Senior Center Lunches the past two weeks.

Last weeks lunch at the Senior Center was a Fish Fry with all the fixin's.   Coleslaw, Cheese Grits and Hush Puppies. Dessert was a choice between Apple Cake with Caramel Sauce or Chocolate Raspberry Trifle. 

Yesterday was my last day cooking at the Senior Center and I'm sad.  I've got so much other stuff going on in my life that I'm not able to continue with my volunteer work there.   Here's a picture of my last lunch.  I made a lovely Pork Roast, we had rice, gravy, apple sauce, roasted Carrots, Green Beans and I also made some Homemade rolls.   Lisa made desserts, Apple Dump cake, Peach Cobbler and I made some Snegle (danish cinnamon rolls) as well from the laminated dough I'd made a few weeks ago and that had been frozen. 

I'm sad, but I'm sure that they will continue to serve lunch every Thursday, and that people will still come in to eat there. 

Senior Center Lunch the past couple of weeks

I keep meaning to sit down and tell you all about the lunches we made the past couple of weeks.   But I've been busy with other stuff, and just haven't made the time to do this.

We've had a great couple of lunches, the week before last we had some Oven Fried Chicken, Potato Salad, Stewed Tomatoes and Okra, Yeast Rolls and Dessert.  Lisa made some Raspberry Jam Cupcakes as well as an Apple Cake which we topped off with some home made caramel sauce. 






I made a really great coating for the Oven Fried Chicken and I'll share the recipe with you all later on in the week.  But we had pans full of chicken, which we served.  It's fun making so much food at once, and then to watch it get eaten and enjoyed, well, that's even more fun.

Last week we used some of the peppers we had in the freezer and made some Stuffed Peppers alongside Squash Medley and home made biscuits.   Plus some Danish's I made for dessert alongside the Pineapple Icebox Pie Lisa made. 
 

 These are the Vegetarian Peppers, which are stuffed with a mixture of rice, mushrooms, squash and carrots.  We then topped them with some Creole Tomato Sauce.

 You gotta move fast when you're preparing food for a crowd.

















Waiting to be topped with a little Creole style tomato sauce.

Russell made the filling for the peppers, and it tasted great.













And here's the finished plate.  The batteries in my camera died just as soon as I snapped this picture.

From the top, Pineapple Icebox Pie, Danishes, two ways,  and for the meal, the Stuffed Peppers, Squash Medley, and 7 up Biscuits. 

Roast Turkey and Meatball Stroganoff for Senior Lunch

I think I'm still trying to recover from last week.
We served Roast Turkey and all the fixin's for our Thursday Lunch.   I get carried away sometimes, and in fact, should have been carried away last week.
I got into the center just about 5:30 am, and got the Turkeys prepped and in the oven by 6 am.
Yes, I did say 6 am.

We serve lunch at noon, and I needed them to be ready.   I then peeled and baked 10 pounds of sweet potatoes, and luckily for me, Lisa mashed them and made a lovely Sweet Potato Casserole when she came in.  We also peeled a lot of potatoes, mashed them.
I made a Green Bean Casserole, along with Cornbread Stuffing and a Bread Stuffing.  Jon made the gravy and, before I forget, I also made some No-Knead Dinner Rolls.   I'll tell you about them in a later post.  They were so simple and so good.

Lisa made Pumpkin Pies and some Dutch Apple Pies, and we also had a donated Pumpkin Pie so we were all set for that.

But this week I wasn't as ambitious.   I made some Meatball Stroganoff, along with some salad and Harvard Beets.   Lisa made Carrot Cake and Chocolate Chip cookies for dessert.

See the pretty plates the meals are on?  They were donated by Doris, who generously bakes us a cake to raffle off each week.   This week she made some Bread Pudding and Miss Merle also made a Carrot Cake for the raffle.

And I made a few Danish Pastries for the kitchen crew.  I made the dough at home and brought it with me to finish it off there.   And then promised I would make some for dessert in a couple of weeks.  

I swear I look for any excuse to bake.  And this recipe is so good. And not that hard to make either. But don't tell anyone, I want them to think I slaved over the oven for hours.

Coming up over the next few weeks, Baked 'Fried' Chicken, Stuffed Peppers, Pork Roast and Fish.

