Making it work in the church kitchen

Celebrating a married son

contact@churchkitchen.com (Katie) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 01:50:00 +0000

Not mine. Theirs. And he is in many way, ours. Raised here in our church, grown up, gone off to become educated and to find his own way, and as it turned out to get married. You won't see pictures of him and his beautiful bride here, because it's my job to make it happen behind the scenes.

Most people are familiar with this idea--son gets married far away, and then at some later date his parents throw a celebration at home. And this was a great celebration thanks to the efforts of his mother and step-father. Of all the "son-parties" that I've seen over many years, this was one of the very best. It was not lavish--lavish is not required nor expected, but they did give attention to details that show thought and care.

The menu was very simple: Assorted sandwiches on rolls, hot open faced reuben canapes, veggie trays that mix both fresh and pickled items, and the famous family potato salad. And cake. The step-father and the younger sister prepared the potato salad in the church kitchen the day before the party--that in itself was a great gift. Mother and friend arranged all the fresh flowers and made the centerpieces and larger arrangements. Equipment was set up to run pictures from the wedding, the bride's dress was on a dress-form, and there was a table full of pictures to admire. And on the day of the party the air was full of music and the sounds of conversation.

In the kitchen we did everything we would do for any wedding celebration--we pulled out all the silver and put careful thought into the food preparation and presentation. The point of this post I guess, is to say it is worth every ounce of effort to celebrate a marriage whether it actually happens in your church or not.

Enjoy the rest of the kitchen pics.

Pickled asparagus is a great favorite here--for most anyway. Either you love it or you don't.
We like to mix a variety of pickled veggies in with the fresh. This time we had baby dills and marinated mushrooms along with the asparagus, and two kinds of olives.

These beautiful minature sweet peppers and cherry tomatoes worked well to boost the color of the mix. We always use a foundation of broccoli buds, cauliflower cuts, carrots, and celery sticks.

We offered roast beef, ham, and turkey sandwiches, and about four dozen freestyle, "Assembler's Choice." Once the basics are done the crew likes to make various combinations. By the time they reach the end of the rolls they deserve to have some fun. For this party we also used a mix of mayo and spicy mustard, pickle chips, shredded lettuce, and cheddar slices.

And the finish:

We're back!

contact@churchkitchen.com (Katie) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 05:00:00 +0000

The first Wednesday is over and done! We had a much quieter start than usual because our children's choir time is on hold for another month or so. We have some other groups that have seen major changes with graduations and incoming classes, so I expect that Betty's Diner will feel the full effects of those changes, too. Nevertheless, it was a very steady run of business tonight.

We offered a taco salad platter for an entree, a turkey, pastrami, and provolone sandwich on sourdough from the grill, and all the rest of the usual items--grilled cheese, hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken strips, chili, and our "Thoughtful Salad." We're trying something different with the hot dogs, giving them a go on the grill which gives them some great color. I decided to hold off on the soup until the weather is decidedly cooler. No one missed it, so I think it was a good call. Our supplier changed brands of fish fillets over the summer so we have to decide if we like the type I chose, or if we need to try, try again. For dessert we offered brownies with chocolate chips, oatmeal raisin cookies, and peanut butter cookies. We do our best to keep those peanut butter cookies completely separate from the rest of the food because we have a couple of people with significant allergies, and we never know about visitors.

But the very best thing that happened tonight was the development of the volunteer schedule from next week up until the first of the year. The line assistants worked together to decide a rotation that would include new and returning helpers, the dishwashers worked themselves into a good schedule, and the cashiers got it all figured out. And Vera will put it on a spreadsheet for us and we'll be all set, with the understanding that the only certain thing is change. My personal strategy was to start the year with a known quantity--the people who worked last season. And once our first Diner was over everyone could get together in the same place and decide for themselves. This negotiation/decision process always works better if everyone has a cookie in hand, and it's much more pleasant than 37 phone calls to answering machines. The best part was that they did it all themselves with no input from me. All of these people enjoy their work and sincerely believe in the value of what we do. No arm twisting. And with this kind of rotation we shouldn't have anyone feeling burned out by Christmas time.

It very nearly didn't happen

contact@churchkitchen.com (Katie) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 21:56:00 +0000

Don't they look productive? Thanks to the wonders of high school work experience the hamburgers, beef dogs, and toasted buns were flying off the grills and into the hands of capable wrappers. "Here, let me show you how--we used to wrap chili dogs like crazy on Tuesdays...."

