17 Deep Dish Pepperoni Pizzas

Since this is the 5th Saturday this month, I loaded up with 17 Little Caesar Deep Dish Pepperoni Pizzas I headed to the two parks & was welcomed with lots of hollers of "Piiiiiiizzzzzaaaaa" !!!!   :)  And "oh thank you for not bringing turkey, we are so turkeyed out".  "Piiiiiiiizzzzzzaaaaaa" !!"  :)

Served 67 people this evening & many even got seconds, which totalled to one half of a big fat deep dish pizza.  :)  Everyone was really happy, although I could have used more cookies. 

I got a call back from Little Caesar earlier today, they wanted to make sure that I was still coming for all 17 pies, which made me giggle, since I have done this for four years now at the same place.   :)

Since I was by myself this time I had to ask one homeless person at each park to help serve the cookies & water.  :)  It was really nice to be able to spend some quality time with each person & to get to know them a little bit better along the way.  :) 

Not much else to share, except for a bunch of happy homeless once more.   :)  And me too !!  :)
Such a blessing this is each time !!

Thanksgiving Dinner 2013

Thanksgiving Dinner of Turkey with all the Trimmings - Continuation

Five roasted turkeys, a tray of stuffing, two big pots of mashed potatoes, two pots of gravy, 36 cans of corn with butter, eight huge cans of green beans with cranberries, a great big tray of Costa Rican rice, ten cans of cranberry sauce, an enormous bowl of Jello with fruit cocktail, six containers of Cool Whip, and lots of cookies all fed 70 people their Thanksgiving dinner yesterday.  :)   And only just a few leftovers.  :)

A really big storm came through here & it rained heavily all day Friday, all night, and it was also raining & quite dreary on Saturday late morning when I got up.  The sun never came out on Friday at all, which is quite unusual for us here in Tucson.  Many of us, even as far away as Wisconsin, prayed for the rain to stop, at least long enough to feed the homeless, which of course is done outside in parking lots of two City parks. 

Kristine & Ray of "Kadooks" Food Truck offered to bring their canopy so the food would stay dry while serving & the homeless would be covered too while eating.  :)   And thank you both also for bringing all that wonderful Costa Rican rice to share with everyone !!   :)   You two are awesome & your Lights shine bright !!  :)   It was so special to have you join all of us for this special occasion.  :)

Yesterday, Saturday, around 2 P.M. it stopped raining, started clearing up & the sun started peeking out, especially on the west side, where the parks are.  :)   Many Thank You prayers were sent "up" & still are today for this great big Miracle.  :)   The forecast was that it supposed to rain hard all day yesterday & again today on Sunday.  Thank you everyone locally for your prayers, and the Wisconsin ones too.  :)

Most of the homeless people were surprised to get this early turkey dinner & all were quite grateful.  :)   Those extra large plates were so full of food, there was no room for anything else on there.  It just was so good to know that their bellies were full & that they all were sleeping in dry weather last night.  :)  

Thank you Marianne, K.C., Teresa, Patty, and Gopal for roasting & carving a turkey each for this meal !!  :)  I couldn't have pulled this off without your kind help.  :)  And thank you also for bringing them over to my house during the rainy mess outside.  I have some turkey meat left over, which is in the freezer already.  It will make a wonderful turkey "stoup" (soup-stew) after the holidays for the homeless, especially some of your smoked turkey, Gopal !!  :)  

Hilde, thank you for making your great stuffing again this year & your famously smooth & tasteful gravy !!  :)   Mary Ann, thank you for bringing your Mom over & to the park & thank you both for helping out with the mashed potatoes.  :)  

Sue, my faithful corn & green beans helper, thank you for filling up the pots with those & for heating them up at your house to cover for the lack of big stove burners, actually more burners altogether.  :)   We used a lot of great big pots for this meal. 

Dave & Linda, thank you for helping with the groceries for this meal too & for even bringing extra this time.  It will help with the big Christmas meal, which is coming up quickly.  :)  
I so appreciate everything you do for the homeless !!  :)

Marilyn, you get five stars for the big bowl of Jello with fruit cocktail you made for this occasion, my non-cooking friend !!  :)   May your burners always be turned on.   ;)

Lydia, Lupe, & Bertha thank you for baking all those cookies & for putting them into all those gorgeous bags !!  :)  What a beautiful sight that was !!  :)   There will be photos of this after this blog. I bought some more small bags & Marilyn separated the cookies into twice as many baggies, so we had enough for everyone during last nights meal.  :)  

Cristina, thank you dearly for donating all the cranberry sauce, which went quickly this time around.  :)

Marilyn, Hilde & Mary Ann, Gerry & Kim, Teresa & Leticia, Ray & Kristine, my Gratitude goes to all of you for making a wonderful serving line for all the food !!  :)  You were a great team altogether !!  :)   And thank you for loading everything in & out of the cars & so quickly too.   :)

Marilyn, thank you also for taking pictures & movies again for this blog, some of which are following this.  :)  We don't have too many pictures, since it gets dark quite early these days, but we have a few & some wonderful short videos.  :)

Now onward towards the big Christmas event for the homeless, which will be on December 28th this year.  On Christmas Eve I will be going to the two parks with 17 Deep Dish Pizzas, which I ordered today.  :)

Happy Thanksgiving to each & everyone of you !!  :)   My Heart is full of Gratitude to all of you who are always there for me on this adventure of feeding the homeless & hungry  !!  :)   May your Season be blessed with many happy surprises !!  :)

Thanksgiving Dinner of Turkey with all the Trimmings

We served the Thanksgiving dinner for the homeless today already & we fed 70 people. 

I just finished cleaning the kitchen & I'm totally bushed, so I will write a lot more tomorrow.  At one point we served the 11,000th plate of food tonight.   :)  I can't believe it myself !!  :) 

Good Night everyone & stay warm & dry !!   :)

Tuna Casserole with Artichoke Hearts & Red Peppers, Tossed Salad & Oreo Cookies

Faith, my Cooking Angel, and I made Tuna Casserole for the first time today.  I found a wonderful new recipe that had added many fresh sliced red peppers & artichoke hearts too.  :)  Whenever we make something with tuna for the homeless it is always really appreciated & this time was no exception.  :)  The artichoke hearts were a big success too. 

We fed 69 people tonight.  :)  The lines at both parks are getting longer again each time & it feels good to be feeding more people again.  With the Thanksgiving meal on November 23rd we will cross 11,000 fed.  :o

We were so busy serving that we didn't have time to take pictures this time.   :o  :)

Tonight was J.J.s last time serving, on a regular basis anyway.  J.J. has a new job & has to work on Saturdays now.  It makes me sad to lose you J.J., as I knew I could always count on you to be at the parks.  :)  You knew the routine so well & you always made it easy for Marilyn & me.  :)   Thank you for all the hours you dedicated to this & please come back anytime you get out of work early !!  :)  It will not be the same without you !! 

Thank you Cheryl for all the Oreo cookies you donated !!  They all got eaten up tonight, except for three, which I gave to Marilyn, who loves Oreos & anything sweet for that matter.  :)

Thank you Dave & Linda for helping with some of the groceries for this meal & Dave, for loading up the car for me once more with all the heavy things !!  :)

Marilyn, I'm so grateful for all your caring help & that you are so reliable always.  :) 

Good night now & sleep with the Angels everyone !!  :)