Breaded Pork Chops and Meatloaf for Senior Lunches

I'm tired this morning, but it's a good tired.  I made lunch yesterday for the Senior Center, as I do every Thursday.   
It's one of those volunteer positions where you really feel like you're accomplishing something. 
In my case, I love to feed people, lots of people and I love to cook. 
I've been the Kitchen Manager since the beginning of the year, and have been cooking every week since, with the exception of two weeks in April.
I can't tell you how much I missed it, the bustle, the hurry up and get the lunch ready by noon, making sure every item of the lunch is ready on time.
And I appreciate the other volunteers who help me out in the kitchen, from prep to desserts to that all important task of washing the dishes. 
I tend to dirty some pots when I'm cooking. 
Goes with the territory.
One of my volunteers was helping out her parents the past couple of weeks so she wasn't able to help me out, and I found out just how much she helped.  I'm going to appreciate her even more now.

Last week we had Breaded Pork Chops, Apple Sauce, Rice Pilaf, Beans and Carrots for the meal.  I also made some Banana Bread and Bread Pudding for dessert. 

 This week was Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes and Squash Medley.  I also made some Ice Cream Pies, as well as a Jello Poke Cake.  Which I didn't get any pictures of.

Just wanted to catch you up on my cooking endeavors.  

Coming up next week, we're doing a full blown Turkey Dinner, with the works, Mashed Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole, Sweet Potato Casserole and Pumpkin Pie for dessert.

I need to go rest up now...

Grilled Chicken and Pies for Senior Lunch

I've been remiss.

Yes, I have.  I've been busy, not so much with cooking stuff, other than my stints in the Senior Center.

Last week we served Marinated Grilled Chicken for lunch with some Tomato and Okra, Macaroni and Cheese and assorted Pies for dessert.   I marinated the chicken in some Italian dressing, then they were tossed onto a grill after which we finished cooking them in the oven.
The Tomato and Okra dish was made from donations from Farmshare and it went over very well.
Hmmmm, I think I feel a new post coming on about how to make this totally delicious southern dish.   But it will have to wait for another day. 

I even made a fresh Strawberry Pie for the Cake Raffle, and am rather pleased with how well it turned out. 

Lisa told me the correct scientific term for extracting the juice from the Strawberries, I had no idea it was called osmosis.    I just said we were going to macerate the sliced berries in a teensy pinch of salt and some sugar.   I knew that that combo would draw out the juice, which I could then strain.   We didn't have the luxury of time so we mooshed (scientific like term), the strawberries and then put them into a strainer and let the juice drip out.   I cooked the juice with some cornstarch until it thickened and turned nice and glossy and poured it over the fresh strawberries in a baked pie shell.   I will share the exact measurements and a step by step how to in a future post.

Lisa also made a bunch of pies, and I wasn't quick enough to get pictures of all the sliced pies.  But here they are on the cart before they were cut up.

There was an apple pie, a blackberry pie, two chocolate chess pies, a coconut pie and a sugar free lemon tart.

And it was all gone, in no time at all.  We do like our pies down here.  

Baked Onion Blossoms

A few weeks ago the Senior Center was given a box of fresh Vidalia Onions.

I got so excited when I saw them, and I immediately started making plans for them, lots and lots of plans.

Vidalia Onions have got to be my favourite kind of onion.   But I won't turn down onions in any form actually.

I love onions, you can cook with them, caramelize them, eat them raw, and you can do this with them.

Bake them after cutting them into blossoms.  And they are so good.

To start with, you need onions.   I like Vidalia's but any onion will work, you do need not a round onion, but one that is a little flatter. 

Peel the onion carefully and cut the root off, leaving a level spot.
Then cut down from the stem end crosswise making at least four even cuts. 

 But don't cut all the way through, just down to the root.

Place on a greased pan and drizzle about a teaspoon of good olive oil over the top, then a bare sprinkle of salt.  Make sure you don't crowd them, they need room to 'blossom' out .

Yeah, I know I said to add salt.   And I usually don't, but the very slight hint of salt here helps the onions' natural sweetness come out.
Bake in a moderate oven, about 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.
They'll look like this.

A little browned and almost cooked all the way through.
Take a spatula and very carefully slip underneath each 'blossom' and transfer them to a different pan,
like this.

