Lauren Clark, left, and Faith Rivera load sheets of garlic bread into the oven.Mary’s Pantry Challenge
Mary’s Pantry, the food pantry that supports meals and snacks for families living in the Ronald McDonald House or families visiting the Family Room inside Children’s Hospital at Erlanger, is named in memory of Mary Stancil. As a memorial to the volunteer, a Mary’s Pantry Endowment Fund has been established with a goal of $350,000. Two challenge gifts totaling $75,000 have been made for the fund, so every dollar donated during May will be matched through this challenge.
Chicken Parmesan Bake was the night's entree at the Ronald McDonald House.
Olivia Masterson, right, drains pasta while Sarah Simmons looks on.Teenagers Olivia Masterson and Sarah Simmons know their way around a kitchen, but neither has ever cooked for 60 people before.
But the teens took on that challenge when 11 contestants in the Distinguished Young Woman of Rhea County Program (formerly known as Junior Miss) made a visit to the Ronald McDonald House of Chattanooga to cook dinner for families temporarily lodging there.
Olivia says there were so many cooks in the kitchen, their group divided into halves: One toured the facility while the other cooked, then they swapped.
It was Sarah's first visit to the nonprofit, where families of hospitalized children may live in order to remain near their sick children.
"I've seen those drop-your-change-here boxes at McDonald's restaurants, but I never really knew what they were doing with it," says Sarah, 17, a home-school junior. "I really admire the idea of housing for people whose children are in the hospital."
The two teens say the group brought what they thought was enough food to prepare Chicken Parmesan Bake for 65, but halfway through the process they realized they were short on spaghetti sauce. But with the help of Mary's Pantry, which gave them the additional sauce for free, they were able to complete their meal.
Mary's Pantry is essentially the grocery store for all food functions feeding families living in the house or who visit the Ronald McDonald House Family Room inside Children's Hospital at Erlanger. Families are responsible for their own meals at breakfast and lunch, for which they have access to food in the pantry, and volunteers provide dinners each night through the Adopt-a-Meal program. About 50 individuals and groups take turns bringing Adopt-a-Meal dinners to the house on Central Avenue.
"The families we serve are primarily those of intensive-care patients, and they spend every moment at the hospital for the opportunity to be with their child and interact with doctors and nurses," says Jane Kaylor, Ronald McDonald House executive director. "To have someone put at least their evening meal together, and to have snacks and other food that they can do for breakfast or lunch, takes one less burden from them, one less thing they have to worry about,"
Josh Dempsey, Ronald McDonald House operations director, says volunteers may either bring in all ingredients they need to cook dinner at the house, use items available in the pantry or supplement their purchased foods with pantry items.
Three meals per day for as many as 65 folks holds the potential for 195 meals per day supported by the contents of the pantry.
He explains that the house receives donations of food from local businesses, such as a weekly bread delivery from Sara Lee, but milk, eggs, cheese, butter, meat and other staples are purchased. Contributions make this possible.
The 26 rooms in the house are constantly full, says Dempsey, with anywhere from one parent to four family members in a room.
"We request volunteers cook for 65; that's 2.5 per room," explains Dempsey.
Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6284.
You can help
* May 23: Chili’s Give Back Night. Print off the Chili’s flyer at www.rmhchattanooga.com, take it with you to any local Chili’s for dinner, present it to your server and Chili’s will give back 10 percent of that night’s sales to the Ronald McDonald House and Mary’s Pantry.* May 25: Mary’s Pantry Night at the Park presented by the Chattanooga Lookouts. 7:15 p.m. Buy $5 discount tickets to the Lookouts vs. Tennessee Smokies game through the Ronald McDonald House by calling 778-4147.
Crowd-pleasing
Cooking for any large group is time-consuming and challenging, especially when doing the arithmetic to expand a recipe for six to feed 60. Following are tips from Woman’s Day for cooking for a crowd.› Get organized. Make lists of everything you’ll need from food ingredients to serving platters and silverware.› Stick to tried-and-true fare. This is not the time to experiment. If you must cook a new recipe in large quantities, cook a test run before serving it to a group.› Include make-ahead dishes on the menu. These are ones that just need to be reheated before serving. Examples: Eggplant Parmesan, lasagna, soups, roasts.› Supplement your menu. Get store-bought items when you can. For example: deli crudite trays, pies, cakes, beverages.› Prepare enough food. Woman’s Day recommends these amounts per person: 1/2 pound of boneless poultry or ground beef, 4 to 5 ounces pasta, 3 to 4 ounces veggies in side dishes, two cookies or brownies for dessert.› Don’t overstuff the oven. While it might seem like a time-saver to cook foods that require two different baking times together, it will result in unevenly cooked foods.
