She's Cookin' | from the heart » Volunteering

Clam Chowder from the Soup Kitchen

Priscilla — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 13:43:06 +0000

One drizzly afternoon in December I joined several bloggers from OC Family and the Orange County Register at the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen in Costa Mesa. We were there to volunteer and learn about how this neighborhood soup kitchen has supported their community and share the inspiration of one woman, Merle Hatleberg, who, in 1986 made her first “pot of soup” to feed about 30 people and has since grown to serve over 400 folks a daily hot, nourishing meal. Then as now, many of these hungry people were families with school aged children.

Even in these hard times, December is a huge month for giving and we were helping to spread the word about the “$50K in 50 Days” campaign created by Corey Donaldson to provide backpacks filled with basic essentials, toys for a 1,000 children, and a holiday dinner with all the trimmings for 1,200 people.

Since then the soup kitchen has undergone a remodel with the help of donated time of local contractors and thousands of dollars from generous donors. Last Sunday, I stopped by to chat and pick up their new book of recipes which was at print in December. For centuries soups have fed the souls and bodies of those that are homeless and hungry and the SCSK contains recipes from their community of supporters. Plus, once I heard that the soup kitchen’s own Chef Lorrie’s New England Clam Chowder won first place in the Annual San Clemente Seafest 2010 Chowder Cookoff, I knew it would be the perfect recipe to share.

My ulterior motive also being to urge you to find a soup kitchen in your area to support. And if you live in Orange County, to spare the cost of a few lattes to help feed the hungry at Someone Cares Soup Kitchen or the Rescue Mission in Santa Ana. Need continues after the holidays and throughout the year.

New England Clam Chowder

Adapted from Chef Lorrie Sanchez’s recipe from SCSK Favorite Recipes the 2010 Winner San Clemente Seafest Chowder Cookoff

5 oz. canned clams with juice
2 ½ cups water
1 cup half and half*
2 cups peeled white potatoes, cut into ½ inch cubes
½ cup carrots, finely diced
½ cup onions, finely diced
½ cup celery, finely diced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 oz. bacon, cut into strips*
1 tsp. Herbs de Provence*
1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley
sea salt to taste

Cook bacon strips over med-high heat, until browned and crisp. Drain all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon drippings. Add butter and sauté onion for about 2 minutes. Add the garlic, stir and cook for another minute. Add the celery and carrots and sauté for 5 minutes. Add water and herbs and simmer for 30 minutes. Add half and half and simmer for ten more minutes. Serves 4.

*I used half and half instead of heavy cream out of preference for a lighter, brothy soup and three strips of applewood smoked bacon. Chopping the dried herbs de provence with the fresh parsley enlivens the flavors.

Serves 4 | Enjoy

Someone Cares Soup Kitchen and Tutoring Program Impact:
Currently serving 400 guests per day, 7 days per week:
-25 % are families with school aged children
-30% are the homeless
-20% are the working poor or unemployed
-10% are the mentally or physically challenged
-15% are senior citizens
Meals are served Monday through Friday from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. and a pancake breakfast is served every Saturday and Sunday mornings.

The after school tutoring program began in October, 2001 and currently offers tutoring to 45 children in grades K-3. With a full-time staff of three school teachers, each student receives four hours of individual instruction. Open Monday – Thursday from 2:30 to 6:00 p.m.

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Post tags: clam chowder recipe, New England Clam Chowder, recipe, Someone Cares Soup Kitchen

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Show Someone You Care

Priscilla — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 18:37:00 +0000

Today, I’m one of several Orange County bloggers that will be volunteering at the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen in Costa Mesa, CA to serve a hot meal to the the hundreds of men, women, and children that come between 1:00 and 4:00 p.m., Monday – Friday, for what is their only meal of the day. Organized by Marcy Massura, co-founder of BlogCrush,the blogger meetup is a way to give back during this season of giving and to honor the efforts of Corey Donaldson and the $50K in 50 Days campaign.