Add about 1/4-1/2 cup water, cover and let bake an additional 15 minutes.
Remove and serve.
We served them yesterday on top of the Mojo Pork,

and in the past served them as a side to the Chicken and Dumplings.

These are are so good.

I think you could also serve them with a dipping sauce, but really, I don't think you need anything other than the onions.

BTW, that lovely fond that's left in the bottom of the pan after baking, is wonderful added to homemade stock.  Any kind of stock. 

Cabbage Rolls and Turkey Pot Pie for Senior Lunch

Last week we made some Cabbage Rolls along with Colcannon for our Senior Lunch and it was very good and well received.   Russell actually made the Colcannon and it was, hands down the best one I've ever had.  Lisa made a bunch of pies, which also disappeared in short order.   She made a couple of Strawberry Cream Cheese Pies, a Cherry Pie and a Chocolate Chess Pie.   I need the recipe for the Chess Pie. And when I get it, I'm sharing, here.

This week I used some of the leftover Turkey we had in the freezer and we had a Turkey Pot Pie topped with Puff Pastry.
We also made a Squash Casserole using some of the squash we got earlier in the year from Farmshare.  And we utilized some of the leftover cornbread we had in the freezer.

I have to say one of my biggest challenges is making enough food and yet not too much for our guests.  I never know just how many people we are going to serve lunch to, but the numbers have been going up.

We're now doing a Souper Tuesday and giving a free soup lunch on Tuesdays and will be utilizing any and all leftovers from lunch.
This next week they won't have any to use but I did make 18 quarts of really good stock for Cheryl to use.
And with a good stock, you can do almost anything.

I do love making stock, there is just something so satisfying about it.

I took some turkey carcasses out of the freezer,

roasted them a little,

 then put them into a pot with some celery, carrots and Vidalia onions, which I had also roasted, a little. 

  I also seasoned it lightly with parsley, sage and a bay leaf.    No salt.

Simmered the whole pot for a couple of hours, strained them and then froze the stock.

I also had some 'turkey juice' otherwise known as drippings which I used for the 'Pot Pie'.
Basically I made it like I do at home, and here's my recipe.    Although because I was serving so many people and I wanted to make sure everyone got some 'crust', we baked little squares of puff pastry off and then served them floating on top of the filling.

I also made a squash casserole, which I thought tasted pretty darn good.
(patting self on back).
We had some leftover corn bread in the freezer, so I toasted it on a pan

Then crumbled it up and put a thin layer down in another baking pan, topped it with some yellow squash and onions which I had simmered until the onion was just tender in a little water.   There was also some zucchini in there as well.

 I topped them with a nice creamy sauce which I had made out of some heavy cream, which we had in the fridge and needed to be used.  I mixed that with some cream of mushroom soup and a little milk.   Poured it over the squash and topped it with some more cornbread and cheese. 

We then baked it for an hour and served it as the side dish with the 'Pot Pie'.

At the last minute, we got a bunch of cucumbers in, as in cases and cases and cases, so we hurried up and sliced them thinly, and I made a quick pickle mix up and poured it over the cukes and they 'pickled' nicely.

And we had just enough.

We made some more pickles for next week, and I've got plans for the red potatoes that found their way into the cooler this week.    We also got a lot of red peppers, and I see some wonderful stuffed peppers on the menu in the future.
And more pickles, lots and lots of pickles.

Senior Lunch for May, so far...

I can't believe it's the middle of the month already.  

And I'm trying to figure out where the time went.   

As soon as I figure it out, I'll let you know. 

But in the meantime, I thought I'd share the lunches I made the past couple of weeks for our weekly Thursday Senior Center Lunch.


To start the month off, I made Hamburger Steaks, Macaroni and Cheese, Green Beans and a lovely lady brought some Carrot Salad for us.   We also had some cornbread.   Lisa made a really good Apple Cake which we topped with some leftover Caramel Apple Sauce I'd made a few weeks ago.

And yesterday, I made some Pork Roasts, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Glazed Carrots and Stewed Squash.   We served it some more of Lisa's home made desserts.  She made a couple of Peach Pies, a couple of Sweet Potato Pies and some Gingerbread.  
I managed to get a shot of the Peach Pies, but the Sweet Potato pies disappeared in short order.

