The Mighty Bean Burrito

So yesterday was Thursday which only means I spent many hours in the kitchen prepping, coordinating, and making life happen for the Mighty Bean Burrito soup line.  Here at Andre' House we serve dinner 6 nights a week (every night except Friday).  The menus are as fallows:  Monday -- turkey pasta salad, Tuesday -- spaghetti, Wednesday -- hot dogs, Thursday -- The Mighty Bean Burrito, Saturday -- goulash, Sunday -- chili.  The main dishes stay the same with varying sides depending on what we can get at food bank (we go to St. Mary's food bank Monday through Friday).  So Thursday mornings (after food bank run with Br. Richard, morning staff meeting, and Mass) I light the beans, take the tortilla's out of the walk in cooler, turn up the radio real loud, and have a cup of coffee while I try to decided to make for lunch for the staff and volunteers.  I usually make cookies for lunch so i get them in the oven while I season the 100 pounds of beans and begin getting lunch cooked.  After mid-day prayer, lunch, and clean up, Lou comes in around 1pm to start washing the 150 pounds of potatoes, veggies, and fruit so the 25-30 volunteers can have things to chop when they come.  Tom comes in around 130 to finish seasoning beans and makes salsa.  Bill gets in around 3 and helps Tom and Richard strain the beans into about 8-10 pans and gets them into the cam bro for when dinner begins.  Volunteers usually start coming around 3 and begin to cut potatoes.  Big John comes in around 315, gives me a hug, and starts gets himself ready to start cooking potatoes and making them yummy.  At 510 I gather all the volunteers into the family dining room to give last minute directions as well as reminders of job duties.  At 530 I tell the middle gate person (usually Fr. Eric) to open the doors.  This is when all the fun begins!  We serve between 350 and 700 trays of food every night.  Guests are allowed to come around as many times as they want (as long as they get a new ticket from front gate) so the number count is number of trays not the number of people that come through our doors.  At 630 we shut the line down and begin cleaning.  At 730 the guests have been fed, the building is clean, and my staff mates and I are tired and hungry.  We head over to our transitional houses on Polk St and have dinner.  I then head home tired and dirty.  Thus is Thursday Mighty Bean Burrito soup line.  On Fridays we have a staff meeting followed by staff activity.  Today we went over to Ted and Joy's house to partake in a picnic lunch and swimming.  And there it is.  Peace out!