A Delicious Day

A plate of crispy chicken with baked beans, mushroom ravioli with Swiss Chard and roasted tomatoes.

It was a delicious day at the Wednesday Community Meal at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral. We served 204 guests plates of crispy oven roasted chicken and warm peach crisp for dessert.

For side dishes we had roasted tomatoes, green salads, baked beans, rice, mushroom ravioli with Swiss chard and soup. Not every guest got the same accompaniments to the chicken but there were no complaints. Everything was well received. It is a privilege to serve such nice people.

The chicken was especially popular. Before coating it with a breading of panko, flour, cornmeal, seasonings and herbs, we dipped it into a seasoned mixture of milk, lemon juice and oil.  Baking it in a 375 degree oven got it extra crispy and boy did it smell great.

Delicious!

Everyone Is Welcome

Dedicated volunteer Dan, getting a meal to eat with guests.

 

What I love most about the Wednesday Community Meal is that everyone is welcome. The doors open  at 11 a.m. at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral (147 NW 19th, Portland, OR) and all you have to do is come inside.

Carol, a long-term volunteer in our dining room told me today that she notices the first time when someone comes in to eat, they usually seem shy, keep their head down and are hesitant to make eye contact.

But she said, once they've come a few times and get to know us, they come alive. She said she loves it when their eyes light up, they smile and they make friends with the other guests and volunteers.

To feed the hungry is the main reason we serve a meal on Wednesdays but there are so many other benefits like solace, fellowship and friendship. And these benefits are for everyone, guests and volunteers.

We served 317 meals today and as always, everyone was welcome.

Fresh fruit cups ready to be served.

Winging It

Jeff, serving the very popular rosemary and lemon roasted chicken.

The hardest part of planning and serving the Wednesday Community Meal at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral is that you don't know how many guests you'll have.

The meal is free and everyone is welcome. Our guest range has been anywhere from 180 to 340, so preparing the right amount is always a challenge.

We want to prepare enough food to fully satisfy everyone but we also don't want to waste any food. Wednesday after Wednesday, it just seems to work out.

Our secret to success?  — work hard, be creative, stay positive and really just wing it.

We served 268 meals today and at the end of the day had nothing leftover to refrigerate or freeze.

Our menu today was rosemary and lemon roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, roasted tomatoes, soup, salad and dessert.

The chicken was especially popular thanks to our volunteer Jeff who on the fly created a lemon and rosemary marinade and patiently basted both sides of each and every piece.  One guest came to the kitchen window to tell us it was the best meal he'd had in months.


I hope we can treat him to another great meal next week.

Roasted tomatoes with herbs and Parmesan cheese.

Salad with watermelon and grapes.

A Sweet Wednesday

Cheryl's homemade Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Cake, plated and ready to be served.

Our service today at the Wednesday Community Meal was slow but sweet.

We served 185 meals, a lower number than usual, but that gave us more time than usual to relax and mingle with our guests.

Cheryl, who is our dessert specialist (every week she whips up a one of a kind treat from pantry donations), took it upon herself to go table to table early on in the service to chat with the guests.

Afterwards, she came into the kitchen pleased to tell me that everyone she talked to was enjoying the meal and that some told her the Wednesday lunch was the highlight of their week — an opportunity to be warm, relax, eat and visit.

I'm so happy to work with volunteers like Cheryl who sincerely care about the well-being of our guests.

Because, if truth be told, the hospitality is just as important as the food. 

Main Dish Mania

Whew! We served no less than 11 different main dishes today at the Wednesday Community Meal.

We used today's meal as an opportunity to clean our fridges and freezers of all our gleaned odds and ends. Changing the menu so often kept us on our toes but we were able to create and serve 268 full meals by using just some of this and some of that.

Thanks to the generosity of Good Samaritan Hospital, Phil's Meat Market (17 Northwest 23rd Place, Portland, OR)  and Trader Joe's (2122 Northwest Glisan Street, Portland, OR),  our guests left happy and satisfied.

Curious about how our menu evolved? Here's the list of our 11 main dishes.
 1. Sweet Chili Ribs
 2. Baked Chicken
 3. Enchiladas
 4. Baked Halibut
 5. Pasta with Marinara Sauce and Sausage
 6. Shepherd's Pie
 7. Sweet and Sour Chicken
 8. A Spicy Vegetarian Entree
 9. Baked Potatoes and Chili
10. Tri-Tip Steak Sandwiches
11. Turkey Sandwiches

It was a busy day!

Pass The Chicken

The Wednesday Community Meal at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral was extra busy today. We served 323 meals.

We had six donated cases of chicken quarters so we oven roasted them and served them with a salad, roasted tomatoes, mashed potatoes and gravy. The guests were kind and appreciative as usual. It's a wonderful community.

We expected a large crowd with it being the end of the month when money is typically tighter but we didn't expect the sun which I suspect drew even more guests out and into our dining room. Good thing it was Spring Break and we had lots of extra help from young volunteers in the kitchen. Thank you Micah, Zane, Olivia, Iris, Sierra, Elise and Eleanor! You were a big help.

Last Wednesday

Every Wednesday, I enter the kitchen at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Northwest Portland sometime between 8:15 and 8:30 a.m. and the wonderful mayhem begins.

With a lot of help from a crew of the nicest and the most dedicated volunteers, we pull together a full meal for an unknown number of hungry guests using gleaned food, donated food and purchased food from the Oregon Food Bank.  I don't know all the ingredients I'll have to work with until the day before so it's kind of like an Iron Chef competition. Stressful but fun. Anyone can eat at Trinity between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Wednesday. 

Last week we served 268 meals. On the menu for the first 180 guests was a plate of frittata, roasted tomatoes, toast, homemade chunky apple sauce and bread pudding for dessert. Then it was onto our wonderful leftovers from Good Samaritan Hospital. The next group got roasted pork and a salad and the next taco rice casserole and a salad. And finally there was sweet and sour chicken and enchiladas.

Every Wednesday, there is a miracle in the kitchen. I don't know how it happens but we always seem to have enough for everyone.

Please come back for more stories from the kitchen of the Wednesday Community Meal at Trinity.  What will I have to cook with this week?