Baked Potatoes

Some of the 120 pounds of baked potatoes we served today. We made them extra good by rubbing them with oil and sprinkling them with Kosher salt before baking. Volunteers Cheryl and Mary worked hard today prepping all of them for the ovens.

Baked potatoes were a hit today at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral's Wednesday Community Meal. The 120 pounds that we used came free from The Oregon Food Bank and we turned them into a full meal by topping them with chili, cheese and sour cream.

"Everyone is so happy when they see we're serving baked potatoes," said longtime volunteer Carol who serves in the dining room. "Their eyes just light up when they see what's on their plate."

Today's meal.

Alongside the potatoes we served oven roasted tomatoes that we seasoned with salt, garlic and fresh basil.

I think our guests liked the baked potatoes because they are delicious, comforting and easy to eat. Most of our guests can't afford dental care and because of this, quite a few have difficulty eating anything that's tough to chew.  How easy a food is to eat is something we always have to consider when we are deciding what to make.

I learned this years ago when I offered a guest an apple to take home and he said "Now Heidi, do you really think I can eat that?"  Then he smiled and revealed a mouth full of missing and broken teeth. It really hit me that having dental care is something I shouldn't take for granted. I wish so much that it could be made affordable and available to everyone because having it improves the quality of life.

In addition to the potatoes we served soup, salad and dessert. The dessert was an assortment of tasty cakes and pies donated from the Trader Joe's on NW Glisan Street. 

Lemon tart slices that were just one of many desserts from Trader Joe's that we offered today.

We weren't too busy since it's the very first of the month but we still served 214 meals and saw a lot of smiles in the dining room.