Blankets for the Homeless Needed

Three of my homeless people's blankets & sleeping bags were stolen a couple of days ago from their camp. :(
If anyone has extra blankets & sleeping bags to donate, please let me know & if possible drop them off at my home. :) Or you could meet me at the parks today or on Saturday. Some of these blankets are always used as pillows too by the homeless.
You can call me at (520)326-2236 from Noon until 10:00 PM.
Thank you for being there for these people !! :)

Spaghetti, Dinner Rolls, Cucumber Salad & Dinner Rolls

The most exciting news I have today is that Buck from Sugar Pies yesterday spent many hours sprucing up my blog & hooking it up to Facebook & Twitter.
Please check out the "new" blog & let me know what you think. It was really fun being creative together & so rewarding to see the end results. :) Thank you soooo much Buck !! :) Your Angel Wings are growing so. :)

Buck also hand-made 82 yeast dinner rolls to go with the Spaghetti dinner I made for the homeless people last weekend. Those rolls were so yummie & the guys in the parks just loved them :), although they normally don't want any more bread. People donate bread, like bologna sandwiches or peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. I have heard so many times already that they love my cooking, because I bring real food, not soup or sandwiches. It's nice to be appreciated. :) I also made their favorite cucumber salad with the sweet & sour cream sauce. I still had a few of Buck's cookies left from last weekend, so some of the people got those too. :)

Jen Y. was going to help me cook, but she hurt her hand coring apples on Friday, so I was on my own cooking the whole meal (for 100 people) on Saturday. :o I was over an hour late getting to the parks & a lot of guys left for their "camps" where they spend the nights. We only fed 27 people on Saturday, but on Monday there were 45. :) They were waiting for me.
:)

Today I called Pima College's Culinary Arts Department to see if some of their students would want to volunteer helping me cook. I am hoping that the students would get credit for the time they'd spend cooking with me. :) I was told to send an email to the college, which I will do this weekend.

It was a pretty quiet week, except for all the new blog design excitement. :)

Tortilla Soup & Asst. Sweet Treats

Another eventful week, but let's start with last weekend.  :)

Armed with 2 huge pot fulls of Tortilla "Stoup" (it's more like stew than soup), plus individual plastic baggies of tortilla chips I put together & a bunch of fresh, still warm sliced French bread I headed to the parks.  On Saturday after feeding 36 people I ran out of soup.  Thank God I had two more, although smaller pots at home for Monday, which I knew would not be enough.  So on Sunday I bought more chicken, more zucchini, chicken broth & cilantro & started to stretch for Monday what I had left.  I had plenty of salsa on hand.  :)   Monday we fed 35 people & the grand total stands now at 1,588.  Drum roll please.  :)

Marzipan Bars from Sugar Pies

Buck from Sugar Pies brought over a variety of sweet treats on Thursday & of course I had to try out one each too.  :)   He made these incredible "Marzipan Bars"  & I am still drooling over those today, just thinking about them.  :)   Buck also made some "Honey Bars" which were just as yummy   :)   & he brought over two containers of Spice Cookies called "Pepparkakor", one container for each day.  :)   What I love best about Buck's sweet treats are that they are not overly sweet & therefore one is able to taste all the ingredients, not just sugar.  And you don't get that sugar overload.  The recipes for all the above special treats are all on Buck's blog. :)   Thank you soooo much Buck for sharing your Love with the homeless people.  :)

You've been reading about Marci, my incredible cooking helper every weekend.  :)   She called me a few days ago to let me know that she fell & had dislocated her elbow.  :o   Her arm is in a sling now & she won't be able to help cook for a while.  Both of us were quite sad, as we are a really great team in the kitchen.  We always did this dance of cooking together.  :)   Please everyone pray for Marci to heal quickly, as she is going to college herself & also taking care of two exchange-students from China.  She has a full schedule.

