Kitchen Angels   |    1222 Siler Road  Santa Fe, NM  87507   |    505.471.7780
Halo Headlines w/ Clouds
SEPTEMBER 2017
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Thank you for your on-going dedication and support of Kitchen Angels and the community of Santa Fe.

  KA Color Logo
VOLUNTEER
MILESTONE
ANNIVERSARIES

1 Year
Barbara Brown-Allen
Glen Allen
Brigid Brahe
Cindy Redding
Lorraine Tecza
Maria Goldstein
   Sandra Warren
5 Years

Diane Lotti
Ellen Benson
Kent Calhoun
Karin Lerew

10 Years

Cynde Christie

IN MEMORIAM


Celebrating the lives of our volunteers and clients

 

The breezes taste of apple peel. 
The air is full of smells to feel - 
Ripe fruit, old footballs, burning brush, 
New books, erasers, chalk, and such. 
The bee, his hive, well-honeyed hum, 
And Mother cuts chrysanthemums. 
Like plates washed clean with suds, the days 
Are polished with a morning haze.
 
                                       ~ John Updike, September

Tasty TidbitsTastyTidbits

September 10th is Grandparent's Day - a time to celebrate those special people who were always there for you with a hug, a treat, or a listening ear when you needed it the most. If they are no longer here for you to dote on them, you can honor all grandparents in another way. Reach out to the grandparents you know by making time for a conversation, take them somewhere special, or cook them something delicious.

From Lauren...
One of the favorite memories I have of
GG Kiser lived to 103 because she didn't eat this type of dessert!
my Grandmother Kiser was the cakes she'd bake for special occasions. We kids fell into one of two categories - angel or devil. Turns out I was a devil-food cake gal, all the way. Here's her recipe for Mississippi Mud cake, which combines a devil's food sheet cake with marshmallow and pecans. It's the sugary-best treat a seven-year-old kid could ask for. Thanks Grandma.

From Jeanette...
My Bronx-based grandmother Rita Bieniewicz didn't cook a variety of things but what she cooked, she cooked well. She often would send us to her garden to grab lettuce, tomatoes and salad stuff to go with these potato pancakes in the summer.

My Vienna based grandmother Valerie Iskat made a traditional  cucumber salad that I still love. Gurkensalat is perfect for those Persian cucumbers!

Can't you just picture this little Teresa Mary shootin' meatballs?!

From Teresa...
I remember my Grandma DeCataldo making meatballs that I adored. She was so precise - making sure each one was the exact same size. She'd pan fry them and then give me and my grandfather three each, which we'd savor. The rest she'd dump into her special "gravy" and cook until they plumped up to almost twice their size. Here's the recipe as my mother Frances told it to me.

From Tony...
More than any one specific recipe, what I remember most about food occasions at my Grandparents' is the sheer quantity of wonderful dishes. My grandparents ran an enormous farm in southern Georgia, and all of my relatives had farms, so a holiday or family reunion was an occasion to show off your freshest produce and finest recipes! It was a feast for 200. Tables were set up in the back yard and laden with fried chicken, deviled eggs, potato salads, pork roasts, every vegetable imaginable, biscuits, corn bread, peach cobblers and my Grandma's famous nine layer chocolate and coconut cakes. The meals started after church and lasted well into the early evening. After the dishes were done and the food moved into the dining room for grazing, folks would break out musical instruments and we'd all sing until it was time to head home to the big city of Augusta. Aunt Alberta's stewed Okra was the only stewed Okra I ever ate and enjoyed.  With their passing, so many fine recipes were lost forever. Now I wish I had access to the fresh-picked bounty that we took for granted! 
AnnouncementsAnnouncements

It is with joy and sadness that we make the next bittersweet announcement. Our Director of Food Services, Teresa Norton, will be leaving Kitchen Angels on September 6th. After 16 years of running the kitchen, she has decided to retire her halo.

Teresa has cooked, danced, and sung her way into our hearts. She has been more than just the person in charge of the kitchen here. Her good humor has brightened many people's days. When she cranks up a song on the radio that she loves and dances around the kitchen - you can't help being lifted up and wanting to join in the fun. Teresa is authentic. She never compromises her truth and is proud to let her "freak frag fly!" We wouldn't have her any other way.

Teresa has facilitated the preparation of hundreds of thousands of meals for our homebound clients. She's kept a multitude of food facts running through her head for years - this client doesn't eat mushrooms, that client avoids beets - it's enough to drive an ordinary person batty. Teresa's attention to detail and love of good, nutritious food has kept our clients quite happy over the years.

