New York State of Mind, Take 3

Aunt Trish passed away last July. At her funeral, I learned a couple of things about her that I had not known. Namely, that she had a love for 3D art and various charitable endeavours. I always knew of her passion for helping local youth, so the fact that she was philanthropic and gave back was not a surprise.

Aunt Trish has a son, Bobby, and the two of us are a lot alike. We have the same values and share in our love of family. Bobby even looks a little like my brothers Adam and Ryan, and could have easily passed as part of our family. And like me, when Bobby gets an idea in his head, there’s little chance of talking him out of it.

In this instance, I would not think of it.

Two months after Aunt Trish’s passing I travelled back to New York to attend a Bat Mitzvah. It was for my cousin Cindy’s daughter, Abby, who is also Aunt Trish’s granddaughter. It was a great weekend where we celebrated Abby and the life of my Aunt. In discussing what was dear to my Aunt, it was clear that she had a commitment to giving back, especially to people who do not have the same fortune that so many of us do.

I too have developed a love for giving back. Every February, my family and I host a dinner for 150 homeless people through a local program called ‘Out of the Cold’. We make gift bags, complete with toiletry essentials and also collect warm clothing for our community members. We also serve them an incredible five course meal as our guests and it’s a very special evening for everyone.

While in New York celebrating Abby’s bat mitzvah, Bobby had an idea; let’s honour his mom (Aunt Trish) by cooking for underprivileged families on Thanksgiving Day. Before he could finish, I interrupted and said, “I’m in”.

But I had no idea what I was really in for!

Don Bosco

Don Bosco is a Community Centre and soup kitchen located in Port Chester, New York. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner 7 days a week. There is a special cast of people who make this happen every day, but there are a couple of days throughout the year that are extra special. Thanksgiving is one of them.

Bobby offered to staff and oversee all of the food donations for the Thanksgiving Day lunch, which meant ensuring a total of 500 meals were prepared and served for noon on that day. Yes, 500! Bobby dreams BIG and this was ONE big dream!

He wasted no time in providing me with a list of the foodstuff Don Bosco has ordered in previous years and I wasted no time in creating the menu. Admittedly, there were some foods I did not want to use and there were a few concessions made; canned sweet potatoes and pre-cooked turkey were two of them. But with Thanksgiving only a month away we were also short on time. So, we paired up with the staff at Don Bosco and decided to go with the flow.

Our menu would be:

• Creamed Corn with Fresh Thyme
• Sweet Potato Puree with Pecan Crust
• Mashed Potatoes
• Green Beans and Pesto
• Wedge Salad with Carrot Strands, Olives and Cucumber
• Sliced Turkey with Fresh Chicken Gravy
• Apple Crumble with Blueberry Puree

The plan was simple. To cook alongside a group of volunteers on Wednesday so that by the evening the food would be 90% ready to serve at noon the following day. But there was a lot of work to do and I needed a ton of help.

Bobby and his wife Dara, along with Cindy and her husband Greg are loved in their community. So too are their kids, and over those two days we probably had 250 volunteers cooking, serving, replenishing and working their butts off to make the day extraordinary for our guests.

Not only did we complete all the preparation by 5:00pm on Wednesday, but by 1:30pm on Thanksgiving Day, we had served those 500 lunches and delivered 100 meals to the homes of community members that could not attend the celebration.

It was incredible!

Our guests were happy, the staff at Don Bosco were thrilled and the volunteers may have even learned a thing or two that they can apply in their own kitchens.

We hope to participate again next year where the menu will slightly change to reflect the food I eat and teach, but the inspiration will remain the same. It’s for you, Aunt Trish. You would be very proud of your family. We hopefully changed a few lives and inspired our friends and children to give back.

It’s amazing what you can do when a group of selfless people get together.

Happy (US) ThanksGIVING!

Love my family.

– Chef jw