CAMP OUT: This past Saturday, we had a summer camp out theme as our inspiration. Saturday was (finally!) a hot one in Seattle, and we were hopping in the basement kitchen at University Lutheran Church LC to put together the meal multiple people helped make happen through their sponsorships and donations.
I usually publish our wish list a couple of weeks before our fourth Saturday of the month service. And I usually have a good number of people sign up to help post haste. But not this month ... it was crickets. The wish list was lonely, asks unfulfilled. This prompted me to recall that historically June is a *really* hard month for Teen Feed. There's so much going on with end of school stuff, people traveling, etc. that something has to give for people and often that 'maybe next month' is Teen Feed.
I'm not gonna lie, this month was a bit of a bear - other than our own family, only one volunteer signed up to actually make something this month. That's an all time low, for sure. The good news is, we had plenty of sponsors, it was a pretty easy menu and I had the time and tools to get the stuff made! Thank goodness for my Instant Pots!
The main entree was BBQ chicken, and I came up with a good system for getting a bunch of it cooked quickly. We seasoned the chicken with a BBQ rub from Costco, and then seared the skin on the chicken in a cast iron pan with some oil. I got it good and crispy. Next, into the Instant Pot the thighs and legs went for nine minutes, followed by a 'quick release' of the pressure. Then, it was into foil pans, slathered with BBQ sauce and put under the broiler for a couple of minutes - just until it started to get a little char on it, so it looked barbecued. We just reheated it on site for the teens. It worked great!
We've never served BBQ chicken at Teen Feed before, and I'm hear to tell you, it was a hit! Kennedy, another volunteer and I cooked up about 44-plus pounds of bird, plus we had savory BBQ seitan cutlets as a vegan option, as well.
I used my Instant Pots to cook the corn on the cob to perfection.
You can't have a summer camp out meal without beans and weenies, so we made 55 hearty servings worth!
Another camp out must is watermelon. I got lucky and bought three of the most beautiful watermelons I've ever seen. They were *so* red and juicy and sweet! Annabelle expertly cubed the fruit into bite sized pieces for guests, who gobbled it up out of 12-ounce serving cups. One diner came for seconds, thirds, and fourths before we finally just gave him a big ol' bowl of his own. :)
At the last minute we had an extra task added to our plate: Teen Feed requested we use up several enormous heads of lettuce that were donated from a local grower. We turned that gift into 30 big Caeser side salads that Kennedy's friend Megan boxed up for ROOTS (an overnight teen shelter) and we had two enormous bowls for our dine-in guests. I'm happy to report, they ate it all! Veggies for the win!
CJ, Annabelle, and I made 55 servings of indoor s'mores.
It's always gratifying hearing feedback from diners.
"Your food is delicious!" raved one Teen Feed staffer. (Teen Feed staff often sit and dine with the guests so as to create more of a casual, comfortable connection with them as they share info about services that can help the teens into stable housing, health care, and more.)
One teen's comment was kind of heart-melting. He said, "This reminds me of home."
Part of the work we do for Teen Feed involves thoroughly cleaning the kitchen after every shift. There's a list of things every meal team is supposed to do every time they're in the kitchen, including mopping the floor, old school style. CJ takes on that task and does a really good job. I can't prove it, but based on the color of the water in the bucket almost immediately, I'm predicting most teams must not see the 'mop floors' directive. ;)
OPA!: In May, we offered a Greek themed-menu for the first time at Teen Feed. It was an absolutely beautiful meal with lots of bright colors and big flavors.
I found a really great recipe online for chicken gyros. The meat was absolutely delicious! It was served in toasted pitas with lots of veggies (chopped tomatoes, cucumber, Romaine lettuce and diced red onions.
We made a gallon-plus of homemade hummus from scratch. I soaked the chickpeas overnight, cooked them in my Instant Pot the next day, and then followed a solid recipe and used my food processor to whip up the hummus. Kennedy made a gallon of tzatzaki for the gyros. Of course we had lots of cucumbers, carrots, feta and kalamata olives to go with.
Peach and honey Greek yogurt smoothies were another dessert in liquid form.
All in all, a really great meal that is now a family favorite.