So the buyer worked beside the teacher, who worked beside the dental office manager, who taught the engineer the finer points of the job. Isn't that just the best part of volunteering?

But like the title says, it almost didn't happen. The kitchen was too cool and too quiet when I came in to work on Sunday morning. It didn't take long to figure out that none of the bazillion pilot lights were on. I thought, okay I'll do as much prep as I can during the Cafe hour and then I'll re-light after church. Not a fun job, but really no big deal.

And then after church and after my last shopping pick up I was finally ready with my firestick. I hit the gas valve reset button and tried to light a pilot light and nothing happened. I tried the appliances with automatic restarts and nothing happened. I reset and retried and still nothing. So I started calling through the church directory. I should have the numbers of these helpful church-building-guys memorized, but I don't. Five households were not home.

My mind started down that well known road: I wonder if this will be the time when it really happens. I wonder what it will be like to direct them to all the fast food places and ask them to come back to the meeting with their sacks and take out containers.

But, church-building-guy number six was home--just ready to head out the door, but still home enough for me to get some answers.

His side of the conversation went something like this: Uh. Umm. No gas, huh? (pause) That's my fault. You know the broken glass in the door downstairs? Mm. That's my fault, too. You see when the door got away from me it slammed into the gas meter and broke the glass in the door. Mmm. And I'll bet when it hit the meter it triggered the Earthquake Valve. Umm. Do you know how to turn the Earthquake Valve back on?

That would be negative. But I know now! I got the important pilots relit just before 3pm. 140 people were coming for dinner at 5:30, and I hadn't started anything, including baking the cookies and making the pasta salad. Fortunately the salad marinates quickly--but still, 2-1/2 hours isn't very long.

A terrific crew of helpers came at 4, and we were as they say, "Cookin' with gas." We served dinner 15 minutes late. Not too bad. In keeping with our Fall Kick Off theme we had hamburgers and beef dogs wrapped in great foil wrappers that really do hold the heat. All the condiments hearts could desire, a waldorf salad with dried cranberries instead of nuts (to please the young ones), a marinated Mediterranean pasta salad with feta, capers, and green beans, all the hot, crispy, salty, beautiful french fries they wanted, Hermiston watermelon and three kinds of cookies.

Oh, and I didn't mention that the water heater went to sleep and didn't wake up. I'm still waiting for a repairman on that deal. Fortunately our coffee urn and dishwasher have their own sources for making hot water. This added bit of malfunction was like extra granish on an already upside down cake.

And in the end dinner moved along smoothly, the meeting went well, and we can put another W in the win column. Hurray!

End of the summer

contact@churchkitchen.com (Katie) — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 18:27:00 +0000

With the donuts, bagels, yogurt, orange slices, juice, hot chocolate, tea, ice water, and coffee this morning we finished our summer season. We were shaking our heads at the thought of how quickly it disappeared.

Next Sunday afternoon we'll be having our Fall Kick Off Celebration, which among other things will feature all of our summer short term missionaries. They will have tables and displays around the perimeter of the room, and dinner will be a very casual sort of thing. Our Pastor has requested food that can be carried, or enjoyed at a table, and food that will accomodate people coming at various times for the first hour. But dessert needs to be serious (as if!). Dessert should pull the people to the tables to transition into the time our returnees will each give a short presentation, before leadership moves on with the really big news of the evening. That will take some thinking.

And on the following Sunday afternoon we'll have a wedding reception/light luncheon for the church to celebrate the summer marriage of one of our young men and his bride. They were married, and now live in, another state so this will be our chance to greet them and celebrate their joy.

As promised in the previous picture post, I'll give you a run down of our August wedding weekend menus. No two weddings are alike, and that is part of what makes this job so satisfying.

Rehearsal Dinner

Salad of mixed baby greens, romaine, fresh blueberries and feta

dressed with a blush vinaigrette

Baskets of mixed artisan breads

Herb crusted pork loin/Sauteed chicken breasts

Rosemary roasted baby red potatoes

Roasted vegetables

--------

Chocolate chocolate cake

Loganberry/raspberry crostatas

both served with vanilla ice cream

Coffee Lemonade Ice water

For the wedding party snack carts we offered several types of cheese with a variety of crackers, celery sticks and baby carrots, mixed grapes,

and bottled water.

