The 2009 Resolution Edition
Yesterday I pulled out all our 2008 files and put them in our storage filing cabinet, leaving the working filing cabinet very empty (Jill pulled out one of the drawers this morning and almost fell out of her chair because the drawer rolled out with no resistance). It occurred to me that the changing of the calendar year hasn't meant much to me for most of my life, since I used to work by the academic year for so long, but now I really do organize my files, and my thoughts, around the calendar year. And that means it's time to reflect on the past year and make plans for the next.
I like New Year's resolutions. They're basically to-do lists with a little extra creativity, and I work from to-do lists all the time. So here are my resolutions for Generous Servings for 2009 (these are for the parts of the business that I have the most direct input into; Jill can make her own resolutions for the cafe and associated parts of the business):
1) Be more generous! I think this might be a resolution every year, and the question will be how to implement it each year. We are starting 2009 with a bang, with our Cook for a Cause day on January 18. We've had a great response from people who are willing to volunteer some of their time that day to help cook the food that we're going to donate to our partner food kitchen. We are hoping this will become an annual tradition, so we'll always have a way to celebrate our anniversary and each new year with generosity.
In the process of planning for Cook for a Cause, I've been trying to get grocery stores to donate some meat for us to cook, and I've run into some obstacles that I am feeling the urge to tackle. The meat department guys at Sunflower and King Soopers have told me that they regularly throw away lots of meat that's past its expiration date (the guy at King Soopers told me he threw out 100 pounds of ground beef the day before I talked to him), and they aren't allowed to give it to anyone after it's expired. I proposed that they could simply call me when they have a bunch of meat that's ALMOST expired, and I would come and stand outside the store until 30 seconds before the official expiration time, and they could donate it to me at that point. They said no. I got mad. I understand the food-safety issues here, and I'm not going to start an argument about how there can't be one second when meat suddenly becomes unsafe to eat. I'm not going to wait by the dumpster and pull the meat out after they toss it; I'm willing to work within the system to handle the meat in an unassailably safe way and avoid all the waste. I feel like this idea could be a really great way to make the world a better place. I have the facilities to take this almost-expired meat, keep it safe (in our freezers) until we can cook it, and then donate the cooked (and therefore safe) food to people who really need it. All I need is a partner in the meat business, so my mission is going to be to find that person. If you know somebody who could help, please put me in touch with him or her.
2) Everyone gets a day off. When Jill and I started Generous Servings, we figured that we could be totally dedicated to the business for our first year, and then it would be time to work out a schedule that would be sustainable in the long run. Now is that time. We're going to take one day off per week. That way we have some time to work on our personal resolutions!
3) Generous Servings is getting serious about composting. We've been trying to compost since we opened, but we've run into a lot of problems--first Happy Cakes was going to compost our stuff, and then we were going to pay our trash company to do it, but neither of those ever happened. So now we've lined up a great group of home composters who can take our compostables home to their gardens. We've started collecting our compostables on a trial basis for the past few weeks, and it makes a huge difference in how much trash we have to throw out, so we are really excited to make this a part of our routine in 2009.
4) I am learning to make cheese! What better use for my years of training as a microbiologist? I don't know why I didn't think of this before, but now that I've got the idea, I am already dreaming of my own personal cheese factory. I've started making butter, too, so soon we may be using homemade butter and cheese in all our food at Generous Servings. Whoa, that would be cool.
5) I think the Highland neighborhood needs a farmers market. I heard that the merchants' association had considered this idea a few years ago, and I'm going to see if I can revive it. There isn't a farmers' market nearby (the one they used to have at the old Elitch Theatre didn't happen this summer--unless I just missed it?--so I'm going to do some investigating to find out why). If we had one, I could sell cheese there! And we could have farmers' market cooking classes, which would be awesome. If you would support a farmer's market in the neighborhood, let me know!
Since pictures of gingerbread houses are way more interesting than resolutions, here's a totally irrelevant picture to close this post. Have a great start to 2009.
