DOG TIRED!!! and Loving it!!!!

Well we rested enuff yesterday to tear into today, Tonight was our "Stone Soup Supper"!! We got to church about 8AM and started getting ready for "Sloppy Joe's and Cole Slaw". Yesterday I picked up 80 Pounds of Ground Round, 50 pounds of Cabbage, 10 pounds of Sweet Vadalia Onions, and trucked them with Honey to church along with the other ingredients needed. A couple we are friends with worked their butts off with us today to get this done!!!!!!




At 8am Dan and I started cooking 80 pounds of hamburger in 2 big Skillets, Dan and I were used to cooking big meals as we are both NAVY VETERANS!!!!! Each frying pan after browning down the meat was dumped into a strainer to remove all the fat, you don't want all that fat in your sause, the mix was a 80 -20 mix, 80% meat and 20% FAT, I think ours had a little more fat that 20%!!!





While the meat was slowly cooking and browning down we mixed up 3 big Electric cookers, and using my SECRET RECIEPT of Ketchup, Brown Spicy Mustard, Vinegar, Brown Sugar, Garlic, Celery Powder, Tomatoe paste, Tomatoe sause Worcestershire, Celery, Peppers and Tomatoes, and some other SECRET ingredients that shall forever remain a SECRET we put these 3 on to simmer at 200 degrees.




Once they came almost to a Boil and we had the 80 pounds of burger cooked and drained we slowly turned down the heat and added the meat to the sause mixing it in.


Anna Mae and Ginny took the 10 pounds of sweet vadalia onions and chopped them up and Dan an I slowly cooked and browned them in the old skillets and added them to the top of the mix, letting them simmer on top for an hour before stirring them into the mess!!


Anna and Ginny then cut up 50 pounds of Cabbage and Dan and I ground it up and also ground up 20 pounds of carrots and the girls made Cole Slaw with more secret Ingredients.






While everything was cooking the "4 of us" set up the dinning room to seat 85 people.


About 2:00 o'clock the "4 of us" set down and "Took a Break" and had a nice lunch of Cole Slaw and Sloppy Joes, Dan and I had "Navy Coffee", the kind where the spoon stands up all by itself in the center of the cup!!! and the meal was simply Fantastically Yummy delicious!!!!!


The Ladies of the church came in on and off during the day dropping of homemade pies, cakes, cookies, cupcakes, of all types and flavors, which of course had to be sampled while cutting them and putting them on plates for individual servings by the 4 of us and they passed inspection!!!
Honey is standing on "One Leg" and faking a grin because her back was killing her!!!!!!!




At 4:30PM we opened the doors and in they started to come in, lots of familiar faces, quite a few friends and the regular people who show up every thursday also at the other churches that put on the meal every thursday. The best part was greeting people, saying hell'o and joking and jabbing at people as they passed thru the line to get their food, the joking around was great, telling people who wanted to know if it was beef or pork that it was neither, some of it was road kill and some was some meat we had laying around but after scraping off the green mold it was still good, and when they would ask if it tasted good Dan an I would say we wouldn't eat it cuz we knew what was in it!!!!!!


We started feeding the masses at 4:45 and it was a constant flow of people coming in, eating, relaxing, and as they finished and left Anna and Ginny would pick up the plates, reset the table and in more came, we fed over a 165 hungry people, they were many who came up for SECONDS and some THIRDS. we send home about 25 to-go-containers- with some people to deliver to some shut ins who could not make it to eat.we served the last meal at 6:30PM. A nice event again!!!


Then it was the clean up, We were really disappointed by the lack of MORE HELP, usually we have about 8 people who help but work, sickness, and other commitments it was just the 4 of us until 5:30 when a couple of our Lay, Life and Work Committee showed up and thankfully dove into washing dishes, picking up and cleaning up the big pots and pans we didn't get to after cooking.


After everyone had left about 7PM and we finished cleaning up we got done about 8:30PM, the Left over deserts, cakes, pies, etc were packed up and put in the refrigerator, we will put them out sunday after church for a Coffee Hour where they will get eaten.


Tomorrow I will finish putting togeather my Sermon for Sunday and after this entry I will re-read what I have made for notes as I have some changes I want to make that I thought about. One change I made is usually during Chruch we "Pass the Peace" by greeting each other and shaking hands and we will not be doing that as one of our local hospitals has several cases of "Swine Flu" and there is no need to take any chances as several of our members went to Mexico for Spring Break.

Anna mae is in her chair with "Ice Paks" on her back and is going to take a couple extra "Pain Killers" before she goes to bed due to the fact that she "Over-did it" !

I am tired and sore and so are Dan and Ginny, but we have the satisfaction of doing our part in "Serving the Lord" in helping those less fortunate than some, maing sure some people didn't have to sit home and eat a meal all alone and I even got a chance to mingle a little and talk to a few people and greet a few soldiers who were first time visitors to our suppers. Even had a few say they would make sure they would be in church Sunday to listen to me Preach!!!!!!


As we end April we start May, which means "Memorial Day" is fast approaching, each year the local paper publishes a letter to the editor I write regarding my thoughts and beliefs on Memorial Day and I have that started but need to "Get-er-Done" to meet the dead line!!!!



Lets not forget our "Veterans" past and present !!!!!