(The idea here is to provide non-staining food that will keep everyone nourished and hydrated to minimize the chance of fainting during the wedding. It really seems to help.)

Wedding Reception

Marinated shrimp on skewers

Ginger bacon chicken bites

Garlic crostini

Ricotta and spiced fruit bruschetta

Roasted figs with gorganzola and pecans

Mixed olives

Smoked salmon, lemon and dill cream cheese on crackers

Cheese table with fruit and crackers

included American, British and French cheeses

Fresh fruit

Dessert Buffet

Wedding cake

Ginger peach roll

Lime curd tartlets

Spiced plum pavlovas

Coffee Sweet tea Lemonade Ice water

Rehearsal dinner and wedding reception

contact@churchkitchen.com (Katie) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:56:00 +0000

This post could also be titled, "Success!" or "Days and Days of Hard Work" and it would all be right. I had the absolute best help available, and together we had a great plan, an easy going bride and groom, good equipment and ingredients, and a very happy time working together to produce something really wonderful.

For the most part this was a returning crew which made the work even smoother. We were joined by a long-time friend and former co-worker who came a great distance to help us create something out of the ordinary. Our bride is still getting compliments on the excellent food and layout. So hurray for everyone! In another post I'll outline the menus for both days, and a little of the plan for creating an easy flow for a large crowd. Enjoy the pictures.

Wedding reception in the park

contact@churchkitchen.com (Katie) — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 13:32:00 +0000

It was a very chilly morning, considering it was the 19th of July. The park sprinklers had been going full tilt during the night, so we unexpectedly had puddles and mud to contend with. A large, two-section picnic area had been reserved for the party. The bride's only instructions were, "Set it up so it works for you." So we did. The helpers got busy with rolls and rolls of red table covering, we chose places for the cake and beverage tables, and for the main food table. It took some thinking to find a cooking place that would allow the grill guy good solid footing on the asphalt, and still leave safe walking and waiting areas for the guests. I had visions of disaster with all the slippery mud around the narrow paved areas.

We served a great picnic with really wonderful all-beef franks (my burly grill expert could not believe how good they were), hamburgers, fresh fruit, fresh veggies, potato salad, chips, pop, bottled water, and gallons of coffee. And wedding cake.

At my request the bride rented a gas grill and two large insulated coffee servers. Some of her many brothers did the heavy work--delivery, set up, clean up and return. We took care of the rest.

If this were the kind of world that allowed for going back and doing things over, I would take advantage of that chance. We could have used a grill twice the size of the one that was rented. You can see from the photo that this was certainly larger than home grill, but with 125 guests waiting in line it was less than adequate. People had to wait for a long time. I worked side by side with the grill man, keeping up with the new burgers and adding cheese when needed. We developed a good comedy routine to keep people entertained--I like to call it dinner theater.

I cannot stress enough the value of hand sanitizer and food service gloves in this kind of setting. There were very minimal hand washing facilities quite a distance away, so neither staff nor guests were able to take advantage of the water. We had pump bottles of hand sanitizer at the head of the food line and happily the guests were glad to use it. My crew made liberal use of the gloves and everyone stayed safe. Sometimes I find it helpful to put two or three pairs on at the same time so I can quickly peel off a set to move on to another project without having to slow down. (Handling raw meat, then putting cheese on the nearly cooked burgers definitely calls for multiple sets of gloves.)

I'd like to add my good wishes to the many that were offered that day. I hope for a good and happy marriage for Bill and Teresa--they're off to a good start.

A not so restful summer

contact@churchkitchen.com (Katie) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:25:00 +0000

I'll admit that I had fond hopes for an easy, breezy carefree summer. I don't think they're ever on the menu here, but I was hopeful. It didn't happen.

A couple of weeks ago we took our show on the road and did a wedding reception in a local park for some of our church folks. It was a great success and we had a good, good time doing it. We arranged a BBQ, brought all the food, set the place up--did the whole thing. I took four of my very best workers with me and they got rave reviews. Rave reviews. Several times I heard comments like, "I didn't know church people could do this kind of work," or "I wasn't expecting anything like this, because you know how church people are, they just throw things together." Very nice for us to be recognized for our high standards of performance, but a really sad commentary on the perceptions of church life. My immediate thought was, "Why not operate at full excellence? This is church isn't it?" I'll post pics of the reception on another day.

