Wednesday Evening Meal
February 15, 2012
4:45 – 6:15 pm
All members and visitors welcome to join us for dinner.
Suggested Donation $4 per person
RESERVED SEATING FOR 5TH GRADE MILESTONE FAMILIES
Smoked Turkey Breast
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Baked Sweet Potatoes
Steamed Asparagus with Hollandaise
Spiced Pumpkin Cake
NO CLASSES NEXT WEEK!
SOUP AND PIE SUPPER WILL BE SERVED FROM 4:45-6:15pm BEFORE ASH WEDNESDAY SERVICE
In my last post I shared the recipe for the meatloaf we make at Calvary. Here’s a look at the work it took today to turn 140 pounds of lean ground beef into 700 slices of meatloaf deliciousness:
Fourteen batches mixed by hand
Making meatloaf can also be great for therapeutic stress relief!
70 loaves, hand sculpted and ready for the oven…350 for an hour, then add the secret sauce on top, then another 30 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes, slice into 10 pieces per loaf and then it’s time to eat…
For a side dish we made 80 pounds of fresh sliced carrots, tossed in a glaze of honey, lemon juice, melted butter, salt and pepper, then roasted in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. Even cooked carrot haters like myself have to admit these are delicious. We were careful not to overcook them and left them a little crunchy.
Our other side dishes were cheesy potato casserole and steamed green beans with a red wine vinegar/dijon mustard vinegrette and sauted red onions.
Cheesy Church Potatoes with a crunchy crushed cornflake topping… Not a single serving leftover.
One diner told the kitchen crew tonight that these were “the best green beans I have ever had.” Thanks for the encouraging words!
And now for dessert: We call these cakes “Decadent Devil’s Food” and “Heavenly Angels”
This is super easy: Bake a white cake from a mix according to the directions on the box. While still hot, use a knife or the handle of a wooden spoon to poke holes all over the top of the cake. Mix together 1/2 of a 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk with 8 oz cream of coconut and spread over the hot cake. Top with 20 oz of crushed pineapple, drained. Chill cake overnight (if you can stand not to eat it right away), then top with 8 oz cool whip and toasted coconut.
Use the same method with the devil’s food cake, except substitute 6 oz of either butterscotch or caramel ice cream topping for the cream of coconut. And substitute 6 oz of chocolate ice cream topping for the pineapple. No chocolate cake left tonight!
Tom tries to get the cake servers to look up so he can take another helping. It’s not working Tom!
430 diners signed in and ate with us tonight and that means a lot of dirty dishes. Lucky for us we have some super cheerful workers:
Welcome back from vacation Peg!
Thanks for reading the blog. Share it with your friends. Please feel free to post any comments or suggestions you have. If there is a particular recipe you’d like to see posted, let me know and I’ll get it on here for you.
See you at Calvary Lutheran Church next Wednesday for turkey, mashed potatoes, baked sweet potatoes, asparagus with hollandaise sauce, dinner rolls, and pumpkin spice cake. Any day is a good day for a Thanksgiving dinner.
Wednesday Evening Meal
February 8, 2012
4:45 – 6:15 pm
All members and visitors welcome.
Suggested Donation $4 per person
Meatloaf
Cheesy Church Potatoes
Dijon Green Beans
Honey Carrot Coins
Decadent Devil’s Food Cake
Heavenly Angels Coconut Pineapple Cake
I’ve been using the “Mean and Lean Meat Loaf” recipe from the Disney’s Family Cookbook since my kids were little. They always wanted more of the “secret sauce” that is baked on the top of the meatloaf, so I made the loaves smaller and wider so I could increase the surface area to put the “secret sauce” on. When we make the meatloaf for the Wednesday night meal, we make 70 loaves, each sliced into 10 pieces. We use 140 pounds of 90% lean ground beef, 11 1/2 dozen eggs, 60 cups of rolled oats, 16 pounds of diced onions, 9 pounds of chopped green peppers, 9 cups steak sauce and 6 #10 cans ketchup.
Here’s the recipe for 4 to 6 servings:
2# lean ground beef
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cups chopped onions
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
2 Tbsp steak sauce
1/2 cups catsup
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
½ tsp basil
½ tsp garlic powder
Whisk together for Sauce:
1/2 cups catsup
3 Tbsp packed brown sugar
1 tsp ground mustard
Mix ingredients well, form into 1 loaf in a 8 1/2 inch loaf pan, or into smaller loaves on a baking sheet. Bake at 325* convection, or 350* in regular oven, for 1 hour, covered with foil. Top with sauce and bake an additional 15-30 minutes uncovered, until internal temp reaches 160*. Let sit for 10 min. before slicing.
