I sure that many people have memories of Sunday dinner as the big family meal; everyone sitting around the table sharing what happened during the week or what they plan to do for the week ahead, with camaraderie and lots of gut-busting food. Perhaps a few of us do that with our own families, still.

When I realized a year and a half ago that every weekend would be spent at the Salvation Army Lighthouse, I decided that I wanted to recreate that special kind of Sunday dinner for the residents. While some of the people who live with us have contact with family and friends, a larger portion have been turned out from family homes and disconnected from friendships due to issues surrounding their addictions or mental health. What better way to reconnect them with a sense of normalcy and boost their spirits for the week ahead than an old-fashioned Sunday dinner?

The Lighthouse has a small budget to help us purchase food when needed, so I usually spend Saturday nights pouring over food flyers, mapping out a meal plan for the next evening.

This week, I was in luck: two of the stores on my route to the shelter had great deals. At the first place I found 8 cobs of corn for $1 and at the second, whole chickens were on for $5 — better still, the meat manager let me take an extra dollar off the price as I explained to him why I was buying more than the limit.

Back to the shelter. After putting out snack (fresh-baked cookies, watermelon slices, ice cream and carrot sticks & dip), I filled two large pots with water, some vinegar and sugar and put to warm. Then, I butterflied the chickens at the breast bone, flattened them, dusted them with season salt and jerk spice and threw them on the barbecue. Rain started spattering, so I rolled the unit under an awning.

Getting a nice char and some smoke on the nine birds, and considering the rain, I decided to let them finish in the oven — they’d end up more moist that way, anyways. To un-flatten an flattened chicken, I grabbed some oregano from my herb garden and pulled some lemons we normally use for fish Fridays. Poking holes in the lemon, with a tuft of oregano on top, I wrapped the chicken around it so it looked like a normal roasting chicken, breast down. Roasting with the lemon inside would give a nice citrus finish to the taste of the meat. Just to bring it out further, I zested and juiced some limes and added a touch of honey to make a finishing glaze.

Next, I set the pots to boil and tossed the shucked cobs of corn in. So that was protein and a starch of the way; I needed greens.

In the freezer, I spotted two bags of green beans, not enough for all the residents, but I recalled a dish my grandfather often made for breakfast on his farm in the Netherlands. Pulling my mandoline from my knife kit I shaved some potatoes into slices and julienned spanish onions. Fry the onions in butter, set aside in a hotel pan. Fry the potatoes in the same pan adding butter with some cracked pepper, add to onions. Toss the green beans, slightly thawed, into the same pan, allowing the moisture from the beans to deglaze the pan, scraping up all the tasty charred parts and fry in some butter with crushed garlic. Toss together with the onions and potatoes and place in a warming rack.

I still had romaine from the other day, I managed to get some half-decent tomatoes from the Food For Life truck and there were still carrots and celery in the fridge, so I had a salad.

To add a gut-busting element, I took some donated croutons, moisturized them with chicken broth and added some sautéed celery, onions and sage; stuffing.

And finally, Joe — one of our older residents who has a connection with a local Portuguese bakery — brought in some fresh rolls.

And there it was: Quarter Jerk Chicken with honey-lime glaze, Corn on the Cob, Grandpa’s green bean blend, stuffing, fresh salad and warm rolls.

When I went into the dining hall to announce that there was enough for seconds, everyone hooted and applauded and asked for me to sit with them for a while. And why not, I thought, most of the pots and pans were already cleaned, I had time.

Siting at the table I realized that these smiling faces around me were very much like a family to me. Our paths may cross for only three months at the most, but getting to know them — listening to how these people had been through so many terrible circumstances, how they’re working to get their lives back in order, sharing their frustrations over setbacks and high-fiving good news — you build a connection. We may not be a family by blood but for now, today, we’re a family by circumstance. Ending the week, sharing a laugh and the table with family, that’s what makes a Sunday dinner.

Yesterday I mentioned that I’d have a list of things specific to the needs of the Lighthouse. I say specific, because we take the same dry and canned goods as other places — and often if we have more than we need, we share with other food banks in the area.

The Salvation Army Lighthouse is a bit of a different animal from other places because of our resident population and the fact we’re open every day. Essentially, if it’s edible, wrapped and in good condition, you can drop it off at 750 Redwood Square between 7AM to 7 PM, 7 days a week.

If you have a social gathering, a party, a back yard barbecue and you have extra stuff – don’t throw it out, we’ll take it. In certain circumstances, I’ll even pick up. For example, the kitchen at the Burlington Convention Centre had made more food than was needed for a company’s Christmas party, so the head chef called and said that if I came to the receiving door around 11 PM, he’d have trays of roast beef, roasted vegetables, saffron chicken, gnocchi and pumpkin ravioli — only if I was interested. I was at their door at 10:45 PM and the residents at the Lighthouse ate gourmet food for a week following.

