Marija wrote:Let's put together an LTH cooking team!

Pick a house and a date by consulting the calendar here, contact RMH to arrange, and post on the Events board. The limit on volunteers at the Lincoln Park RMH is 12, I believe.

EvA, sounds like a great meal. Good to know that the calendar is online. I have been meaning to cook at the Loyola house again. Being able to see availability online will make it much easier!

Cabbagehead and I helped make lunch at the new Ronald McDonald House near Lurie's Children's Hospital in Streeterville today. This is the first time we have been in this new facility, and we were impressed, even inspired, by the quality of the design and the thought, care, and money that went into this building and its program. We always admired the work at RMH in their Lincoln Park building, and now the program is housed in a brand new, much larger, and beautifully designed space. With 86 guest rooms, the new RMH can host about four times as many people as before.

My fellows-LTHers will want to know about the kitchen, which is fantastic. It is open to the eating area, which includes small tables, booths, and a long high-top table. There are two long counters to work at. The counter nearest to the dining area has induction hotplates to hold food so a buffet can be set up. There is a large commercial stove, plus two other home-size ranges, a warming oven, and microwaves. There are several home-size dishwashers and also a full commercial three-part sink and commercial dishwasher, and of course there are commercial fridges/freezers and regular ones. The kitchen seems much better organized with some better utensils, cookware, and small appliances such as Kitchenaid mixers than the old RMH on Deming.

I was not in charge this time, but we had a great leader of our 17 or so people, including 5 kids. As in the past, each group of volunteers plans the menu and purchases the food. Our menu was hearty lentil soup, a cheese board with bread and crackers, a large fruit salad, strawberry lemonade, and freshly baked cookies. The cookies were from ready-made dough, but there isn't much time and we were preparing lunch for 50+ people. RMH apparently does not want you to bring in homemade cookie dough, although you may make it from scratch in their kitchen. Lunch was a success, I think, although I bought too much fruit, I think. But there are worse things to leave than leftover fruit salad.

If there is interest in LTHers cooking at the new RMH, here is some info. They can accommodate up to 20 volunteers at a time for their "Meals from the Heart" cooking program, which provides lunch and dinner every day. The menu must be approved by RMH. For information and a link to their calendar, see http://rmhccni.org/volunteer-lurie/#. It looks as if there are few or no free slots until early July.