Teresa has been a kind, generous and reliable co-worker. She reaches out with kindness, laughter, and sometimes a shoulder to cry on. Staff, volunteers and clients have been spoiled by the delicious treats that she creates with just a few choice ingredients. We will especially miss her Italian-inspired antipasta plates for lunch.

She taught hundreds, if not thousands, of volunteers how to properly wash their hands, sanitize surfaces, chop countless fruits and vegetables, and cook meat to the proper temperature - and she did it all with style and panache. It takes a special person to run this tight a ship, produce hundreds of meals every day, and do it all with a smile on her face and spring in her step.

We're endlessly grateful for Teresa's influence on Kitchen Angels and for cooking good, healthy food for so many hungry Santa Feans over the years. Teresa, you are one in a million, and we will miss you dearly.

Volunteer OpportunitiesVolunteerOpportunities 

We always welcome new volunteers! Here are our current opportunities: 
  • Tuesday Driver, Route 12 (Pacheco St.)
  • Tuesday Driver, Route 17 (S. St. Francis Dr.)
  • Thursday Driver, Route 16 (Jaguar Drive)
  • Friday Driver, Route 6 (Miguel Chavez)
  • Friday Driver, Route 7 (Casa Rufina Apts.)

 

Please tell people who may be interested to call Lauren at 471-7780  

 

Continuing EducationContinuingEducation  

It's safe to say that this building renovation project has been an education for all of us! We've learned so much - from how to raise money through a capital campaign, to the logistics of coordinating our meal program at multiple locations. It hasn't been easy, but the challenge has brought everyone greater knowledge and wisdom.

Although we're still in the middle of this project, we're also looking ahead to how our meal program will function best when we return to a new kitchen and delivery area. We might implement some of the new processes that have helped to streamline our meal packing and delivery system during the renovation.
Ann, Magdalena & Patrick, prepping the
client meal bags for delivery.

We've gotten good feedback on how volunteers like the "new system" and are asking for more! 

What do our drivers and delivery coordinators think of the chilled meal system? Is it more or less efficient? 

What do the drivers think of the new green thermal tote bags? 

We value our volunteer's opinions, knowledge and expertise. Please check in with a staff member with suggestions and comments. As one of our drivers said, "necessity is the mother of invention, and maybe something new and better will come from this process."  We're dedicated to the continual improvement of our organization and its methods for providing fresh meals to those in need. Thanks to each of you for your flexibility and encouragement and we grow and change.


Have you heard about the Slow Food Movement? Slow Food, as opposed to fast food, strives to "preserve traditional and regional cuisine and encourages farming of plants, seeds, and livestock characteristic of the local ecosystem." Slow Foods is an organization founded in Italy in 1986, which now has chapters all over the world and thousands of members working to promote local food, traditional cooking, and sustainable food production. If you're interested in learning more about the movement here in the US, click here. Or you can check out the Facebook page of our local Santa Fe chapter. Slow food is a philosophy and way of life from which we can all learn.
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You! Thanks 
Tom will be known as "Half-Ton Tom" from now on

A huge thanks to our volunteer Tom Riggs, for hauling half-a- ton of food from Natural Grocers back here to Kitchen Angels. Tom delivers meals once a week to several of our clients who live in Tesuque. We appreciate Tom for more than just his truck! He's volunteered at Kitchen Angels for four years now as delivery driver and for special events. Tom is always ready with a smile and warm wishes. He is good-natured, kind, funny, and an incurable optimist. We love you Tom!



Many thanks to Natural Grocers and Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company for the kind donations of food and funds this past month. For their 62nd anniversary, Natural Grocers held a food drive for Kitchen Angels. With the help of generous food donations from people in the community, they collected a ton of food . . . literally . . . one entire ton! We've shared the wealth by giving some to Feeding Santa Fe and Adelante for their food pantry services. Our cup runneth over! 


Full House Celebrates 25th Anniversary!

Pink Martini and the  Santa Fe Symphony Strings concert at the Santa Fe Opera was a wild success!  The group performed many of their best known songs to a sold out audience under a perfect late summer New Mexico sky.  It was an ideal celebration of our 25 years serving Santa Fe.  Many thanks to Jamie Lenfesty and AMP Productions and Tom Morris and Julie Wheeler of the Santa Fe Opera for all their kindness and generosity.   Special thanks to Linda Dressman and Karen Wolfe-Mattison and the Events Committee who organized the evening's event. 

If you missed Sunday's article in the Santa Fe New Mexican on our 25 years' of service, click  here to read the story.


Kitchen Angels | 505-471-7780 | info@kitchenangels.org | http://www.kitchenangels.org
1222 Siler Road
Santa Fe, NM 87507