I also "helped" at another wedding at the beginning of July. As a present to the bride I made 28 of my well known Chocolate Chocolate Cakes. It was what she wanted. Her mother, an artist, painted a "fake cake," and people got to eat the good stuff.

We did the reception for Music Camp--a party that was referenced in Vera's most recent post. The people really did love those tiny grilled cheese sandwiches.

The week after the Music Camp performance we had a Great Family Gathering. We didn't give the people as much warning as is often required for a summertime potluck, so we gathered volunteers and produced an inexpensive, and quite tasty, summer supper. We made those well-loved tiny BLTs on a variety of breads, and made four different kinds of salads--the favorite being a Black Bean, Corn and Tomato salad. We finished the meal with watermelon, brownies and ice cream. That was fun, and people were more than happy to help us out with the boxed up leftovers.

And as I write we're gearing up for a rehearsal dinner and wedding for this Friday/Saturday. We haven't done a double job like this for a while. It takes a tremendous amount of planning, and even more work. I have a good crew lined up, we have a terrific family to work with, and we're going to have a good time of it. The wedding is at 7p, and around 8p we'll be ready with hors d'oeuvers and desserts. We'll earn our stripes on this one. Pictures will come after we've recovered.

It's time to be lining up volunteers for fall, and I have a couple of very important slots open. We'll be doing some creative recruiting soon.

Hope the rest of your summer goes well, and that you'll arrive at Fall feeling good and ready for what comes next.

Katie

Giddyup Giddalong Gideon

noreply@blogger.com (Vera) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 03:48:00 +0000

Every third week in July 25 – 30, 1st – 5th graders embark upon our church building for our version of Vacation Bible School. It has been our practice for over 25 years to use this time to practice and perform a musical based on scripture. We call this Music Camp. This year the story was about Gideon. The children receive CD’s and books before camp so they have the music and narrations memorized before the week begins. They have devotions, crafts, practice, snacks and activities each day. At noon on Friday is the dress rehearsal then on Sunday evening, the event they have all worked so hard for. The performance for family and friends.

The children and their families have been excited about this for several months leading up to the performance. This has become one of our churches biggest opportunities for outreach and a great number of visitors come to see their children perform.

Of course, we know that fellowship revolves around good food. This night is no exception. Since the children and parents arrived an hour or so before the performance, good nourishment was in order.

Katie and her crew served foot long sub sandwiches cut in 1-inch pieces, grilled cheese using baguettes (which were the biggest hit), sliced watermelon, an assortment of chips and cakes with inscriptions taken right from the musical. The children were excitedly reading the inscriptions to each other. I heard many positive comments about the food selections. Some were amazed and pleased that we were not “serving just cake and punch”.

This was a great time to congratulate the children, directors and workers on a job well done but most importantly, it was a perfect opportunity to mingle with our visitors and share a delicious meal with them.

Thanks, Katie to you and your crew for the hard work and the extra efforts.

New silverware

contact@churchkitchen.com (Katie) — Sat, 31 May 2008 18:01:00 +0000

Last fall I approached the church financial leaders and asked for money to make some needed updates in our kitchen. And in fairly short order they graciously agreed to fund two of the three requests--the third will come later.

I took care of the first need right away, and because of my break neck schedule I'd only done the research (catalogs, on-line stores, etc.) on the new flatware for the dining room, but had never actually made the plunge. Until yesterday.

I went to a good restaurant supply house, got good help, made a good choice based on our need and their recommendation, and received a good discount. All good. I placed the order, and I'll pick up 25 dozen place settings next Friday.

The part that may be less than good is that I was nearly overwhelmed with delight and want at the sight of all those beautiful, new, shiny pieces of kitchen equipment--big and small and everything in between. Oh my.

We have a great kitchen--in fact it is the Cadillac of church kitchens, designed by a restaurant design firm, and completely outfitted with state of the art equipment as a gift to us nearly 20 years ago. I have purposefully stayed away from places that would make me feel any sort of discontent, out of gratitude and because I know I have it much better than most churches in the country. But 20 years of hard work on one hand, and 20 years of advancing technology and changing food styles on the other hand, make room for some additions and improvements.

So I brought their catalog home with me so I can try to look at these beautiful things from a more objective point of view. There certainly are some pieces that would help me "work smarter not harder," and I noticed a few things that would help us in our menu development. So we'll see.