The cookie buffet was a big hit at dinner last night. We went through most of the 42 dozen Oreo Cheesecake cookies, 40 dozen chocolate chippers, 26 dozen Oatmeal Raisin, and 34 dozen Lemon cookies. About 22 dozen are now in the freezer… you may see these at dinner again in the near future.
476 diners were signed in to eat last night for the baked potato supper. A crew of 10 hard working women spent 5 1/2 hours in the kitchen baking cookies, prepping the potatoes to bake, chopping salad ingredients, and getting all the potato toppings ready to go (chili, cheddar cheese sauce, diced ham, broccoli, sour cream, shredded cheese).
We scrubbed the 600 russet potatoes on Tuesday morning, running them twice through the dishwasher (with the soap and sanitizer turned off). On Wednesday we rubbed the potatoes with olive oil and salt, cut off the bad spots, and baked them at 375 degrees in the convection oven for about 1 1/4 hours. We then held them in the warming oven at 175 degrees until time to eat.
48 large heads of romaine lettuce were chopped, washed and spun dry in the giant salad spinner. The extra lettuce not used last night will be shared with the Cornerstone Mission today. The tossed salad for 500 servings also included 30 sliced cucumbers, 20 pints of grape tomatoes, 5 pounds of shredded carrots, 1/2 gallon banana peppers, and 3 large bags of croutons. On the side we served the salad dressings: 1 gallon Dorothy Lynch french, 1 1/2 gallons Ranch, 1 gallon Blue Cheese, 1 gallon Golden Italian.
Meatloaf next week…the menu will be posted here soon.
Some of the 400 Meyer Lemon Ricotta Cookies we baked today.
Today we got a good start on baking 140 dozen cookies for our dinner tomorrow. We will be serving 4 different kinds of cookies: Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin, Oreo Cheesecake Cookies and Meyer Lemon Ricotta Cookies. Here are the recipes we used.
The test batch at home of the Oreo Cheesecake Cookies
Oreo Cheesecake Cookies
Makes about 2 dozen cookies
1/2 cup (4 oz) unsalted butter, softened
3 ounces Cream Cheese
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (2 oz) mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup of oreo cookie sandwich crumbs
1/2 cup white chocolate chips, melted
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350* convection or 375* in regular oven. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Cream together the butter and cream cheese with mixer until well combined. Add the sugar and vanilla and mix well. Add the flour and mix on low until the flour is incorporated. Stir in mini chocolate chips.
Scoop the dough into 1″ balls. Roll in oreo cookie crumbs so cookie is covered. Place cookie balls onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the tops are slightly puffed. Once cool, drizzle cookies with melted white chocolate.
Adapted from a recipe on the website: http://multiplydelicious.com
Oreo Cheesecake Cookies, 20 dozen (240) cookies
This amount will fit easily in one batch in the commercial mixer.
5 cups (40 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
30 ounces Cream Cheese
10 cups of sugar
3 Tbsp plus 1 tsp of vanilla extract
10 cups all-purpose flour
24 oz of mini chocolate chips
12 cups of oreo cookie sandwich crumbs (about 4 1 lb 10oz boxes cookies)
5 cups of white chocolate chips, melted (optional)
10 dozen (a double recipe, 20 dozen, will fit in Berkel mixer in one batch)
2 cups butter or margarine
2 cups Crisco (can use butter flavored or regular)
3 cups white sugar
3 cups brown sugar, packed
4 tsp vanilla
8 eggs
9 cups flour
4 tsp baking soda
4 tsp salt
8 cups chocolate chips (48 oz)
Cream butter, shortening, sugar and vanilla. Add eggs and mix well. Add dry ingredients and stir until thoroughly mixed. Drop by heaping teaspoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350* convection for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from cookie sheet and cool.
Classic Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
9 dozen (108)
1 pound unsalted butter, softened
2 ½ cups firmly packed light brown sugar
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp salt
8 cups rolled oats
4 cups raisins (or 4 cups chocolate chips)
Preheat over 325* convection. Lightly grease baking sheets or line with parchment.
Cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs to butter mixture one at a time, beating well after each. Add vanilla and beat well. Combine dry ingredients except oatmeal, add to egg mixture, and stir to blend. Do not overmix. Stir in oatmeal. Add raisins and stir just until combined.
Scoop onto baking sheets and press lightly to flatten. Bake 12 to 14 minutes for soft, chewy cookies; 15 to 18 for crunchy. Cool 5-10 minutes on baking sheet before removing to cooling rack to cool completely.
The test batch of Meyer Lemon Cookies. These are meyer lemons, which are more orange colored than regular lemons and have a sweeter flavor. You can find them in 1 pound bags at Wal-mart right now.
Meyer Lemon Ricotta Cookies
| Makes 50 cookies 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (12 ounces, weighed measurement) 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened 2 cups sugar 2 eggs 1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese 3 tablespoons lemon juice, squeezed from about 2 Meyer lemons 1 lemon, zested (Meyer lemon if available) Glaze: 1 1/2 cups confectioner sugar (measure first, then sift) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F in convection oven, or 375 degrees in regular oven. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In the large bowl combine the butter and the sugar. Using an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Beat to combine. Stir in the dry ingredients. Do not over mix. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Spoon the dough (about 1 1/2 tablespoons for each cookie) onto the baking sheets. Bake for 12 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 20 minutes. Glaze: Adapted from the recipe on the website: thechurchcook.blogspot.com Thanks for the recipe! |
Two weeks ago we served French Dip Sandwiches and Italian Pasta Salad. Here is the requested recipe for the pasta salad, with both the 300 servings version, and for those with a smaller family, the 10 servings version. Bon Appetit!
Italian Pasta Salad, 10 servings
10 oz marinated artichokes, undrained
20 ounces fusilli pasta (corkscrew pasta), cooked
4 ounces pitted kalamata olives, halved
10 ounces Roasted red peppers, sliced
8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, cubed
2 ounces hard salami, cut into ¼ inch strips
3 ounces shaved fresh Parmesan cheese
¼ cup finely chopped onion
½ cups chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
½ cups chopped fresh basil
4 ounces zesty Italian dressing, or more as needed
Salt and pepper to taste
Drain artichokes, reserving liquid. Cut artichokes into fourths. Combine pasta, artichokes, and remaining ingredients. Toss gently. Add some of the artichoke liquid if needed if the salad seems too dry. It will soak up a lot of the dressing if left to marinate overnight in the refrigerator.
Serve at room temperature or chilled.
Italian Pasta Salad, 300+ servings
300 oz marinated artichokes, undrained
35# fusilli pasta (corkscrew pasta), cooked
4.4# pitted kalamata olives, halved
20# Roasted red peppers, sliced (about 3 #10 cans)
16# fresh mozzarella cheese, cubed
2# hard salami, cut into ¼ inch strips
24 cups shaved fresh Parmesan cheese (or about 5#)
8 cups finely chopped onion
12 cups chopped fresh flat leaf parsley (about 1#)
12 cups chopped fresh basil (about 1#)
1 gallon zesty Italian dressing, use as much as needed
Salt and pepper to taste
Wednesday Evening Meal
February 1, 2012
4:45 – 6:15 pm
All members and visitors are welcome to join us for dinner.
Suggested donation $4 per person
Baked Potato Bar
With the following toppings:
Chili, Diced Ham, Broccoli, Cheese Sauce, Chives, Sour Cream and Cheese
Tossed Garden Salad
Oreo Cheesecake Cookies
Meyer Lemon Ricotta Cookies
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
If you missed last night’s camp dinner, here’s a few photo highlights of the 500 who came for sloppy joes, BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, fresh veggies, chips and ice cream:
The sign in table…we ask that everyone sign in so we can get a close count for planning.
We also have money jars here to collect donations…we suggest $4 per person, but we’ll take whatever you can or want to donate.
We made 5 roasters full of sloppy joes (using McCormick’s sloppy joe mix. Last year I made Jamie Oliver’s recipe for sloppy joes with beans, but I got a lot of feedback saying “don’t bean the sloppy joes!” I’d love to try a new recipe next time since the mix was a little too salty and tomatoey. Feel free to email me at kschleusener@gmail.com with your favorite recipe for sloppy joes, aka “taverns” or “steamburgers” or “yum yums” or “slushburgers” and we’ll try something new next time. We also served some BBQ pulled pork which we had leftover from a dinner in December. The porkloins were roasted in the oven after marinating overnight with a spice rub mix of paprika, garlic powder, brown sugar, dry mustard and salt. We added Cattleman’s BBQ sauce after pulling the pork.
