A Lively Day

The first entree to be served was homemade meatloaf and mac and cheese with a side of sauteed greens. We served an unexpected 447 meals today.

I always try to get pictures of the food and activity during the service of Wednesday Community Meal but today was just too busy.

I snapped a few pictures before the doors opened but after that there was just no time because we served an unexpected 447 meals during our two hours of service and in the end had nothing left over.

All I can say is thank goodness we had an extra big bucket of pizza gleaned from Pizza Schmizza because it saved us and helped us feed everyone.

The meal started out with homemade meatloaf and mac and cheese. We put a crispy topping of bread crumbs on the latter and added a few bits of "yellow" cauliflower from Food Front Grocery Cooperative in Hillsdale. The pretty cauliflower combined perfectly with the cheesy pasta and was a great way to add nutrition to the dish.

Once the service started at 11 a.m, it took just twenty minutes for 14 large meatloafs to be sliced and gone. Then it was on to turkey, chicken, burritos, ribs, sweet and sour chicken and shrimp, a spicy vegetarian dish, chili, pizza and finally hot dogs.

We also offered guests soup, salad and dessert.
 
There was a lot of improvising and running around but in the end everything worked out and everyone who came for food was fed and we had positive comments from the guests. 

Longtime volunteer Cheryl, who oversees the dining room, has started putting paper on a clipboard in the kitchen for volunteers to record comments from the diners. It's a wonderful thing and helps us remember why we serve.

One especially nice comment today came from a man who was just released from jail for violating his probation. He said being in jail for 30 days was "my fault," and all he had been eating while there was "baloney sandwiches" - so "thank you" for "my first real meal in a very long time."