And yes, we needed the new flatware. 20 years of constant use had reduced our stock considerably, and for big functions we were borrowing from the small kitchen and from the daycare. It was time.

Still here, still working!

contact@churchkitchen.com (Katie) — Tue, 27 May 2008 14:27:00 +0000

This last week I had an email from someone far away, wondering if I'd fallen into a deep hole because I was behind on the blog. I'm still here, but my attention has been pulled in many different directions.

We have only two Wednesday evenings left in our Betty's Diner season, and like many people who work on a school year calendar, we're ready to be done for a while. It's been a good year, and I'm pleased that we've met our goals. We have several regulars that see Betty's Diner as "destination dining," meaning that they come only because they like to be with us and not because they have a job to do or a meeting to attend. We've had a couple of people bring work friends for dinner, and we've had more interaction with daycare staff and families.

Next on the calendar is a graduation lunch, planned, supported, and paid for by the families of high school and college graduates. It will be like a massive open house party--the grads each have a table to show all of their pictures, awards, etc., and people from the church will come up after the service for a light lunch and a fun time of acknowledging and congratulating our young ones on their good work. Many other people are invited to this party as well, and they filter in throughout the afternoon.

Then it will be cookies for Father's Day, and shortly after that the "Choir Favorites," concert, followed by the Strawberry Social.

Happy end of the school year to you!

Something good

contact@churchkitchen.com (Katie) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 23:52:00 +0000

Isn't it a good thing when the church community leaks out into the community at large? I love it when that happens. In my line of work this good thing happens when a person takes the transferable part of the skills they've learned and practiced in the church kitchen out into the "real" world. And the great news is that it doesn't always have to do with food.

This last week I filled out a recommendation form, as a community member, to give my 100% backing to Tori as she begins her run for president of the 10th grade in her school. I was able to give a great reference based on Tori's work ethic, her performance, her budding leadership skills, and the respect that she shows to her supervisors and co-workers--all based on her good, and willing performance in the kitchen.

And she's not the only one. A couple of months ago I gave a good reference for a man applying for his dream job of airplane mechanic. I was able to do that based on his good, and dependable, work as a volunteer dishwasher at Betty's Diner on Wednesday nights. Sometime before that I gave a reference to a young woman applying for a job in a pizza place.

Church work, volunteer work, is real work. It counts. It is indeed a very good thing when we take our good work, and our good influence, out into the community.

Katie

Good intentions

contact@churchkitchen.com (Katie) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:01:00 +0000

I intended to have my camera at the ready last week when one of the kid's clubs had their annual "formal" dinner at Betty's Diner. When the kids have earned a requisite number of points from memorizing scripture and other good-for-them activies, they get to choose from a variety of rewards. One of those rewards is a special table at the Diner, with a white table cloth, and pretty napkins, crystal goblets and sparkling cider, and the dinner of their choice, served by a club leader dressed in his butler best. This year they had the added bonus of being entertained by a violinist who played their special requests, which was a very charming addition.

The leaders make up special printed menus (which match our offerings exactly), the kids write down what they want, the butler delivers the orders to the kitchen, and then returns with food on a tray for the diner. It makes quite a show as all of this activity happens right in the middle of everything else that's going on.

In the end, the leaders turn those written orders back to me, and I turn my bill in to the church administrator. Before long a reimbursement check shows up in my box, and we're done until next year. It's a fun thing that we all enjoy.

And then last night I had my camera, fulling intending to take pictures of the new burritos I offered. The pictures just didn't happen. We were, as they say, slammed. Over 45 minutes of an endless line without time to interact much with our customers, or to get ahead on the orders. We were finally able to catch up when the line slowed. By the time the kids from the music program got there we were back to business as usual, but the kitchen was a mess.

I'd prepared 14 of those burritos ahead of opening, thinking it would buy me some time to assemble more as time went on. Between delivering grill orders to tables and working on burritos I felt like I never quite caught up. The customers were happy, but I felt like our quality of service suffered. In the end we sold 26 burritos (and turned down orders for at least half a dozen more) and sold big numbers of our Reubens, and grilled cheese sandwiches, along with everything else. We even went through all of our chili and chicken noodle soup.

The burrito recipe is one I adapted from a recipe in a recently published food section of the Boston Globe. They were great--as it turns out us Scandinavian types love Mexican food as much as the next guy, except that we like ours with a side of pickled herring. Well, some of us do.