I like New Year's resolutions. They're basically to-do lists with a little extra creativity, and I work from to-do lists all the time. So here are my resolutions for Generous Servings for 2009 (these are for the parts of the business that I have the most direct input into; Jill can make her own resolutions for the cafe and associated parts of the business):
1) Be more generous! I think this might be a resolution every year, and the question will be how to implement it each year. We are starting 2009 with a bang, with our Cook for a Cause day on January 18. We've had a great response from people who are willing to volunteer some of their time that day to help cook the food that we're going to donate to our partner food kitchen. We are hoping this will become an annual tradition, so we'll always have a way to celebrate our anniversary and each new year with generosity.
In the process of planning for Cook for a Cause, I've been trying to get grocery stores to donate some meat for us to cook, and I've run into some obstacles that I am feeling the urge to tackle. The meat department guys at Sunflower and King Soopers have told me that they regularly throw away lots of meat that's past its expiration date (the guy at King Soopers told me he threw out 100 pounds of ground beef the day before I talked to him), and they aren't allowed to give it to anyone after it's expired. I proposed that they could simply call me when they have a bunch of meat that's ALMOST expired, and I would come and stand outside the store until 30 seconds before the official expiration time, and they could donate it to me at that point. They said no. I got mad. I understand the food-safety issues here, and I'm not going to start an argument about how there can't be one second when meat suddenly becomes unsafe to eat. I'm not going to wait by the dumpster and pull the meat out after they toss it; I'm willing to work within the system to handle the meat in an unassailably safe way and avoid all the waste. I feel like this idea could be a really great way to make the world a better place. I have the facilities to take this almost-expired meat, keep it safe (in our freezers) until we can cook it, and then donate the cooked (and therefore safe) food to people who really need it. All I need is a partner in the meat business, so my mission is going to be to find that person. If you know somebody who could help, please put me in touch with him or her.
2) Everyone gets a day off. When Jill and I started Generous Servings, we figured that we could be totally dedicated to the business for our first year, and then it would be time to work out a schedule that would be sustainable in the long run. Now is that time. We're going to take one day off per week. That way we have some time to work on our personal resolutions!
3) Generous Servings is getting serious about composting. We've been trying to compost since we opened, but we've run into a lot of problems--first Happy Cakes was going to compost our stuff, and then we were going to pay our trash company to do it, but neither of those ever happened. So now we've lined up a great group of home composters who can take our compostables home to their gardens. We've started collecting our compostables on a trial basis for the past few weeks, and it makes a huge difference in how much trash we have to throw out, so we are really excited to make this a part of our routine in 2009.
4) I am learning to make cheese! What better use for my years of training as a microbiologist? I don't know why I didn't think of this before, but now that I've got the idea, I am already dreaming of my own personal cheese factory. I've started making butter, too, so soon we may be using homemade butter and cheese in all our food at Generous Servings. Whoa, that would be cool.
5) I think the Highland neighborhood needs a farmers market. I heard that the merchants' association had considered this idea a few years ago, and I'm going to see if I can revive it. There isn't a farmers' market nearby (the one they used to have at the old Elitch Theatre didn't happen this summer--unless I just missed it?--so I'm going to do some investigating to find out why). If we had one, I could sell cheese there! And we could have farmers' market cooking classes, which would be awesome. If you would support a farmer's market in the neighborhood, let me know!
Since pictures of gingerbread houses are way more interesting than resolutions, here's a totally irrelevant picture to close this post. Have a great start to 2009.
posted by The Cooking Doctor at
12:30 AM
1 Comments:
I would LOVE to help with a farmers market. I don't know anything about it, but the neighborhood does need one, and I'd be up for spending time researching and getting it going!
You did my bachelorette dinner in November, and I had such a good time! Not that I've gotten to actually sending thank you cards yet, but I'm getting closer. Thanks so much -- Liz
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