Another time, Ann Mulvale had finished her birthday party and discovered that there was a lot of leftover beef, sausages and boxes of apples (I never asked what the apples were for, cake alternative?). One call to me at 10:30 PM and I was at the door of her birthday venue 20 minutes later loading up my little car. Again, the residents ate well for a week. I’ve even picked up food when someone in the community calls and asks something along the lines of “could you use a rib roast?”

So, to summarize this long story, we take dry goods, we take fresh food and we share what we don’t need with other food banks. But if you want specifics when it comes to what we need, use and go through day to day, here’s the list:

Perishable goods:

• whole chickens
• beef roasts
• pork (roast, chops, sausage, bacon)
• cheese
• lunch meat
• frozen veggies

Non-perishable goods:

• white flour
• breakfast cereal
• salad dressings
• condiments (ketchup, mayo, bbq sauce)
• pickles
• sugar
• coffee (ground, in tins)
• regular tea
• chicken or beef broth in Tetra Paks.

Miscellaneous:

• shaving kits
• toothpaste
• deodorant
• soap
• laundry detergent

And since people have asked before, yes, we’ll also take pre-paid grocery cards if you prefer to leave the shopping to us.

So I hope that helps the many people who ask me what we’ll take (almost anything, really) and what we need.

One last story. Shucking 36 cobs of corn in a store this morning, a woman asked me if the shelter would be interested in some cake shavings from her wedding cake business. I instantly thought of making fruit trifles, smiled and, while giving her my card, said “we’d love it and anything else you can think of.”

Anything.

Marc.

Well, last night’s Movies in the Park with Jeff and Marc went well, and with people still hungry late into the evening I ended up barbecuing by streetlight.

I love the Movie in the Park event, especially as it was great to connect with people from the community and put faces to the email addresses of so many people I’ve helped. My only regret: I was so busy that I didn’t get to see the movie.

I hope to post some pictures when my Ward-mate and friend, Councillor Jeff Knoll sends them my way.

The evening went later than expected and so once home, I threw myself into bed as I had to be up early to get at my weekend duties in the kitchen at the Salvation Army Lighthouse.

I had some great soaps to give the Lighthouse residents courtesy of my friend Tina AKA @LusciousBubblez, which put a great start to the day to see so many thankful faces sniff the soaps, while oohing and ahhing at the textures. (Thanks, Tina.)

We had a number of new residents rotate in this week, who gathered around and jokingly told me that I’d better be as good a cook as they heard — or else.  And they must have been pretty serious in wanting a good meal — 24 of our 30 residents had signed up for meals, rather than making me go through my usual morning ritual of tracking them down and having to ask them if they planned to eat with us.

Clipboard in hand it was to the kitchen. I bought some fresh buns on sale on the way down to the shelter and remembered that I had some donated shaved roast beef put aside in the large freezer. Looking through the produce donations, I found some red onions and peppers and a plan was forming. To the cheese reserves: a small block of havarti and a larger one of cheddar.

The sliced beef went into a pan with some water, beef broth and worcestershire sauce and into the oven on high heat to thaw. The fresh buns cut open and pulled apart, set on a large tray. Onions and peppers were julienned and sautéed with butter, cracked pepper and salt. The two cheeses, grated together, with some dry parmesan cheese sprinkled in to add sharpness and texture. Then, I combined some low-fat mayo that was donated last week with dijon mustard and worcestershire sauce to make a creamy spread.

So, beef from the oven, two slices on the bun, a smattering of the onions and peppers, a dollop of the spread and a heavy sprinkling of cheese, repeat 32 times.  Yes, we had 24 sign ups, but I always make a few extra in case we get an unexpected drop-in or if some of our residents with larger appetites are looking for seconds. Pop the tray (turned out to be two trays, actually) into the oven at 350°F and bake for 20 minutes.

For a side dish — there were some romaine heads donated, some cooked pasta in tupperware and I still had a few onions and peppers left. I looked at the mayo and mustard and knew that if I combined all this together with some fresh celery and celery seed, we’d get an awesome pasta salad.

So there we go: Faux Philly sandwiches with pasta salad. A glimmer in the back of my mind at 10:45 and hot/cold on the plate by noon.

According to the new people, I had successfully lived up to my reputation, as espoused by the longer-term residents and staff. Hearing the many compliments and seeing them all sitting together, sharing stories and laughing, I forgot how tired I was from the night before and I stopped worrying about the six hours I still had on my feet because, suddenly, I was walking on air.

I allowed myself a rare moment to savour the scene of this “family” gathering before turning my attention back to the hot kitchen: snack time and dinner were looming on the horizon and I’d better be ready. After all, I had a reputation to uphold.

I intend to post a blog on what we need donated at the shelter, Tamara AKA @WonderMoms_ca keeps asking me to, and I’ll get to it soon. The Lighthouse is a bit different in that we take fresh good and do so 7 days a week from 7 AM to 7 PM.

Summer is a tough time for food banks and shelters, every little bit you can share from your home to others in the community counts now more than ever.

I’ll provide more insights into how I spend my weekends at the Lighthouse kitchen as well as further info on donations tomorrow.

Marc.