Senior Diners Club

Location: Lidia Pucinska Apartments

Date: Thursday, July 11, 2013; 6-8 pm

I had not planned for a project this evening and at 5 pm looked at Chicago Cares website to find where the openings were.  I had heard about Lidia Pucinska apartments from Wilson, but never been there.  I arrived to find our leaders Josh and Erica, whom I had met at ‘Job Coaching’ at ODS.  Wilson arrived in due course along with three other volunteers, two of whom were new and one was someone I had seen at Grace House on Tuesday.  The kitchen was a part of the big community hall and but space was limited at the cooking stove.  But we need not have worried; we were in presence of a pro.  Of all the leaders that I have encountered at cooking projects, Josh was by far the most experienced since he is an actual chef at a restaurant!

Crumble, ready for the oven!

Similar to other breakfast and dinner clubs, over here we were going to be playing Bingo as well.  However, rather than doing so at the end of the evening, we were going to playing while the dinner was being prepared.  This was a very efficient use of time and while three volunteers went over to handle the Bingo, I stuck around for a cooking assignment.  Josh was dealing with the main course and asked if I could make a crumble.  Eh, what?  He repeated, “A crumble”.  Ok then.  Fortunately for me, he gave me step-by-step instructions and all I had to do was follow.  The first task was mixing flour, sugar and oats, which was simple enough.  Then it was the chilled butter which needed to be integrated carefully.  Through watching some Food Network shows eh, advertisements on ESPN, I know that the trick is to keep the butter chilled so that it does not melt during the incorporation, but rather later, so as to make the crumble crust flakier.  This meant that I had to work fast and using the tips of my fingers so as to minimize contact.  Josh looked impressed by my knowledge and it looked like I had earned the main chef’s approval!  

After the butter was in, we spread it on strawberries that were spread on two baking pans.  Josh had already mixed them with balsamic, orange juice, sugar and vanilla extract.  I put the pans inside the oven and now I had to keep watch, rotating the trays every 10 minutes.  Josh was making couscous and a chicken stock on the side.  Wilson and I then helped remove the chicken and then added the stock to the couscous, infusing it with flavor.  Erica was making a broccoli and bacon salad, everything being better with bacon.  She is from Pittsburgh and so we had plenty to chat about, including ‘Oakmont Bakery’, my apartments at ‘Heinz Lofts’ and of course, the ‘Steelers’.  We were getting close to serving and Josh wanted to add some crushed peppercorns to the chicken; but we did not have anything to crush them with.  I told him that Wilson was extremely resourceful and he could find something, and sure enough, he did.  So now with the food almost ready, we were just waiting for the Bingo to conclude. 

Crumble, ready for serving!

I walked about the room and as is the case with Bingo everywhere, people were concentrating hard.  One lady was using her own Bingo coins, which looked like gems.  I complimented her on those, wondering if I could find some for my buddy Emma, who loves shiny gems and would be thrilled to play with those at ‘Lakeview Nursing’.  Some of the Bingo boards looked homemade and I told Wilson that making Bingo Boards and coins should be a project for one of his Arts & Crafts’ programs.  I helped arrange food trays with plates and as Josh started doing the final preparations, went about serving drinks.  One of the residents asked if I wanted a calendar and I wasn’t sure if she was giving it to me or selling it.  I politely declined and came back to collect the plates.  The Bingo prizes had all been handed out and so we could now go serve dinner.  As is usually the case everywhere, people were very nice and thankful and we had managed to get the food out in an efficient manner.  

Next was the unenviable task of washing the dishes and while Erica did that, I helped with the drying, we both continuing to reminisce about our days in Pittsburgh.  The crumble was ready to be served and it looked fantastic.  Even the residents said so and while it was Josh’s recipe, I was proud to have contributed.  As the residents started filing out, one of the ladies came over and hugged me.  It was one of those surreal moments that I often encounter at some of these project sites.  We cleaned up and Josh said that I should definitely stop by his restaurant, ‘Etno Burger’.  It had been a great new project for me and like many before it, would make the list of those that I would definitely return to.