Okay, yesterday I was bragging about the weather and today I admit the upper 90s are a little on the warm side so the AC got turned on in the afternoon. It’s still great swim weather, however. I always look at the bright side.
Today we celebrated Cinco de Mayo – not with protests or marches – but instead with great food and warm friendships. Over 100 people gathered in the ballroom at 4:00 for a true feast of delicious potluck dinners. Everyone brought their favorite Mexican dish to share along with chips & salsa and a generous portion of ice cream with strawberries for dessert. Thank you Diane Gaines, Linda Balzan, and your dedicated crew for a fun afternoon.
Since officially retiring from work, I now have time for more activities so I volunteered to help with the event instead of just participating as a guest. It was fun! I was very impressed with the professionalism and efficiency of how the kitchen is run. Under Linda’s watchful eye, we were given strict instructions for hand washing, gloves, and food preparation. Guests can rest easy about eating foods from this kitchen as everything is strictly monitored. One sink with a garbage disposal is dedicated to rinsing anything with food particles. The next sink gets filled with special soap and suds for washing dishes and the next two sinks are filled with sanitizing product for the final rinse.
I’ve obviously not been inside a commercial kitchen before so I was impressed with the details and strict routine for food preparation and clean dishes. I salute all those folks who have prepared huge meals feeding hundreds of people from that relatively small kitchen and work space.
Tables were adorned with festive oil cloths and colorful red/white/blue centerpieces. I believe these will stay up for the remainder of summer as this will accommodate all our other upcoming activities including bingo. Having a smaller audience definitely has its advantages.
