind and appreciative. They enjoy and rely on the weekly meal so when another guest causes problems, it's just as frustrating for them as it is for us volunteers.

We served 317 meals today and had to change our menu multiple times.

Here are a few menu hightlights from today:

*Fresh tuna served in a lemongrass Thai sauce over rice that was donated by Fishpeople Seafood. Thank you Martha for arranging and preparing the special treat!

*Barbecue chicken that was donated by Good Samaritan Hospital and served with roasted red potatoes, roasted tomatoes and just baked biscuits.

Volunteer Ava making biscuits.

A barbecue chicken meal.

*Fresh fruit salad made with organic produce donated by Food Front Cooperative Grocery in Hillsdale.

The fresh fruit salad made by young volunteers Caroline, Bethany and Paige.

*Green salads made with just picked lettuce donated by longtime volunteer Kate who has an amazing garden and is so generous.

It was just one of those days but the positives prevailed.

Smoked Salmon And Smoked Oyster Chowder

Guests at the Wednesday Community Meal today were treated to steaming hot bowls of smoked salmon and smoked oyster chowder courtesy of Fishpeople Seafood and volunteer Martha who arranged the donation and made and served the chowder.

It was an unusually cool June day today in Portland so the timing of the special treat was perfect.

Martha even added extra smoked salmon and diced golden potatoes to the chowder which really took it over the top and made our guests so happy. We kept hearing from the servers in the dining room how everyone loved the chowder. Dedicated volunteer Dean even told me one guest was absolutely convinced it was lobster bisque.

It's such a pleasure being able to treat our guests. Thank you Martha!

We served 259 meals today and in addition to the chowder served homemade enchilada casserole, roasted tomatoes, salad and ice cream for dessert.

Assembling the enchilada casseroles.

Ice cream topped with chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, whipped cream, sprinkles and maraschino cherries.

Gourmet Treats

At the Wednesday Community Meal today we enjoyed surprising our guests with some real gourmet treats - smoked salmon and smoked oyster chowder, just baked apple crisp, grass-fed Angus beef and a homemade lasagna inspired pasta dish. And, it was a busy day - we served 325 meals.

The smoked salmon and oyster chowder came courtesy of Fishpeople Seafood, a local company that has released a whole line of seafood entrees.

The company was so nice to donate to us and the chowder was a welcome change from our usual soup options.

The Fishpeople entrees which include Thai Coconut Lemongrass Tuna, Salmon in Chardonnay Dill Cream Sauce and Coconut Yellow Curry Tuna are available online and in local stores including New Seasons and Whole Foods.

A pouch of Smoked Salmon and Oyster Chowder.

The chowder in the warming pot.

A hearty serving topped with a few homemade croutons.

The apple crisp was made by our dessert expert Cheryl who amazingly assembled them and baked them in just over an hour. She is so well organized - she had the apples sliced and the topping mixed and ready to go when she entered the kitchen and voila, just out of the oven apple crisp which made the kitchen smell amazing.

Servings of just baked apple crisp.

The grass-fed Angus beef was donated to us by Trader Joe's. We sliced the thick steaks in half so more guests could have a taste. All the volunteers were excited about serving the steaks and were anxious to see the response.

Alongside the steak, we served a homemade pasta dish and garlic bread. Volunteer Steve who works the front table told me that he heard the guests raving about the food as they left. Yeah! Mission accomplished.

Our lasagna inspired pasta dish made with ground beef donated by Phil's Meat Market and whole milk cottage cheese from The Oregon Foodbank. And, a tender treat — a petite Angus steak.