MARCH 2023

Greetings Tony,

“A light exists in Spring

Not present in the year

at any other period

When March is scarcely here.”

~ Emily Dickinson

It's time to nominate Kitchen Angels and Kitchenality in the Santa Fe Reporter's Best of Santa Fe competition. There are two rounds of voting. The nomination round is now through March 15th. If we get enough votes in the nomination process, we move on to the finals!

Kitchen Angels has placed in the top three "best nonprofits" since the early 2000s. We love that Kitchenality is now following suit.

Here are the three categories where you can vote for us:

• Best Nonprofit - Kitchen Angels . . . of course!
• Best Cooking Store & Best Business: Rufina/Siler District - Kitchenality

Click here to get your VOTE on!

KITCHENALITY needs your donations!

Kitchenality is in its 8th year of operation and they continue to thrive thanks to the generous donations from our community. We are having our first "lull" of donated goods. The shelves in the warehouse are nearly bare! Here's a little note from Kitchenality manager Sarah Taylor:

"Seldom do we see any empty shelves in the work room at KITCHENALITY. The store is full to the brim, and we currently need donations of

kitchen tools, baking pans of all sorts, table linens, and all sorts of kitchen

wares and table top and entertaining items. Right now we could really use blenders and toasters. So look around for items you haven’t used in a while and come by the KITCHENALITY loading dock between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM Monday through Saturday. We’ll help you unload your donations and provide a receipt, if you'd like."

It's therapeutic to let go of the things you no longer use. Keep the energy flowing, and bring those kitchen wares to our store. It's a win-win!

Thank you to all the people who have donated over the years.

“You truly are heroes to this community. It’s so nice to have something to look forward to everyday. And the food is delicious!” ~ client Gerry W.

"Thank you for all you do for the Santa Fe community! The dedication is unmatched, the joy of souls feeling "someone cares", the tender love in every meal...Thank you for that heart-to-heart, soul-to-soul compassion. It's no minor thing, no small feat to be in place...every day. Thanks from someone who knows a soldier's commitment; the heart of a stalwart outreach." ~ Gerald, a KA donor

“I would like to give thanks, BIG thanks, to all of the good folks at Kitchen Angels. Your food has allowed me to stay strong! I am the first Hawaii state professional arm wrestling champion. This July 2023 I’ll be holding a pair of sevens (turning 77). I still live a fitness lifestyle and your wonderful food has made it all possible. I still do the reps because your nutritious food gives me the power of good protein! I also want to thank the artists and donors of my beautiful Christmas Star Gift. It really brightened my Christmas! Thank you very, very much." ~ client Rhett B.

Greens, greens, and nothing but greens! March is here and with the start of spring all of our favorite green foods will be coming back in season. One of the first vegetables to emerge in the spring is asparagus. With a tender crunch and bright color, asparagus is an extremely versatile vegetable easily cooked for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The New York Times has an article about asparagus recipes that they say “positively scream spring!” The first one on their list is asparagus frittata with burrata and herb pesto. This would be a perfect brunch item to add to an Easter menu or a quick fresh dinner for when the sun stays out a little later.

Spring greens are also in season in March (such as spinach, bok choy, dandelion greens, mustard greens, and kale). These are all also versatile ingredients with many of them delicious both raw and cooked. Epicurious has a list of 31 recipes for spring greens that might be interesting to try. While many of them are variations on salads, cooked options include creamy greens with eggs, greens bruschetta, and beans and greens.

For those interested in a longer recipe, try cooking collard greens with this recipe from Southern Living. For those with a slightly more adventurous palate, it might be time to try the earthy punch of dandelion greens with this simple recipe from The Spruce Eats.

Calling all Volunteers!!!

Save the date: Thursday, April 20th

Kitchen Angels is gearing up for our 24th annual Angels Dine Out. We are still finalizing contracts, but it looks like over 40 establishments will be participating this year! In addition to restaurants, we will also have several bars and retail shops involved.

The remarkable success of this fundraising event rests with our volunteer ambassadors who act as outreach ambassadors for Kitchen Angels. Each year we recruit 60+ volunteers who host at participating restaurants, usually in pairs. The ambassadors hand out donation envelopes to diners and end up bringing in about 60% of the donations for the entire event!