The power of food and memory

contact@churchkitchen.com (Katie) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 21:54:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago we had another fund raising lunch for Women's Ministries. This time it was a Swedish meatball dinner, right after church. It's not breaking a secret code to tell you that the frozen meatballs were purchased at Ikea. They were good, and I'd certainly recommend them to you.

We had the good sauce with Scandinavian-type seasonings, and buttered noodles and salad, and cardamom bread, and lingonberries, and bountiful trays of beautifully made cookies. It was a hit, and the funds came in to help with more scholarships for the women's retreat.

When nearly everyone was gone, an older man and his wife stopped by to talk with the kitchen staff. It was the first time in their years at our church that they'd ever come to share a meal with everyone else. He's diabetic and was afraid that we'd have nothing for him. Not so, not so!

Anyway, he paused for a bit, looked at his feet, shuffled around, and looked up with red rimmed eyes. "You know," he said, "I haven't tasted those tastes since my mother died. I lost her in 1988. That was a long time ago, and I still miss her." (Long pause, wiping eyes.) "Thank you for today."

Here he is

contact@churchkitchen.com (Katie) — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 03:40:00 +0000

Does he look like a heckler?

We hired us a heckler!

contact@churchkitchen.com (Katie) — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 23:43:00 +0000

Several weeks ago Marisue began bringing her dad along to help with Sunday morning coffee. Wilbur is quite a guy--we all love his wild sense of humor, and his zest for living. This man has a wise crack for everything, and a tender heart. It's a good mix, and he does it well.

Wilbur just passed his 38th, I mean his 83rd, birthday. He calls nearly every kid George or Fred, politely greets newcomers, and lets the "oldcomers" have it. As with anyone else, Wilbur wants something to do. Just because he's 38 doesn't mean that he's outlived his desire to be productive and useful.

We've fallen into a good routine, and while Marisue makes coffee, her dad washes his hands, and opens the treasure boxes. This man has not lost his ability to be thrilled to the soles of his feet when he opens box after box of freshly made, just delivered donuts. "Oh man, just look at this woodja? Man! Did you ever smell anything so good? And oh! Look what they brought us today!"

It's only right that a man so taken with beautiful bits of fried dough should be the one to arrange them on the tray. Bagels down one side, maple bars and chocolate bars down the other, and the whole glorious jubilee of every kind of donut in the middle.

Wilbur sits on his stool at the counter and does what I need him to--greet and talk and connect with the people to come to enjoy what the 7th Avenue Cafe has to offer. And when it's over he counts the money the people have put in the donation baskets. He does his figuring in black pen on the side of a donut box, which warms my heart everytime I see it.

The church kitchen is a great place for volunteers of all ages. It's meaningful work that offers great benefit to people on both sides of the kitchen window.

Easter weekend prep pictures

contact@churchkitchen.com (Katie) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:39:00 +0000

Early tomorrow I'm off for a bit of vacation so I don't have time to write about everything we've done in the last weeks. I'm posting a few of our prep pictures just to prove that we have been working! There will be more to come upon my return--pictures and good stories.

Thanks

contact@churchkitchen.com (Katie) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:36:00 +0000

What nice compliments in the last post--thanks Vera. That was kind of you to pass them along. It was a great day, and I'm glad that our part of the celebration made so many people happy.

He Is Risen Indeed

noreply@blogger.com (Vera) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 23:30:00 +0000

Yesterday we celebrated our Lord’s resurrection in a style that has become a large part of our church. We joined our family, friends and visitors for a beautiful luncheon of our traditional favorites including the butter lambs Katie has talked about in a previous post. (April 2007)

Katie and her crew served us a bountiful meal of ham, potato casserole, pea salad, broccoli salad, fruit and vegetable trays, jello salad, green beans as well as Artisan breads. For dessert she delighted us with fresh strawberries, pound cake and lemon curd with whipped cream. Wow! Who could ask for anything more?

The folks at the table with my husband and I could not stop giving compliments of appreciation and awe. One of our younger gentlemen that grew up in our church started talking to his fiancé about the potato casserole at the beginning of last week! Now that’s a good Easter memory for him.

As I mingled later I heard many comments of: “I look forward to this time every year.” “There are a lot of visitors this year.” “The kitchen crew works long hours to prepare this meal for us.” “The meal was wonderful.” “My family enjoys this time together every year.”