Here’s a fun fact: The Original Sloppy Joe Sandwich was invented by a cook named Joe at a cafe in Sioux City, Iowa (from Wikipedia)
You ate 5# of snow peas, 15# baby carrots, 6 large bunches of celery, 10# broccoli florets, 12# cauliflower florets, 14# English cucumbers and 20# of ranch dip!
Build your own banana splits for dessert! We sure love our ice cream… we used 30 gallons of ice cream (vanilla, chocolate and strawberry), 30# of sliced strawberries, 40# of bananas, and lots of toppings: crushed M&M’s, Hot fudge, butterscotch, pineapple, whipped cream and cherries.
At 5:30 the room is filling up, plus there are 6 full tables out in the narthex
Can’t wait for dessert!
Dedicated ice cream scoopers…vanilla, chocolate or strawberry?
That’s why they’re called “sloppy joes”
Part of the fun is the creative process in banana split building
Mmmm…..good!
5:45…music class is over and the rush is on!
Sharing is what it’s all about.
A great time to visit with friends and family
Look what I made! Yum!
And a more simple approach…vanilla ice cream, strawberry ice cream, topped with a tiny drizzle of butterscotch.
Being cool at all times…high school boys hanging out by the youth room
Even scraping dishes can be fun on Wednesday nights!
When is my grandma coming back from vacation to wash dishes?
Larry proves that he can do the job while Peg is gone!
Dirty dishes in, clean dishes out. “Marilyn”, our American Dish Service dishmachine, can wash 2 racks of dishes every 90 seconds. We’d couldn’t do this without her!
And then we went to church for a presentation on Lutheran Outdoors and sang camp songs along with the Praise Team…
Next week’s menu post coming soon!
Wednesday Evening Meal
January 25, 2012
4:45 – 6:15 pm
Camp Night at Calvary
All members and visitors welcome to join us for dinner
Suggested Donation $4 per person
Sloppy Joes or BBQ Pulled Pork
Fresh Veggie and Fruit Trays
Chips
Banana Splits
CAMP NIGHT at CALVARY!
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25
Staff from Lutherans Outdoors will be sharing
their music and messages about summer
camping in the Black Hills! Register for summer
camps, including VBS and Day Camp.
Don’t miss this special Wednesday event!
Wednesday Meal 4:45 – 6:15 pm Fellowship Hall
Classroom Visits 5 – 8 pm Various Classrooms
Worship Service 6:30 pm Sanctuary
Lutheran Outdoors Camp Video Following Worship Sanctuary
Info & Registration Ongoing Narthex
So here’s what happens at Calvary Lutheran on Wednesdays from September through the end of April:
It’s just a beehive of activity. The parking lots are full, with overflow into the strip mall and office parking across the street. Many people like to come early for dinner to get a good parking spot. Our double buffet tables with 4 serving lines keeps the wait time to a minimum, and there is rarely much of a line except at 5:45 when music class ends. Then there’s a little rush, the kitchen crew starts to sweat a little, hoping that the food won’t run out. Sometimes we pray a little, thinking of the parable of Jesus sharing the loaves and fishes with the multitudes. And somehow it works, every week, and no one is turned away hungry. We don’t make special kids’ meals, which sometimes encourages our 160+ kids under 12 to try new foods (remember the couscous and hummus?). We don’t serve any foods with nuts, making the meals safe for those with severe nut allergies. But unfortunately we can’t cater to all the dietary restrictions, like gluten-free, vegan or sugar-free options. That would just be beyond our time and budget constraints. Most people can find at least part of the meal that they can enjoy. What we do offer is a well-balanced meal, mostly homemade right in our kitchen. Our goal is that our church families and visitors can sit around tables together, engage in caring conversation, get to know each other, and nourish body and faith. It’s a goal worthy of the efforts we put in each week. There’s a lot of love in our food, even if it’s not always seasoned or cooked to perfection. New volunteers are always welcome, no experience necessary! Email me @ kschleusener@gmail.com if you’d like to get involved.
thenewchurchsupper 