Ground Beef & Rice Burritos & Pin Wheel Cookies

Some organization had a big cook-out of hot dogs, hamburgers & chicken for the homeless at the DeAnza Park last Monday, Labor Day, so we only fed about three people there that day.  Since I had lots of the rice dish left over I made burritos with the rice, went back on Wednesday & ended up feeding 107 people altogether during the three days.  :o   The total fed so far is 1,517 now.  :o

After helping me cook three huge boxes of rice for hours, my dear "helping hands" Marci brought her two students fresh from China to Santa Rita Park last Saturday, to show both what Americans do to help each other.  Both young men ate with us & looked like they enjoyed the rice.  :)   They weren't interested in the beans though, which are foreign to them.  :)   It was really nice to have these two young people with us !!  :)

Jennifer R. cooked the big batch of beans & also donated a bunch of chopped up jalapenos to go with the rice dish.  Thank you Jennifer, you are great !!  :)

Buck baked some wonderful tasting Pin Wheel Cookies last weekend as the sweet treat for the people in the parks.  With lots of Love he had put them in two containers, one for each day.  And he also baked his Mom's Pound Cake with Lemon Frosting (yummmm) as a treat for Marci & I.   Buck is the sweetest man I know !!  :)  Thank you soooo much Buck Dear !!  :)  

Speaking of Buck's cookies......... When Carlos & I first set up the back of my SUV each week with the food it always takes us a few minutes to get our flow going to serve it smoothly.  Well, this past weekend I forgot to give some of the homeless their cookies along with their food.  So I got asked a few times "where's my cookie ??"   :)   I got a big laugh out of that one.  :)   Buck, you are spoiling the people in the parks with your sweet treats of Love.  :)

I met Bill, the man who called me last week, at DeAnza Park last Saturday & he realized that I am not a crook. Bill decided to meet me at CostCo in a week or so to buy some of the food that I will need for that weekends meals.  :)  

This is a shout-out to anyone who has a large (14 cup) Food Processor they would be open to donating to this cause.  Marci & I are constantly chopping food to get the meals done & since we are cooking such huge quantities a large one would be really helpful.  :)   It would make things a bit easier & quicker for us. 

Shane & Nicole H. from Sierra Vista saw the report about Feeding the Homeless on Channel 4 News last week & sent a wonderful donation to help out.  It will feed the people for about 1 1/2 weeks.  :)  Thank you both, you made me cry tears of joy.  :)  Thank you also for your beautiful & thoughtful card !! 

Thank you Jen Y. for meeting Carlos & I at the DeAnza Park & for your kind donation !!  It was really fun to meet you !!  :)   Hope to see you again & maybe you can eat with us at the park one day.  I am making my famous Tortilla Soup this weekend.  ;)

Mary Helen, thank you once more for your on-going & caring donations to help out with the food costs. You are my biggest fan & I Love you so !!   :)  

Many Blessings to all of you for opening your Hearts to this cause.  I pray that some day we won't have any more homeless people in this world !!  :)

Potato Salad with Ham & Double Frosting Brownies

Time to catch up on this & last weeks happenings before another weekend comes & goes & a very busy & great two weeks it has been.  :)

This Monday Emily Guggenmos from Channel 4 News (NBC) came to the parks to report a segment on me & on Feeding the Homeless for their series called "Making A Difference".  It showed on the 4:00 PM News on Tuesday & then again on the morning news the next day.  Emily did a wonderful job, even though I was really nervous to be standing in front of a news camera.  :)   Thank you Emily for being patient with me !!  :)

If you would like to watch the report, here is the link to click on:


 http://www.KVOA.com/news/tucson-woman-making-a-difference-for-the-hungry/

I received a number of calls & a few donations so far from the news report.  Thank you Lupita for your call shortly after the story aired & your very kind donation !!  :)   My friend Denise was at my house when you called & after you & I hung up, she was so excited & said "I am soooooooooo glad I was here to see this".  It was a very precious moment.  I even received a call from a former customer from my Rainbow Moods days of many years ago.  How fun !!  :)

And thank you Steve of Royal Automotive for your donation after you saw the News !!  :)  You are very much appreciated for your caring.  I would like to ask everyone to support Steve, especially the women.  He is very, very honest & will repair your vehicle without taking advantage of anyone.  Here is the link to his garage   http://royalautomotiveservice.com/   & his phone number is 628-1885.  I have been taking my vehicle to Steve for years & I was referred to him by another woman. 

