Feeding Teens

HELL'S KITCHEN: Last Saturday night's Teen Feed was one to remember. 

It was 101 F when Christian and I each parked next to the Teen Feed kitchen in the U-District. "Why two cars?" you wonder. Because we needed all that space to transport all of the food and water needed for that night's service. 

Usually several people bring their donations to the kitchen and drop them off. But this month the vast majority of people on our team were out of town, so we ended up bring most everyone's food for them. 

In addition to the volume of food we had to haul, we had SIX coolers full of sparkling water on ice. A couple of days before Teen Feed, one of the volunteers called me and suggested that we double up on the water this weekend because of the temperatures. What a wonderful thought she had, so we bought LOTS (about 3x the usual amount), and thanks to another bonus donation, we bought plenty of ice to make it super chilly for the teens. (In fact, we bought the last 8 bags of ice to be had at any store in our neighborhood.) 

Speaking of water, shortly after we pulled up, a huge truck parked behind us and the driver said he had some water for Teen Feed. He was by himself and asked if we could help unload it and another truck that arrived just after. "Of course!" we said. Tonight I actually did the math.  We helped move about TWO THOUSAND POUNDS of water in that heat. (By the way, that water was hot, so it was really great we had the super chilled water for our service.) So, that was the work before the work in the kitchen. (And I don't mean to complain - that unexpected water donation for Teen Feed was kind and significant, it just wasn't on our planned 'to do' list yesterday!)

Back to our business! Saturday night's main entree was Seattle dogs: Huge Costco-food-court sized dogs on over-sized buns slathered in copious amounts of cream cheese, generously topped with caramelized onions.  I am here to tell you - because no less than four Teen Feed folks told me -  that entrée is crowd favorite. CJ spent pretty much the whole shift slathering cream cheese onto the buns. An important job, I think. :)

Beans are the perfect side for Seattle Dogs. Kennedy cooked up a couple of big, bacony batches. I made about 20 cups of mega meaty pork and beans, as well. (By the way, we always have vegan versions available for folks if they request that.) 

We also had dill pickle spears for everyone, and dessert was extra special! Volunteers cooked up beautiful cobblers, which Annabelle cut up and topped with whipped cream. 

The bonus treat was frozen ice cream cups and yogurt bars.  Kennedy was kind enough to hunt down the last frozen delights to be had at a Safeway on his way to Teen Feed. 

We thought turn out might be slow due to the heat, but we were wrong. Between Teen Feed to go and making meals for the overnight Roots shelter, we served up 108 hot dogs Saturday night, plus the great sides and desserts! This comfort and sustenance was made possible by many generous donations and sponsorships. Thank you to all who helped!

This laminated sign gave us a chuckle. There are actually two of them in the kitchen.

I have to add that we had a little 'excitement' when loading the car. It was SO hot out, that I suggested that we employ a bucket brigade method of loading, so that we weren't all running up and down the stairs repeatedly. I was at the top of the stairs, Annabelle was a couple steps down, and CJ was down farther. Everything was going great, until the condiment hand off, when there was a 'little' miscue between CJ and Annabelle.

Have you ever wondered what it sounds like when 80 little plastic ramekins you've filled with jalapeno pepper rings tumbles down a flight of stairs? I don't have to wonder any more, unfortunately.  :/

Fortunately, that was the worst thing that happened related to that meal service.