Easy-to-expand recipes
Here are some recipes, including the one the Distinguished Young Woman of Rhea County Program made for Ronald McDonald House, that can be altered for large groups of people. Chicken Parmesan Bake 1 12-ounce box rotini or penne pasta 1 large jar spaghetti sauce 1 24-ounce bag popcorn chicken 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese Heat oven to 375 degrees. Bring large pot of water to a boil, add pinch of salt and pasta. Boil until pasta is al dente and drain. Return pasta to large pot and remove from heat. Add entire jar of sauce and all chicken to the pasta. Stir in 1.5 cups of mozzarella cheese. Mix all ingredients together. Pour contents into large rectangular pan. Cover and bake 30 minutes. Remove cover, add remaining cheese and bake another 15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Yields 8-10 servings. - Lorissa Cannon Twice-Baked Potato Casserole 1 pound thin bacon 16 russet potatoes 6 tablespoons canola oil 4 sticks (1 pound) salted butter, plus more for buttering baking dish 2 cups sour cream 2 cups grated cheddar or Jack, plus more for topping 2 cups whole milk 4 teaspoons seasoned salt 6 green onions, sliced Kosher salt Black pepper Heat oven to 400 degrees. Cook bacon in a saute pan until crispy, let cool then crumble. Scrub the potatoes, then place on baking sheet. Rub potatoes with canola oil and bake until tender, about 45 minutes to one hour. Remove potatoes and lower oven temperature to 350 degrees. Slice butter into pats and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add bacon and sour cream. With a sharp knife, cut each potato in half lengthwise and scrape out the insides into a mixing bowl. Tear up three of the skins and add them to bowl. Mash potatoes with a potato masher. Add cheese, milk, seasoned salt, green onions, salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Butter a baking dish, then spoon mixture into dish. Top with more grated cheese. Bake until warmed through, 25-30 minutes. Makes 16 servings. - Ree Drummond, Pioneer Woman Baked Ziti 2 tablespoons olive oil 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 large onion, diced 1 pound ground beef 1 pound Italian sausage 2 14.5-ounce cans tomato sauce or marinara sauce 1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes with juice 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes Salt Black pepper 1 pound ziti 1 1/2 pounds mozzarella, grated 1 15-ounce tub whole-milk ricotta 1/2 cup grated Parmesan 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, plus more for sprinkling 2 eggs Heat olive oil in pot over medium heat. Add the garlic and onions and saute until starting to soften, 3-4 minutes. Add the ground beef and sausage and cook until browned. Drain off almost all the fat, leaving a bit behind for flavor and moisture. Add the tomato sauce, tomatoes, Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir all, bring to a simmer for 25-30 minutes. Remove 3 to 4 cups of cooked sauce to a bowl to cool. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add some salt. Cook the ziti until not quite al dente. Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, mix 2 cups grated mozzarella, the ricotta, Parmesan, parsley, eggs and some salt and pepper as desired. Stir together just a couple of times; do not mix completely. Drain the pasta and rinse under cool water to stop the cooking. Pour it into the bowl with cheese mixture and toss to slightly combine. There should still be large lumps. Add the cooled reserved meat sauce and toss to combine. Add half the coated pasta to a large casserole or lasagna dish. Spoon half the remaining sauce over the top, then top with half the remaining mozzarella. Repeat with another layer of the coated pasta and remaining sauce and mozzarella. Bake until bubbling, about 20 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before sprinkling with chopped parsley before serving. Yields 12 servings. - Ree Drummond, Pioneer Woman Meat Loaf 1 tablespoon canola oil 1 large onion, finely chopped 2 large carrots, finely chopped 1 celery rib, finely chopped 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs 4 large eggs 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard 2 tablespoons ketchup 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 1 teaspoon Tabasco Kosher salt Black pepper 3 pounds ground beef chuck 1 pound ground pork 1/2 pound Monterey Jack cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium skillet, heat the oil. Add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally until softened, about 8 minutes. Scrape the onion mixture into a very large bowl and let cool. Add the panko, eggs, mustard, ketchup, Worcestershire, Tabasco, 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Stir to form a paste. Using your hands, work in the ground meats and cheese until combined. Line a large roasting pan with parchment paper. Firmly pat the meat mixture into two loaves, each about 10 inches long. Arrange the loaves 3 inches apart on the parchment and roast in the lower third of the oven for about 1 hour until lightly browned and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center of the loaves registers 150 degrees. Let the meat loaves rest for 15 minutes, then cut into thick slices. Makes 12 servings. Note: The baked meat loaves can be covered and refrigerated for up to four days. Cut the loaves into thick slices and brown in a skillet to serve. - foodandwine.com