Currently, Someone Cares Soup Kitchen serves more than 450 guests per day, seven days per week. Meals are provided Monday through Friday from 1-4 p.m., and a pancake breakfast is served every Saturday and Sunday morning. Of those served, approximately 25 percent are families with school-aged children, 30 percent are homeless, 20 percent are working poor or unemployed, 15 percent are senior citizens and 10 percent are mentally or physically challenged.

The mission of Someone Cares Soup Kitchen is simple: to feed a daily nutritional meal to the homeless, the unemployed, the working poor, the mentally challenged, the physically challenged, the senior citizens and most important of all — the children. Driven by the belief that no one should go to bed hungry, on the street or otherwise, the soup kitchen provides a nutritious and tasteful meal to the less fortunate in the Orange County community; a meal that people would be proud to serve their family at home; a well-balanced meal made fresh daily consisting of vegetable soup, lettuce and fruit salads, hearty and filling side dishes, breads and muffins, dessert, milk and water. Located in Costa Mesa, Calif., the Soup Kitchen provides this meal to guests in a friendly, non-threatening atmosphere. For more information, visit www.someonecareskitchen.org

ABOUT $50K IN 50 DAYS:

In 2009, Corey Donaldson and his taskforce successfully spearheaded a campaign to raise $40,000 in 40 days for Someone Cares Soup Kitchen’s holiday programs. The campaign allowed Someone Cares Soup Kitchen to fill 450 backpacks with more than 14,000 items, host a holiday dinner for 1,200 and give away more than 3,000 new, unwrapped toys as well as support the soup kitchen’s ongoing programs, including its tutoring center for at-risk kids. This year, the team aims to raise $50,000 in 50 days.

CALL TO ACTION: To play your part in helping the less fortunate and show someone that you care, visit Someone Care’s Soup Kitchen $50K in 50 Days .

Also, tonight is the Annual Someone Cares Soup Kitchen Happy Hour Holiday Fundraiser at Chateaux Ultra Lounge. Along with an extensive assortment of complimentary appetizers, DJ Johnny Vegas will be spinning the tunes, you can bid on 50+ Silent Auction items, and be in on some big Secret Surprises! More than 300 great people with BIG Hearts will be in attendance and you should be one of them!

Wednesday, December 15 · 6:00pm – 10:00pm

Chateaux Ultra Lounge

18912 Macarthur blvd

Irvine, CA (across from JWA Airport)

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Post tags: $50K in 50 Days Campaign, Someone Cares Soup Kitchen

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EMERGENCY, WHAT EMERGENCY?

Priscilla — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 06:18:00 +0000

Have you ever talked to your kids about what to do if your house is on fire?

Do you have a Family Disaster Plan? Even a simple plan such as where family members meet if you have to run from the house? The back yard, the front yard?

Do you have an emergency supply kit in your yard or garage? You know the one that should have 3 days worth of food, 8 gallons of water per person, a first-aid kit, a radio, etc.

On Sunday the Newport Beach Fire and Police Departments hosted a Public Safety Day event that was both fun and informative. It offered an opportunity to introduce awareness of emergency situations to children in a non-threatening atmosphere and to remind parents of the importance of having CPR training and being prepared for emergencies. An estimated 1,000 adults and children attended. Check out my slideshow and if you haven’t talked to your kids and established a family plan, please do this. It’s not enough for them to practice at school. Here is a list of items that should be included in an emergency preparedness kit or you can purchase emergency kits through the Red Cross.

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Post tags: community events, Newport Beach, Public Safety Day, Red Cross, volunteer

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TYPHOON ONDOY: Victims and Heroes, How can you Help

Priscilla — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 00:23:00 +0000

Through Blog Crush, an organization of Orange County bloggers, I’ve been getting to know so many talented, smart, funny, and enterprising women (men too). One of them is Marcie Taylor, a mother of two sons, who has lived in Huntington Beach for only two years. She came to Orange County via New Jersey and the Philippines. Her entire family still resides in the Philippines and she has been working tirelessly to gather donated goods and raise money for the victims of typhoon Ondoy which hit on September 26th. As we know from Katrina, it takes a long time for a city/country to recover from such devastation and often the urgency and aid is lost once network news stations drop coverage to go to the next big story. Please visit her site and watch the video and help in some way if you can. http://suburbanmamas.wordpress.com/

