The smell of ground round in the morning

Starting around the age of 6 or 7 I became the official gravy tester. The esteemed role allowed me to stand range-side and determine if the gravy for our family dinners was properly seasoned. With a small spoon, I would carefully dip then cool and taste. I loved that job, and it probably was one of the few small things that my mom did to encourage me to love food and love cooking it.

This past weekend, I wish I had been the official gravy tester. The largest vat of gravy I have ever seen was being concocted in a giant kettle at DC Central Kitchen. Combining fellow from my work and friend cooking clubs, I brought together 8 beautiful girls to cut, portion and flip for 4 hours of community service. DC Central Kitchen made volunteering fun and easy. About 35 people met on Saturday morning and worked from 9-12.

The gravy was but one piece of the salisbury steak puzzle that we constructed for shelters around the area. Through our various tasks, we made about 3,000 meals which would be parceled out that day. Despite the five vegetarians in our group, half of us were instructed to dole out bloody meaty hamburgers for four straight hours. I was very honored and impressed with the veggies ability to handle raw beef product, considering the typical aversion they would have to it. Knowing that they were giving much needed protein to hungry people obviously helped them look past the bloody sacs of ground chuck. Our job was simple...seperate the meat patties and put them on a paper-covered baking sheet to go into the oven. 2,700 patties and 4.5 hours later we were done. I will eliminate the occasional sprays of blood from opening the packages (Bloody Mary is an accurate name) and the slippery floor mishaps. While I waited for new trays, I longingly watched Freddy stir the vat of gravy with a giant wooden spoon. I would've been excellent at that job. Something to look forward to for next time. Kelly & Meryl then cooked the patties and helped repackage them for larger deliveries. 3 other friends worked on cutting onions for 4 straight hours. If Martha isn't a pro with a knife now, she may never be :) Many of you say "cutting onions--I'd much rather slap beef patties", but surprisingly they didn't sob like I saw them doing when Zoolander lost the walk-off (seriously sad part).

The time flew by and I had a great time with some of the best friends in the world. I truly love these wonderful people, and am thankful for the moments like we had this weekend.