Week 35: Italian Edition

Lunch Bunch decided that after the week of cold weather and rain we needed a warm, filling meal that is packed with goodness.





We decided to make a bow tie pasta with a marinara sauce that was jazzed up by adding lots of veggies and spices.





This week there was a lot of work to do. Right after the grocery shopping we got right to work on the chopping, boiling and saucing.



Our pots were a bit small for all of the pasta so we boiled in batches. We also had zucchini, onions, mushrooms and crushed tomatoes simmering in two pans.





We were lucky enough to have to amazing volunteers this week! Ara was there in the kitchen chopping with us. We cut up a large bag of beef meatballs to put into the sauce.





The meat balls added great flavor and protein to this hot lunch!



A bit later Eyal showed up to help with the packing, delivery and take some blog photos for us.



Once we had the sauce components mixed it was time to start filling the plastic cylinders. Ana and I took turns saucing the pasta and filling the cups.


And we were all super pleased about how the food turned out! If we could incorporate smells everyone reading this would be salivating!





Now it was to get packing! We had everything hot and ready to eat, now we needed to get it to the people!

The lunch included a soft dinner roll, fruit and pasta.



Delivering the food was a bit of a roller coaster this week.





A lot of our regular Lunch Bunchers were not in their usual area. This always makes Ana and I a bit concerned. We love seeing them every week and making sure they are well enough.



We met a wheelchair bound woman that was disheveled and disoriented. She need us to call a bus for her to take her to Santa Barbara. We did try to call, but we were unable to contact anyone or get proper info for her. We were near the Union Station and decided to find out their schedule so that she can catch a train. We wrote down all the info as the woman had asked and gave it to her with the lunch. She told us that she had been wandering for three days. When we left we weren't sure if there was more we could do.





Next we saw a very suspicious woman with six large suitcases that were all different styles and designs. She was taking one bag at a time across the street. We thought that was fishy, because she left two bags unattended on the side of the street. We then saw her removing things from the suitcases and putting this up her dress. Once we drove by and saw the bags closely we noticed the zippers were busted. We hadn't seen any security outside so we called the station. They let us know they wouldn't do anything and that we would have to call the police. We did.

Everyone who accepted the food started to eat rather quickly, we took this as a very good sign!



Our Italian day was a success, it took a lot more work than normal, but well worth it. Having the ability to serve a hot meal to people in there cold days and freezing nights is a great feeling.



Our next attempt should be much more smooth, we look forward to expanding our Lunch Bunch menu and to serving warm meals made from lots of love!