Where my talents are noticed

Yesterday was a big day for our local community club. We planned a Harvest Supper from 4pm to 7pm, and all the food was brought beforehand by club members and volunteers in a sort of pot-luck fashion. this way, one or two members were not stuck cooking a turkey, for instance.

I put myself down on the list to make my Chinese food spread. At first, I was not sure how well it was received. But hey, it was food for the supper.

I started cooking yesterday shortly after lunch. I made fried rice, sweet and sour chicken balls (with the sauce separate) and won ton soup, which I finished off down at the clubhouse so it wouldn’t be soggy or sloshy to move. Ron helped be bring everything down about 20 minutes beforehand.

Some people were already there, waiting to eat! The tables were already set up – I have no idea when that was done, as nobody let me know. The food tables were already full of food, and piles of more food was in the kitchen.

I’m still in that place where I’m floating around trying to sort my place in the scheme of things around here. some of them I haven’t worked with enough to find a comfortable spot. And I really need to be told what you need me to do. Some of it I can guess, but I can’t read minds very well.

Eventually, Sarah and I started to dive right in as more people showed up and the workload increased. I gravitated towards standing behind the serving tables, helping seniors lift lids off crock pots while trying to hold their plates and utensils. I even directed people to certain foods, and explained what was in each pot. I spent quite a bit of time by the tables, and the ladies who were more comfortable running back and forth to the kitchen,or staying in the kitchen washing dishes, prepping the next batch of food to come out, sorted themselves out that way.

At one point out of the corner of my eye, I noticed two other club member standing in the kitchen doorway, look in my direction and talking.

“What?” I hollered.

“Nothing! We’re talking about you, not to you!” they joked back.

“You gonna tell me or am I gonna hear about it next week at the post office?” I can hand it back just as good.

The crowd died down and I made my way over to the lady who had been talking about me. She immediately said, “We’ve found your calling!” Oh? What’s that?

So now I get to be “out front” and deal with the crowd, since I’m apparently a natural. And then they ran me out of the kitchen.

It must have been good, because we raised one pile of money. I brought home one tray of leftover sweets, and a bunch of my dirty dishes. The chicken balls were a big hit with the kids especially (they look like chicken nuggets), and everyone loved my soup.