Day 3/8 - 24Dec - Full tilt
The kitchen was running at full tilt today prepping today's meal and some of tomorrow's, with all of the kitchen assistants working head down in all the areas. It took about three hours before I worked opposite a sister team and we were able to say hello, exchange names and have a chat.
The industrial dishwasher broke down yesterday so we have had to switch to manual to wash-up so we second in a pair of general volunteers to join us and then slave over the oven steel trays and pans and then hundreds of plates and cutlery. They fired up their phone Spotify which drowned out the ever present karaoke coming in from the general guest and volunteer area.
A dash down to the local superstore to buy up their entire range of breadcrumbs (sorry shoppers too slow), to coat hundreds of of fantastic fish, vegetarian and vegan cakes being handmade by a team of four, racing to see who could make the most the fastest.
One of the sisters ending up in hospital with unexpected anaphylactic symptoms caused by trace nuts we guess on shome chocolate, she came back in good condition after being looked after by A&E and resumed working with us!
210 covers today, about one third guests and two thirds volunteers in The Gate
The following photos were taken after 11pm tonight of the Afternoon Shift insomniacs ...link
We normally do a shift handover at 11pm, but tonight a huge number, and it is huge, of turkeys were in train of being prepped, cooked and sliced beyond midnight by some of the afternoon shift.
This year we are cooking turkey, for two other centres as well as our own; the warehouse team nearby and a North day-centre.
So the smell of roasing turkey filled the kitchen as the overnight shift team arrived and started work on Christmas breakfast and lunch in another part of our kitchen.
When I unfolded my Brompton and went outside to go home, Chef, James and G were still inside working on ovens of birds, in the darkness and cold air I found our kitchen co-ordinator, tired and emotional, flattening a mountain of empy turkey boxes to free up important kitchen space in the wee hours of Christmas Day - I asked him how his mum was and he said she died of cancer in May.
So it'll be bleary eyes tomorrow afternoon when we reassemble at 3pm, perhaps somewhat muted until the adrenaline kicks in and we re-commence on Turkey Phase 2 for the expectant Gate.
My 2019 Justgiving fundraiser: link
Last year's Gate Diary 2018 - link
Regards, Paul
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NB: These diary entries are written as a thank-you to everyone who has donated to Crisis At Christmas, would still like to, or just curious to know what happens behind the scenes.
I write this diary to let you know how we spend your money and to encourage you to keep supporting Crisis At Christmas as it depends upon your donations or volunteering to fund the huge Christmas operation and subsequent year round services
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/llct2019
The industrial dishwasher broke down yesterday so we have had to switch to manual to wash-up so we second in a pair of general volunteers to join us and then slave over the oven steel trays and pans and then hundreds of plates and cutlery. They fired up their phone Spotify which drowned out the ever present karaoke coming in from the general guest and volunteer area.
One of the sisters ending up in hospital with unexpected anaphylactic symptoms caused by trace nuts we guess on shome chocolate, she came back in good condition after being looked after by A&E and resumed working with us!
210 covers today, about one third guests and two thirds volunteers in The Gate
The following photos were taken after 11pm tonight of the Afternoon Shift insomniacs ...link
We normally do a shift handover at 11pm, but tonight a huge number, and it is huge, of turkeys were in train of being prepped, cooked and sliced beyond midnight by some of the afternoon shift.This year we are cooking turkey, for two other centres as well as our own; the warehouse team nearby and a North day-centre.
So the smell of roasing turkey filled the kitchen as the overnight shift team arrived and started work on Christmas breakfast and lunch in another part of our kitchen.
When I unfolded my Brompton and went outside to go home, Chef, James and G were still inside working on ovens of birds, in the darkness and cold air I found our kitchen co-ordinator, tired and emotional, flattening a mountain of empy turkey boxes to free up important kitchen space in the wee hours of Christmas Day - I asked him how his mum was and he said she died of cancer in May.
So it'll be bleary eyes tomorrow afternoon when we reassemble at 3pm, perhaps somewhat muted until the adrenaline kicks in and we re-commence on Turkey Phase 2 for the expectant Gate.
My 2019 Justgiving fundraiser: link
Last year's Gate Diary 2018 - link
Regards, Paul
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NB: These diary entries are written as a thank-you to everyone who has donated to Crisis At Christmas, would still like to, or just curious to know what happens behind the scenes.
I write this diary to let you know how we spend your money and to encourage you to keep supporting Crisis At Christmas as it depends upon your donations or volunteering to fund the huge Christmas operation and subsequent year round services
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/llct2019
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