Food For Thought

If you know me, then you probably know that I'm a sucker for a good cause.  I have been donating stuff, making calls, writing letters, babysitting people's kids or pets, scrubbing floors, baking, cooking, taking phone calls, mailing packages, stuffing envelopes, making or accepting donations, comforting people or animals, knocking on doors, moving shit, picking up trash, and generally being what some people refer to as a "do-gooder" for over two decades now.  I even did volunteer work for a Free-Net in the 1990s!  (Do those things even exist anymore?)  Truth be told, I'm not really sure where I came upon this habit.  It's just kind of the way things have always been.

You may also know that I love to cook.  Back when I was more mobile than I am now, I was the kind of person who'd throw elaborate dinner parties, with multi-course meals featuring an insane amount of choices for my guests.  Or I'd just cook for my husband, who often disliked exotic or unusual foods; he also isn't a fan of leftovers, so much of the time, the stuff I'd make would eventually depart this world via the garbage disposal, as opposed to the toilet, as a good meal should.

I view cooking as an art form; an extremely temporary and short-term way to get the gratification of making something, without the hassle of storing it forever or figuring out how to put it to good use.  You cook the food, you (or the people you love) eat the food, you toss the leftovers.  And if there were actually people to cook for -- oh, happy day, like when my husband's workplace used to have their holiday parties -- I would bake cheesecake for days, thrilled to impart some of my happy vibes into the dessert assignment!  (I miss those times!)  But, how sad it is to cook food that might not get eaten.  So for the longest time, I have wanted to help out at a shelter or a food pantry.

Upon finally learning of a shelter that accepted donations of cooked food -- something which hadn't really occurred to me until then -- I decided to roll up my sleeves and make something good.  I did an enchilada casserole, which was basically ground turkey in beans and rice, with some cheese and spices.  It wasn't a lot of food -- only one little tray, which might have feed half a dozen hungry folks -- but I was still proud to make something good for someone.  It was such fun that this month, I decided to have a cooking party to prepare something good for the shelter.  And yesterday, that's just what we did!

I am still battling with phone issues, so I didn't get any pictures.  But I will say that we had an absolute blast.  And so many friends helped out -- one of them went out of her way to do our shopping and kicked in 20% of the food bill!  Another friend helped to straighten up the house in a hurry, played chauffeur to a partygoer in need of a ride, donated some surplus canned food, and ran a bunch of errands.  We even had a friend drive from 40 minutes away to help me peel apples, chop celery, and dice onions.  And of course, there was my man with his mighty chili-stirring arm.  Between all of us, we were able to produce 6 trays of food -- that's 3 apple-raisin noodle kugels and 3 turkey-chili tamale pies -- for the Lowell Transitional Living Center.  I didn't get to come along for the food delivery since I was hosting, but I was told that the chili received an especially enthusiastic welcome.

Things went so well that we've decided to do it all over again next month.  I haven't decided yet what we're going to make.  I'd also love to have some more volunteers and/or food donations.  I paid for almost everything myself.

One thing I would suggest to readers, though: If you want to volunteer to do something, don't think "there's nothing I can do."  I have to take it slow even on my best days, and then there are days when I hurt so bad that I can't even get out of bed -- in fact, I tend to stay inside almost all of the time because of my health issues.  But I didn't let that stop me from helping; I brought the playing field onto my turf instead, and made my own volunteer event.  Anyone can do it, really.  And if you're feeling particularly down about your own life, isn't it nice to stop worrying about your own problems for awhile & do something to help people who are even more screwed than you are? 

I can't cook the way I used to, but I was certainly able to get onto Facebook, invite my friends to come for a volunteer party, and then put their asses to work! :)  The point I'm trying to make is that you CAN do something.  And even if you don't think the stuff you can do is worth very much, there really are people out there who can benefit from it.  You just have to know where to look.  Trust me!

P.S.  I used a variation of a Wendy's chili clone in my tamale pie.  All I did after that was make the crust (boil 4 cups water, add 1 cup cornmeal & spices if you like, then stir until thickened), pour the crust in the tray, top with chili, & add the cheese.  It was a very easy recipe for a crowd!