November 9, 2012
Turkey with mashed potatoes, corn, and pumpkin pie
November Reflection
Communication with Abbey: Everyone was at the meeting this month except for Molly, who was sick that day. Abbey said they had decided to spend a little more money this month since it would be around Thanksgiving time and getting into the holiday season. Abbey said she had talked to Roni and Roni said she would definitely be able to make the meal this time. Abbey took on the responsibility of shopping again; I told her to try and get someone else to go with her either this month or next time so it wasn’t the same girls going each time. The reason I said to have other girls come with her is because I know Rachel, Megan and Roni can’t drive yet, so it might be difficult for them to do it on their own—but I still want them to have the experience.
Communication with Mrs. Keith and Joyce: I let Mrs. Keith know that all the girls had checked and their service hours for the first quarter were correct so far. I also asked if she had any advice for how to easily transition this project into next year, after three of the girls had graduated. I am thinking about the most effective way to do this and plan to talk to Abbey about it in the next couple months, and get her opinion as well. I am definitely going to have the girls help me make a cookbook for the residents of Grace Place and am going to have them help me design it and ask if there is anything special they want to include in it. Joyce is still looking into putting recipes onto the Grace Place website, and I am hoping for the best.
Meal: I had mentioned to the girls just to keep in mind that it wasn’t absolutely necessary to make a turkey, since I’m sure Grace Place would be getting a lot of similar meals this month but they talked about it and all really wanted to make a traditional Thanksgiving meal for the residents from them. I made a mistake in not giving the girls advice about buying a turkey—they got a pretty large one and I was worried about it getting cooked on time. At least it wasn’t frozen—if it had been, we would have had a real problem and probably would have had to go shopping again and make a different meal. Shortly after cooking, we realized that we didn’t have a dessert, so Molly stepped up and said she would go out and buy some. It seemed like it was taking longer than it should (Kroger is only 5 minutes away from my house); when she finally came back, we found out she had stopped and picked up some McDonald’s flurries for us as a snack which was really nice. The turkey took a little longer than we thought it would, and at the end it was just Molly, Mackenzie and I (Megan and Rachel’s ride had come at 5:45 and Roni and Abbey had to leave for work). We were only a few minutes late and I had called Grace Place to let them know we were running a little behind so it was no big deal. The residents were very impressed with the meal when we finally dropped it off!
Reflection: One thing I really appreciate about the girls is that after we drop off the meal, they always come back to my house to finish cleaning up, even if there are only one or two dishes left in the sink. I know my parents really appreciate the thoughtfulness too, and we are able to cook our dinner easily because there isn’t a big mess left over. The girls found out that it took a lot longer and there was a lot more work involved in making a turkey than they had anticipated. I thought it was a really good lesson for them—and maybe now they’ll appreciate their own Thanksgiving meals more, knowing how much work goes into it!
Turkey with mashed potatoes, corn, and pumpkin pie
November Reflection
Communication with Abbey: Everyone was at the meeting this month except for Molly, who was sick that day. Abbey said they had decided to spend a little more money this month since it would be around Thanksgiving time and getting into the holiday season. Abbey said she had talked to Roni and Roni said she would definitely be able to make the meal this time. Abbey took on the responsibility of shopping again; I told her to try and get someone else to go with her either this month or next time so it wasn’t the same girls going each time. The reason I said to have other girls come with her is because I know Rachel, Megan and Roni can’t drive yet, so it might be difficult for them to do it on their own—but I still want them to have the experience.
Communication with Mrs. Keith and Joyce: I let Mrs. Keith know that all the girls had checked and their service hours for the first quarter were correct so far. I also asked if she had any advice for how to easily transition this project into next year, after three of the girls had graduated. I am thinking about the most effective way to do this and plan to talk to Abbey about it in the next couple months, and get her opinion as well. I am definitely going to have the girls help me make a cookbook for the residents of Grace Place and am going to have them help me design it and ask if there is anything special they want to include in it. Joyce is still looking into putting recipes onto the Grace Place website, and I am hoping for the best.
Meal: I had mentioned to the girls just to keep in mind that it wasn’t absolutely necessary to make a turkey, since I’m sure Grace Place would be getting a lot of similar meals this month but they talked about it and all really wanted to make a traditional Thanksgiving meal for the residents from them. I made a mistake in not giving the girls advice about buying a turkey—they got a pretty large one and I was worried about it getting cooked on time. At least it wasn’t frozen—if it had been, we would have had a real problem and probably would have had to go shopping again and make a different meal. Shortly after cooking, we realized that we didn’t have a dessert, so Molly stepped up and said she would go out and buy some. It seemed like it was taking longer than it should (Kroger is only 5 minutes away from my house); when she finally came back, we found out she had stopped and picked up some McDonald’s flurries for us as a snack which was really nice. The turkey took a little longer than we thought it would, and at the end it was just Molly, Mackenzie and I (Megan and Rachel’s ride had come at 5:45 and Roni and Abbey had to leave for work). We were only a few minutes late and I had called Grace Place to let them know we were running a little behind so it was no big deal. The residents were very impressed with the meal when we finally dropped it off!
Reflection: One thing I really appreciate about the girls is that after we drop off the meal, they always come back to my house to finish cleaning up, even if there are only one or two dishes left in the sink. I know my parents really appreciate the thoughtfulness too, and we are able to cook our dinner easily because there isn’t a big mess left over. The girls found out that it took a lot longer and there was a lot more work involved in making a turkey than they had anticipated. I thought it was a really good lesson for them—and maybe now they’ll appreciate their own Thanksgiving meals more, knowing how much work goes into it!