A Meal On The Fly

We had a constant long line to get into the meal today. In the end, we served 442.

A table ready for guests.

I had been stressing for a few days about today's Wednesday Community Meal because I knew we were low on food due to it being a slow week for gleaned food and the fact that our canned food pantry is in dire need of a replenishing.

When I entered the kitchen this morning at 8 a.m., I really didn't have a clue what we were going to make but I knew we had to come up with something fast since it was the last Wednesday of the month and we were expecting a larger than usual crowd.

All of the early volunteers were so helpful, staying positive and working with me to devise a plan.

Looking at what gleaned food we had from Good Samaritan Hospital, we guessed that we had enough food for 60 to 80 guests and knew that there was no way about it, a quick shopping trip was in order.

So we made a shopping list (lean protein, a starch, a vegetable side and salad ingredients) and volunteer Dave ran over to Cash 'n' Carry and literally saved the day.

Today's meal was planned on the fly but hopefully our guests couldn't tell. We served oven-roasted pork loin, baked tomatoes topped with a cheesy topping and tater tots along with soup, salad and dessert. The latter was homemade apple crisp made by volunteer Cheryl.

Juicy oven-roasted pork that we seasoned with a rub made of brown sugar and spices.

Cheesy topped baked tomatoes.

Beautiful green salads.

Servings of homemade apple crisp.

In the end, everything worked out and we served 442 meals during our two hour service. Whew! That was a close one.