Thank you to Katie and your crew for your hard work. We do recognize the quality of work and the time you put into providing this meal for us every year. Thank you for the love you each have for your church family and working so hard to allow this time to fellowship with family and friends.

A fan.

From now until Easter

contact@churchkitchen.com (Katie) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:37:00 +0000

This will be the busiest week of the year. Our Wednesday night Betty's Diner goes on, as usual, and Saturday morning we'll be preparing and serving breakfast to at last 150 guests--mostly children, who will be with us for the Annual Easter Breakfast and Candy Hunt, and then we'll be serving a beautiful lunch to about 250 at 12:30pm on Sunday. And then, ah, Spring Break.

The numbers mentioned are consistent with attendance over the last several years. This year may be a little different because a concentrated effort has been made to invite friends and neighbors, and one nearby neighborhood was blanketed with invitations. It makes things a bit tricky.

My usual method for figuring amounts for these flexible events is to look at the records from years past, to be aware of any unusual or new community events that might influence attendance, to pray, and to listen. This year will be no different.

It is such a privilege to serve these meals as part of our Resurrection Celebration. It's a thrill, everytime.

I hope you all will be filled with wonder and joy as you celebrate the resurrected, living, Savior.

The prayers of the saints

contact@churchkitchen.com (Katie) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:26:00 +0000

The saints gathered to pray today. In general they prayed for our church, and in specific they prayed for all the activities of Holy Week. And they even prayed for me, and for the rest of the kitchen staff as we have a major role to play.

And yes, the kitchen is open, even when people gather to pray. I set out pitchers of ice water, and pump pots of coffee, with all the necessary "accessories"--stir sticks, Java Jackets, lids, all manner of sweetners ( 3 kinds?), cream, and... I don't think there was anything else.

When they came to their break time I had fresh orange slices and the sweetest fresh pineappple cut in chunks. Well, okay, I put some brownies out, too. I cut them small.

After they were recharged they left to go and pray in various parts of the building. It was a good afternoon

Still cooking

contact@churchkitchen.com (Katie) — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 09:16:00 +0000

Big things from my personal life have kept my from my keyboard, but the cooking has gone on. No one has missed a meal, I assure you.

Tonight we had Shrimp Quesadillas and Mexican Rice--a specially requested favorite. In fact, three people made that special request last week. There was no getting around it, the quesadillas had to happen.

This great comment came from one of our loyal diners, "Well, even if we'll never have any influence in the outcome of the presidential primaries, it is somewhat comforting to know that we are influential in the outcome of the menu at Betty's Diner."

Hope you're feeling influential in your world, too.

Happy Valentines Day & Happy Birthday

contact@churchkitchen.com (Katie) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 04:22:00 +0000

We had a great time on Valentines Day. I hosted an afternoon party for our seniors group, assisted by my friend Karen, a fellow staff member, who serves as Director of our daycare. Once the date was set, calls were made within the seniors group and the response was rapid and enthusiastic. This group has suffered the loss of many friends and leaders in the last year or two, and they just needed a couple of someones to say, "Come, please." And they did.

We did a few things that went a long way toward success. As I've mentioned before in various posts, it's important to know who your guests are. I prepared a simple, but fun dessert buffet, complete with fresh fruit and new-to-them-crispy-crunchy-things that weren't sweet. We had fun Valentine paper plates and napkins, pink fizzy punch with lemon slices floating in it, ice water, gallons of good coffee, and birthday cake in addition to all the other cakes and sweets and cardamom bread. And, what turned out to be a very important thing, we used the lace tablecloths on the serving tables. This was the kind of party they would have done for themselves. It looked very pretty, and even though it was simple, the food was good and great care was taken with the way it was arranged and served.

We had some very dreamy music playing in the background. Generally church groups listen to church music on church premises. It was easy to see that we'd done the right thing. Those songs were lovely love songs from times past. Yes, there was some swaying, and there was humming, and even some, "Oh, I loved this song."

And for a surprise, Karen brought about 15 children upstairs from the daycare. Just up from naps they were well behaved and wide-eyed at how older people have parties. They sang about five songs, with gusto, and thoroughly charmed their delighted audience. It warmed our guest's hearts to the core to hear the little children singing about the love of Jesus. Many of these seniors were in on the planning and work of getting our daycare up and running many years ago. It was easy to see response of our guests--shoulders relaxed, eyes bright, smiles that wouldn't stop. What more could you ask for in a group of your favorite Valentines?