Here's the list of participating restaurant, thus far, along with which meal(s) they are donating for:

315 Restaurant & Wine Bar (D) • Andiamo! (D) • Bourbon Grill (D) • Cafecito (D) • Café Castro (D) • Café Fina (B,L) • Café Pasqual's (D) • Cowgirl BBQ (L,D) • El Nido (D) • Estevan Restaurante (D) • Fire & Hops (D) • Hidden Mountain Brewing Company (L,D) • Horno Restaurant (D) • India House (D) • Izanami (L,D) • Jambo (D) • Joe's Dining (L) • La Casa Sena (D) • Maria's NM Kitchen (L) • Mariscos Costa Azul (D) • Museum Hill (L) • Opuntia (B,L) • Palace Prime (D) • Paloma (D) • Paper Dosa (D) • Pecos Trail Café (L,D) • Piccolino Italian Restaurant (L,D) • Plaza Cafe Southside (L,D) • Plaza Cafe Downtown (L,D) • Posas Tamale Factory (B,L,D) • Pranzo Italian Grill (L,D) • Rooftop Pizzeria & Draft Station (L,D) • Rustica (D) • Santa Fe Bite (L,D) • Sky Fire (TBD) • TerraCotta Wine Bistro (D) • The Ranch House (L,D) • Tune Up Café (D)

In addition to restaurants, we have some bars and a retail store taking part this year:

Artisan's Bottega • Herve Wine Bar (L,D) • Santa Fe Brewing Company HQ (7K IPA) •Santa Fe Spirits (Cocktail Flight) • Tumbleroot Brewery (Signature Cocktail Menu)

Please contact Lauren right away to sign up to be an ambassador! We try to match volunteers with the restaurants they like best. If you give several choices, the chances are good that everyone will come away happy. Do you have a partner, neighbor or friend who would help out? We welcome friends of Kitchen Angels to join in - it's always more fun with two ambassadors.

Thanks to all ambassadors past, present, and future for helping to make Angels Dine Out the outstanding community event that it has become.

For many of us sleep is a rare commodity these days. It's also critical for staying healthy. Naps are sometimes the only way to catch up on needed sleep. Yet, a lot of people complain that naps just leave them feeling more tired and groggy than before. To quote from an article on Inc.com, “a little bit of science can help you wake up alert and refreshed” after a nap. The article recommends two kinds of naps, a short nap lasting thirty minutes or less, or a longer nap of ninety minutes. The longer nap allows your body to follow the natural cycle that governs sleep.

Some people have sleep issues that cannot be fixed with naps. Ten percent of adults suffer from some sort of insomnia that needs to be treated professionally. But if you find yourself unable to sleep for a few nights per week, WebMD has ten tips to help take the edge of falling asleep. Most of these tips boil down to good advice for living and may be challenging for some to achieve. One thing that we all can do to help our sleep is put away the screens. Blue light emitted from phones, tablets, and computers has been shown to suppress the body’s release of melatonin, the hormone that makes us drowsy. So turn off the screen and get some shut eye.

Our client services manager, Katherine, has a special benefit stand up comedy show at CHOMP Food Hall on March 31^st in support of the Esperanza Women’s Shelter. Featuring all women comedians donating their time, doors open at 7:30 PM and the show starts at 8:00. Cost of entry is $10 or a box of feminine hygiene products. ALL proceeds go to the Esperanza Women’s Shelter in Santa Fe.

If you have a free evening, your support will be greatly appreciated!

Thank You...

A word of thanks to all of the new volunteers who have stepped up to help our efforts. Since the beginning of the year we've had 27 volunteers join our flock of angels. It's not an easy thing to step outside your comfort zone and join a group of strangers in a new setting, learn the ropes, and be the "newbie." It shows a real strength of character to volunteer in the first place. It means you can see beyond your own needs and be willing to work to make a better life for others you may never meet.

To our current volunteers, please extend a warm welcome to our newcomers. We come from all walks of life and the friendships we create can be truly enriching.

If you work in the kitchen or office on Thursday mornings, you've probably had the pleasure of meeting one of our newest angels. She's terrible at cooking, in fact, we can't let her into the kitchen at all. In fact, there isn't a hair net made that can catch all the hair she sheds. But she bring more smiles and laughter than any other being who walks through out doors. She's Ballad - the seeing eye dog of kitchen volunteer Peggy B.

Once the harness comes off, Ballad wiggles and zooms around the volunteer room, saying hello to all the humans. While waiting for her person to finish her shift, Ballad patiently waits in various staff offices, behaving better than some humans!

Maybe Ballad can be the unofficial Kitchen Angels mascot . . . always loving and helping those in need.

The two faces of Ballad:

harness on - focused and attentive;

harness off - lap cuddles, wiggles & wags