This blog. It started with a phone call.
“Hey, if I drop two crates of apples at your house, could you make some sort of dessert for one hundred homeless people?” I was in my smallish kitchen, kids at a table covered in math worksheets, drawings of rainbows, and the remains of cinnamon toast. Autumn light fading fast, dinner not yet thought through, aging rescue dog whimpering at my ankles, me wondering how the mom on the other end of the line even got my phone number. “Yeah, sure,” I replied before I could think, “I’ll make an apple crisp.”
That was 12 years ago… For the first few years I made desserts for 100 about once a month. When the recession hit I received a call asking if I’d be willing to make a main course once a month. “In one spoonful, there should be protein, carb, and veg.” Thus I started cooking for 100 people once a month. I’d jot down the recipes to make things easier the next time I shopped for cooking. Through the years I’ve wanted to share these recipes with the hope they’d inspire others to cook for their community- be it church, mosque, temple, school, homeless community, a faire, or benefit. These recipes are delicious and I have prepared each one with love. When I have friends over to help me cook, they are often amazed at the quantity coming from a small home kitchen. I will provide you with the absolutely necessary equipment for cooking for 100 from home (and how to store it!!). And a longer list of items that make cooking in quantity from home easier to accomplish. Maud and cooking. I was a short order cook when I was a teenager and also worked as a pizza maker into my early 20’s. I am always inspired by the memory of my father who cooked for the homeless and church groups in Berkeley along with other good family friends. Best cooking memories are absolutely family wedding cakes. Transporting homemade cocoa meringues bubble wrapped in a cardboard box for weddings across the country as my carry-on. Staying up late into the night with my sister-in-laws decorating cakes, and sweating out transport for the next day. My first large cooking pot was given to me by my dad after he’d made a picnic lunch the day before my own wedding. He left the super sized pot with me as a gift. “Hey, Maud, can I borrow that big pot of yours? I need to boil 200 eggs for a school sporting event.” That pot was loaned out to so many different people helping put on benefits and school events, I think it ended up being used by someone to do candle making at a faire and never got returned. Since then my husband has gifted me some beautiful large scale pots for my birthday and as holiday gifts. Quite a few babies have played in the largest one!! I hope you enjoy this blog and the recipes inspire you!
-Maud Winchester