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Post tags: Ondoy, Philippines, typoon, volunteer

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CRUISIN’ FOR A CURE

Priscilla — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 00:42:00 +0000

This morning we headed out to the Orange County Fairgrounds for the Cruisin For A Cure Car Show benefiting prostate cancer. This is a one day event to raise awareness of prostate cancer and encourage early detection. Free PSA tests are available and ALL the money raised goes to prostate cancer research. It is the #2 killer of men, surpassed only by heart disease. My husband is a prostate cancer survivor on top of heart disease which resulted in his undergoing a quadruple bypass in 2001 and, two years later, receiving an implanted cardiac defibrillator.

Besides about 3,000 cool cars from every era, there is food, live entertainment, and great people watching.
Winner: Best Hair (left) Winner: Survivor (right)

BTW, Blue is the color of prostate cancer; I found out this week when Marcy at The Glamourous Life Association was raging about everything pink, which, I think we all know, is the color of breast cancer. Makes sense… continue the ingrained societal stereotypes.

Back to the car show… A unique thing about this show is that owners actually drive their cars on a route through the show so you get the benefit of some rumbling and revving sound effects and the smell of high octane exhaust!

In the air-conditioned buildings were the primo show cars. Here are a few:

My favorite: the Cadillac Brougham. Only 400 were built and the Brougham was generally owned by movie stars, wealthy industrialists, and a “gangster or two” because it sold for a whopping $23,000 in comparison to a Rolls Royce Saloon priced at $9,000. Look closely at the glove compartment which opens up to reveal a tray with stainless steel shot glasses, a gold cigarette case, a woman’s compact, and a tissue dispenser – all standard equipment in the 1957 Cadillac Brougham.

Also on display were custom movie cars, among them: the infamous DeLorean from the movie Back to the Future, the Batmobile from the 1960s Batman TV show and KITT, the talking black Pontiac TransAm from the 1980s hit show Knight Rider; both designed by George Barris, the renowned King of the Kustomizers.

Which brings me to the highlight of the day…drumroll… me with George Barris (Photo 1), George Barris signing his book for me with an inscription telling my husband to buy me a car (Photo 2) , and George Barris telling me the story of when Michael Jackson brought his car to him saying his car was hurt, then proceeded to run across the street to the CVS to buy band-aids which he put on the car’s boo-boos – true story – see page 87 of his book, Barris CARS of the STARS, there’s a picture of the car with band-aids all over it. (Clicking on the book title will take you to my Amazon store.) George has customized cars for a list of Hollywood stars from the ’60′s, 70′s, and beyond – Elvis, Ann-Margret, Bo-Derek, James Caan, Farrah Fawcett, Dean Martin, Bob Hope, John Travolta, Clint Eastwood.

I’ve wanted a classic car for a long time, in particular, a 1957 Chevy Bel Air, preferably convertible – but we should have bought one of those 15-20 years ago – even the hardtops are upwards of $60K so a convertible would mean we would have to tell our daughter we spent her college fund. Now, I’m telling my husband that a later model, say the early 60s is fine, AND it doesn’t have to be a Chevy – that way we have a lot more options! Big of me, right?

Here’s one we thought was really classy – its a 1962 Oldsmobile Starfire. Who needs a Mercedes?

I L-O-V-E your comments – click below!

