teamwork works !

Thanks so much to Jessie and Krista, Shirley K., Dennise, Nancy, Thad and Jan, Ken and Ann,
Bill and Mary, Tom, Toni, Donna, Marcia, Elie, Kim and DJ, Alicia and Ben and Pyper and Ayva and all the girls who baked cupcakes and cooked on Monday morning! Well done! I hope I'm not forgetting anyone. We had tons of help and everything went so well at last night's food pantry dinner.

One of the food pantry recipients said, "It was beyond perfect."

Here is the recipe we used:


Cook 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into strips) in 1/2 C. M*r*cl* Wh*p ( I used a comparable store brand that was on sale for $.88 a jar) in a large skillet on medium high heat for 3 minutes.
Add a one pound package of frozen veggies - I used the sugar snap pea store brand variety.
Stir in 2 T soy sauce and 1/2 tsp. garlic powder ( I usually use a minced garlic clove instead). Cook five minutes or more until chicken is cooked through. Serve over rice.

Simple!

Since we were cooking massive quantities, I baked the chicken to save time. Then we cut it into strips and served it on the side. Garnished the plates with several orange slices. Dessert was valentine cupcakes.

I was so pleased with all the help, the fun we had in the kitchen and how everything turned out.
It was especially gratifying to see our helpers chatting with the recipients.
Thanks crew!

Thanks also to the Sunday school kids and helpers. Here are some samples of the cards they made (every recipient was able to take one home):





And....Happy Birthday to my nephew Richard! Have a great day!

help wanted

The next event on my agenda is a food pantry community dinner. These dinners are held twice a month for food pantry recipients as well as anyone from the community who would just like to come in and get a meal.

I'm in charge of the dinner on February 12. I already have the menu planned out and am starting to watch the grocery ads for sales on the items I want to buy:
Stir fry chicken and vegetables
served over brown rice
Some kind of a citrus salad (maybe just lettuce with mandarin oranges and craisins topped with chow mein noodles - still thinking about this)
Dessert would either be cupcakes sprinkled with valentine sprinkly things or
a large cake (or three) in the shape of a heart.
If you bake a 9" diameter round cake and a 9" square cake you can make a large heart shape cake. Simply cut the round cake in half, turn the square cake so it looks like a diamond and position the half rounds on either side of the upper edges of the right side of the diamond and the left side of the diamond (^). Anyway, use your imagination or just trust me, it makes a heart.

Different civic groups and churches host these dinners each month. The goal is to get to know the food pantry recipients and treat them to a nice dinner out.

Why am I telling you all this? Well, because I need your help of course!

We need the following:
MANPOWER- people to help prepare the food, serve the food and clean-up after the dinner (you can do all three or pick one or two).
MEAL PREPARATION- maybe you are not available on the night of the twelfth, but you could help prepare some food ahead of time
MONEY-for food, decorations, door prizes
MUSIC -some of the other groups have provided entertainment during the meal. I thought it might be fun to have some people singing some 'love songs through the years'. I need singers and music suggestions. Can you think of any love songs that represent the '40's, '50's, '60's, '70's, '80's...? Songs like, "I love you truly, truly, dear...."
Then of course I'll need to find music, time to practice, etc.....

Those are some of my brainstorms. If you want to volunteer to help, call me, email me or comment here. Could be a fun night!