Here is a funny story to share with you.  :)   On Wednesday I received a call from an older man who wanted to know how he could help out.  I mentioned to him that donating food is great & so would a monetary donation be, which is easier for me, because then I can buy the foods I need for the coming weekends feeding.  I don't have much room to store lots of food, since I do this out of my home.  He said that "a donation would be fine, but there are so many crooks out there", so he "wants to meet me to make sure that I am not a "crook".  :)  He will be coming to the park this Saturday.  If you look at the TV news report you will see that the hungry homeless people are lined up behind my car to get fed.  You also see me handing out plates of food & then you see the people eating in the park, many sitting on the ground.  So I got a big chuckle out of being told that I might be a crook.   :)   I look forward to meeting this man tomorrow.  :)  

Now to track back to last weekend.  We fed 39 people on Saturday & 55 on Monday for a total of 94 altogether.  That is the most I ever fed in one weekend.  At one point I got really panicky because I realized that I didn't have enough food for everyone.  I normally fed around 70 people each weekend.  So this is growing bigger as we go along & I am preparing to cook extra for this coming weekend.  So far the grand total fed is 1,410 people.  :)  Wow !!  

I was so glad that Jennifer R. came both days to help Carlos & I dish out the food.  She also brought a dish of chopped jalapenos for everyone to add to the potato salad with lots of chunks of ham in it that Marci & I made together.  I also got creative & put together 10 lbs. of chopped tomatoes & a huge can of corn with a lemon-olive-oil dressing.  The jalapenos mixed great in that too.  :)  Jennifer is planning on joining us whenever her jobs allows.  I really enjoy her, she is a lot of fun to be around.  :)   She is definitely a Blessing. 

And so is Buck from  http://www.sugarpiesfood.com/  who made two huge sheets of Double Fudge Brownies with Praline Frosting, which were a huge success, as usual.  :)  Please take a peek at Buck's blog for some really incredible recipes & fun pointers.  Buck has been such a positive support of Feeding the Homeless & I know that I always can count on him to donate sweet treats for the people in the parks.  His treats are just soooooooooooo good !!  :)   I like to nibble on one each time too.  :)  The Brownie recipe is on his blog if you got the craving after reading this.  :)

I would like to shout out a great big Thank You to Irina for donating a brand-new SaladShooter to the cause !!  :)   It was so helpful in chopping the 36 eggs & 2 big jars of pickles for the potato salad last weekend.  :) 

And I would like to send my Gratitude to Rachel R. for her thoughtful donation to help out with the increasing cost of the utilities from all the cooking. 

Also to the dear lady with the three children at DeAnza Park last weekend, who told me she read about me in the Tucson Weekly & then squeezed a donation into my hand.  I wish I had your name & email address, so I could thank you in that way. 

Thank you also Steve R. for your second donation & for keeping your word on continuing to help out. :)

Thank you goes to Gary Mc.... for also helping out & your really dear words & your card was very pretty.  :)   If you are reading this, please send me your email address. 

Liz G., thank you so much for your check & your caring !!  :) 

Thank you everyone for helping to make this possible & for opening your Hearts to the people in the parks who at least spend two less days being hungry.  They are so grateful to you all for the wholesome & nurturing food we together are able to give them.  Maybe as time goes we can add another day & another day after that.  It is in God's hands. 

Not too long ago there lived a Lakota Holy Man & Spiritual Leader by the name of Fools Crow who performed many Miracles & healed many people during his time long on earth.  He always called himself a "Hollow Little Bone" for Creator to work through.  He used to say that it was his job to keep his Hollow Little Bone clean, so Creator could use him each & every day.  He had this exercise he did cleaning himself out each morning, taking out the bad & filling himself with the good.  :)

All of us are Hollow Little Bones helping together to make this Feeding the Homeless project possible.  Thank you soooo much each & everyone of you !!  :)