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Post tags: cancer survivor, classic cars, Cruisin for a Cure, George Barris, muscle cars, prostate cancer

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NEW – TOPMOM VISITS THE PACIFIC ISLANDER FESTIVAL

Priscilla — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 23:31:00 +0000

PACIFIC ISLANDER FESTIVAL

Priscilla — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:18:00 +0000

My first job as a Red Cross Community Ambassador is to assist at the booth at the Pacific Islander’s Festival in Huntington Beach this Sunday (September 20). This is the second year for the festival and if you love the music, food, and other cultural elements of Hawaii, Tahiti, Tonga, Fiji, Guam, etc. then you should check this out. 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Should be lots of fun and cheaper than that Hawaiian vacation you’ve been dreaming of!. Close your eyes, feel the tropical breeze, let the sounds and smells of the Pacific take you away..http://bit.ly/5MWq

Return to TopMom Home

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Shopping Spree

Priscilla — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 04:00:00 +0000

Yesterday my daughter and I arose at the crack of dawn – I’m not exaggerating – it was 5:30 a.m., to volunteer for the Salvation Army/Target Corp. $100 shopping spree at one of the designated Target locations. We responded to a call for additional volunteers from my friend’s son’s girlfriend who is a college intern with the Salvation Army and needed more volunteers to assist children at the Commerce location. As it turns out, not only did we arrive in Commerce in record time – 7:00 a.m.when we had given ourselves an hour (the rule is to get on the freeway by 6:30 a.m. to avoid the worst of rush hour traffic and, barring an accident or Sig Alert, it is to your benefit), but the bus transporting the children was late picking up and didn’t arrive until 9:00, vs. 8:30. During that hour and a half, we had plenty of time to chat, fill out the requisite paperwork, pair up the volunteers, and go over the rules about not touching, standing outside the dressing room, going to the bathroom in pairs, having someone watch you while you were watching them and all those necessary precautions that are, sadly, a part of our modern day society of caution and fear and avoidance of lawsuits.

Once the children arrived and we were assigned to shoppers; four six-year old boys, Lisa and I introduced ourselves and set out helping Bryce, Joshua, Sky, and Yoquin spend their $100 wisely. Our job was to help them find the clothes and shoes in their size, steer them to items that were on sale or a better buy, and ensure that they had the necessary school supplies. First stop: shoes. Three of them needed shoes, one voiced a preference for Vans but once we scanned the aisles and determined there were no Vans, lightening quick they were over that and were throwing a pair in the cart. In an flash, we referred to their sizing sheet, found the correct size of the shoe style that they had fixated on, switched the box for one of the right size, and replaced the wrong size on the shelf before they jumped on the cart careening down the aisle towards unsuspecting shoppers.

Just around the corner were the boys clothes, our next stop, to fulfill Joshua’s priority request: a pair of skinny jeans. His sheet stated a size 10 for pants, perhaps his parents wanted a pair for him to grow into, because he could almost fit into one of the legs of the size 10 with 4 inches of length to spare. Knowing exactly how skinny jeans are supposed to look: tight around the leg and its OK for them to skim the cuff of your sneakers – not the top of the shoe, the size 6 fit the requirements (the size 8 was also too big). Hopefully his parents won’t be disappointed when Joshua’s skinny jeans become capris in about a semester. It was an article of clothing that could be worn to school and with his big eyes and beaming smile, who could deny him?

Next stop, school supplies in the far corner of the store for backpacks, paper, pencils, crayons, glue, etc. Initially this was a free for all – it was as if the boys were told that they had 5 minutes to fill their cart with all the school supplies they could grab. Fortunately, Yoquin was a careful shopper blessed with an organized mother who sent him on his shopping spree with a complete list of necessary school supplies. Yoquin and Lisa calmly determined the best values in crayons, i.e. the Rose Art 24 pack for just a few cents more than the 12 pack of Crayolas, while I took the other three to decide on a backpack. Then we gathered near the carts and went through the checklist; Yoquin would show the other boys where the items were, they would run and grab them while I restocked all the miscellaneous items that had been thrown in the cart.

In the end, it was a successful shopping spree – everyone was happy and no one went over their $100. The two clothes hounds, Bryce and Joshua, came within $9 and Sky and Yoquin, whose only clothes purchases were socks and a tee shirt, went home with enough to buy supplies for another brother or sister. And we went home with a few laughs and the warm, fuzzy feeling you get from helping others.

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Post tags: $100 shopping spree, Salvation Army, Target, volunteer

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