Apple a Day Cafe

 

Original art work by UDFB staff

Apple a Day cafe is the free meal program provided by the University District Food Bank in Seattle near the University of Washington. Two mornings a week I volunteer helping to prepare, and sometimes serve, freshly made meals to anyone who wants one.

Our cozy kitchen

A typical day finds five volunteers at work in a small, galley-style kitchen. I have learned a lot through my volunteer work here. Our cafe manager is well-educated in the culinary arts and has years of experience that allows her to create daily menus and help us prepare in just two hours. 

With the manager's guidance, we pay close attention to food allergies including not only the usual wheat and dairy, but also soy, tree nuts, and fish. The menu is posted on a large white board daily and each menu item notes allergens specific to that dish.

While preparing food, we also take great care to use separate cutting boards and utensils for vegetarian meals and to the noted food allergies. For instance, a cutting board used to slice bread cannot then be used to prepare items that are to be gluten-free. 

Veggies ready for today's salad

I love seeing how a menu comes together depending on what donations we’ve received that week or just that morning. Every meal comes with a freshly made salad, usually made by me on the days I volunteer. Preparing these salads has introduced me to new ways of using vegetables. My usual salad dressing at home is a balsamic vinaigrette, but at the cafe I’ve watched our manager prepare fresh dressings from scratch, such as a recent cherry-berry vinaigrette.

Some days I get to prepare large pans of fresh fruit crisps. This day's started with the blueberries pictured and included fresh apples. While we have the small oven as seen in this photo (far back), for soups and rice we use several pressure cookers like the one next to the oven and in the foreground.

 

 Eleven-thirty comes and we are ready to serve meals out to those standing in our cafe line. Every meal comes with a hot food item, freshly prepared salad, soup, and a dessert.

I'm grateful for the food we can provide to our hungry neighbors and enjoy working along side other highly dedicated volunteers. My latest book, Generous Hearts, is informed greatly by my experience here and all proceeds will go to the food bank.