The tablecloths? Betty said, "When I saw those lace tablecloths I just smiled and smiled. We don't have very many of these kinds of parties any more. It made me so happy."

The birthday cake? There were five February birthday people there, and we knew they were coming. They were pleased be remembered, and thrilled (really) that someone actually made a layer cake for them. Sometimes the joy comes in the small details.

A tip on those curly candles: They are the best. They lasted through a v-e-r-y long rendition of happy birthday, a rather lengthy blessing, and the minutes of decision trying to determine who might blow out the candles. After all that, they weren't even half way burned.

This was a very satisfying opportunity to show our love to our older friends, and they happily accepted it. We were able to create an atmosphere that appealed to them--they understood what they saw, what they heard, what they tasted, and that helped them to enjoy the whole experience.

Designer Drips

contact@churchkitchen.com (Katie) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 01:06:00 +0000

I absolutely cannot stand drips on the edges of plates and soup bowls. They are the bane of my existence. When it is beyond redemption I've been known to start all over again with a fresh plate rather than serve something that looks so sloppy. My people laugh at me. They laugh when I say, "Blue ribbon, folks, we're going for blue ribbon quality." I cringe. They look at each other and shake their heads.

So in the case of "minor" soup drips, such as the one above--featuring a wonderful smoked salmon corn chowder, I have come up with a line that makes me feel much better. As I hand them the bowl I smile and say:

This is my signature drip. It means you're very special.

It seems to work, because then we all laugh.

Whipped cream

contact@churchkitchen.com (Katie) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 00:12:00 +0000

Is there anything quite as wonderful as the real deal? I've whipped large quantities of cream in the last week. The waffle brunch just begged for slightly sweetened cream with cinnamon, and then this last Wednesday night I needed, really needed, beautifully whipped cream with just a little vanilla for the lovely peach dessert, and the brownies. (Valentine's Day, you know.)

When cream is being whipped people come out of the woodwork--heads popping around corners, grins, shy looks, wanting, oh wanting a finger full, or better yet the complete and unbridled joy of having a beater to lick. Oh life is good when there is whipped cream.

And on another day...

oh, joy.

Wonderful Waffles

contact@churchkitchen.com (Katie) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 22:32:00 +0000

Last Sunday we embarked on quite an adventure. Women's Ministries has set up a series of fundraising meals to support the Women's Retreat scholarship fund. This one was billed as an Extravagant Waffle Brunch, and it was extravagant in many ways--all of them good.

Doing a b-i-g production for the first time always takes a different level of effort then when you're doing it for the 17th time. A lot of guessing goes on, a lot of hoping, and a lot of watching. It is a challenge to help a group fulfill their vision, especially when you don't have the same pictures in your head. It takes a lot of listening and visualizing.

The idea was to have four of five waffle stations set up around the perimeter of the room, with two or three irons per station. We had willing gentlemen in charge of their own batters, and in charge of the actual "waffling." We enjoyed the friendly competition going on between these guys as they each touted their batter to be the very best. I think we'll be wiping a white film off surfaces for some time yet--the air was cloudy with a flour haze.

We also had people prepping the sausages, the fruit soup and many of the toppings that made this whole event seem extravagant. It was a full house.

When folks came up to the dining room after the service they bought a ticket, and then came to the fruit soup table for starters. This was enough to stop the hunger pangs while they had a look at all the stations to see what kind of waffles they wanted to start with.

One of our guys found the recipe for Waffle House waffles, another made a Viola's recipe, which is legendary in our church family, there was another plain variety without sugar, and blueberry, chocolate, and apple spice flavors. After people made their choices they brought their plates to the condiment table.

Here we are, almost ready to go.

We offered a variety of syrups, cooked apples (sweetened and unsweetened), yogurt, whipped cream, vanilla pudding, sliced strawberries, small pieces of polish sausage, trays of fresh fruit, and other things that I just don't remember. It was quite a feast.

Here's what we learned:

You need to have power strips and long extension cords because electrical issues never work out just like you think they will
This is a concept that the people loved
It was a fun way to get new volunteers into the kitchen
Guys like kitchen competition!
Everyone enjoyed doing something new