Pardon the poor quality of the last two pictures, my camera died and I had to take pictures with my phone. 

So, onward and upward, and sally forth...

I'm heading into NPA tonight and have a idea of something to whip up for the ladies.   I'll let you know how that works out.

Senior Lunches for April

This has been a busy month for me.  I was on a business trip, then I ended up eating out a lot this month, and it feels like I've not been cooking a lot either.

Actually, I've not been cooking a great deal this month, but that's OK.

I had some great volunteers take over for me while I was gone and they produced two great lunches.

I did have a small part in one of them, I made up my Shepherd's Pie mix for them, and they finished it off for one of the lunches.

They served the Shepherd's Pie or Cottage Pie for the purists here along with a squash casserole and some quick pickles.   Actually in Danish they're called Agurk Salat.  I just make a variation of them when we get a lot of fresh cucumbers. 

And  then there was dessert.

Gotta have dessert.








And then made a really delicious Chicken  and Rice for another lunch.  Actually I was told it was really delicious.  I didn't get a chance to taste it, because I was out of town.


They also served cornbread and carrot salad alongside.




Last week I was back in the kitchen, and I got to get my hands into the food again.
 
I had found some great thick cut pork chops and I browned them briefly, to get a nice color on them, then I finished them off in the oven til they were just done and still moist and tender inside.

I made some Haluski to serve alongside, along with some Okra and Tomatoes.   I also whipped up a batch of chunky applesauce along with some Biscuits.     And can't forget the dessert.   We also put together some Banana Pudding and some Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes.

Tomorrow we're having a Mexican Fiesta, cause Cinco de Mayo is coming up and I wanted to make some Chicken Fajitas again.

And I think I need to make some and tell you all about them here, but I'll wait for a couple of days.

I also want to say THANK YOU to Lisa, Jon and the other great volunteers who put the lunches out while I was gone.  


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Chopped Pork Sandwiches for Senior Lunch.

I want to start off with thanking all the great volunteers who help me out every week.  From the prep to the final clean up, they are awesome, fantastic and very much appreciated. 

We made some Chopped Pork Sandwiches with Oven Fried Sweet Potatoes and Coleslaw for the meal this past week. 

We also set out plates with pickles and onions so our guests could 'doctor' up their own sandwiches. 

It wasn't a fancy meal by any means, but it did taste good.     

I have to confess something here. 

I love having a huge kitchen to cook in.  There is nothing like miles of counter space to clutter up with all my prep work.

And to be honest, by the time my volunteers showed up, I had already rinsed and washed most of the dishes.  

But I did leave them some work to do.    There were the desserts to portion out. 

And on the menu for this week...

Turkey, Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans.    And I think there might even be a quick pickle in there as well. 

Corned Beef for Senior Lunch

I do love cooking for a crowd.

OK, I know it's a little warped.   And I probably don't know enough to be scared of cooking for a bunch of people.

What I do know is, I can take my own home recipes, and make them so they taste good even when I make a lot.

I made some Corned Beef and Cabbage in honor of St. Paddy's Day a couple of weeks ago and people really liked it.

Most had never tried Corned Beef my way before and were very happy to eat it.

First off...

I simmered the Corned Beef for a couple of hours in some water with the pickling spices.  I pulled the beef out, (all 50 pounds), placed them in two deep pans, slathered them with some of my 'special sauce'.  I also put a little of the corned liquid in with them, covered with foil, and baked for another couple of hours.  I then removed the foil and let them brown a little so that the 'special sauce' glazed a little.

We chopped up 8 heads of cabbage.  

Beef in the pan, ready to be glazed with sauce. 

 Special Sauce.   Equal amounts of brown sugar and yellow mustard.   









We did cook the potatoes, carrots and cabbage in the reserved liquid.  But because I was doing so much, I was able to cook each of the veggies separately.
And of course  I had to make some Soda Bread.

We also had lots of dessert.

All in all,  a great meal.

Ummm, did I mention I started cooking this meal at 5 am?   I did.   Only way to get the Corned Beef tender and flavourful in time to eat at noon. 

I did go home and take a nap BTW when I was done.    And as usual, had some great volunteers helping along the way, along with a very generous donation of strawberries and pineapple bites for the dessert table.