Gravy Train With Biscuit Wheels

We haven't been getting the usual amount of dessert from our donors recently, so we've had to bake cakes, brownies and other assorted desserts to make up for the shortage. Out of the box mixtures are easy to follow and are fun for the volunteers to make in groups.

During a recent cooking shift, our group of six volunteers made pound cake from one of these mixtures. Pound cake needs to be stirred and beaten longer than the cake mix and it gave one volunteer a workout when he stirred for five consecutive minutes.

Sticking to the strategy of making the most of the kitchen, we have been keeping our volunteers busy with many jobs during cooking shifts. At this particular shift, we decided to get creative and spice up donated food with our own creation. Relying strictly on donated food doesn't produce the best meals possible, so we like to add our own touches to make the meals better.

During this shift, we made gravy from packets left over from our TurkeyPalooza extravaganza. They only ingredient volunteers needed to add to the mixture was milk. After it cooled, volunteers poured the gravy onto soft biscuits donated from a local law firm.

Once the gravy was added to all the meals and the pound cake had properly cooled, volunteers cut up the cake and placed pieces in the meal containers. Food that was donated to us included chicken, biscuits and snow peas. By adding corn, gravy and a small piece of pound cake, we made all 64 of the meals better and more attractive.

The clients that we serve definitely appreciate the extra effort that goes into our meal preparation shifts. One of my favorite parts of this job is when clients tell our volunteers during delivery shifts how much they enjoyed the food.

Although these longer cooking shifts are starting to creep past the two hour mark, volunteers don't seem to mind because it's a lot of fun and the resulting meals look better than ever.


The final product.

Let's Bake a Cake

As we get back into the swing of things at the Campus Kitchen at Gonzaga College High School, one of our goals is to continue to cook and bake. This keeps things more interesting for volunteers and provides more fresh food for our clients.

Earlier this week we baked two cakes for dessert for our meals. I let the six volunteers split into two groups and make the cakes on their own. They were excellent at following the recipe.

The volunteers added everything in the right order and stirred until the batter was thoroughly smooth. It turned into somewhat of a competition between the two groups, and both cakes turned out wonderful.


After the cakes were finished cooling, the groups added icing and sprinkles for presentation. We cut them into small pieces and added them to all of the meal containers. The pieces of cake were a great addition to our meals, which also included fresh salad and lunch meat sandwiches.


One of the difficulties in cooking is the unknown of volunteer cooperation and enthusiasm. It takes a while to prepare and bake two cakes, and it could have been a long cooking shift if the group wasn't as dedicated and interested as they were. This particular group was fantastic at following directions and working as a team, and as a result our meals turned out excellent!

A job well done.