Naperville Eats: PADS coordinator used to cooking for large groups
By Judy Buchenot Buchenot@comcast.net November 16, 2011 5:22PM
Linda Eickhoff stirs a pot of vegetables in the kitchen at Aurora’s Hesed House PADS homeless shelter. | Judy Buchenot~For The Sun
Mustard Greens
1 pound smoked meat (ham bone or ham hocks)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 cup chopped celery
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 pounds frozen, chopped mustard greens
8-ounce can crushed pineapple
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon hot sauce
In a large pot, combine meat, onion, garlic and celery with enough water to cover. Add salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Boil until meat is tender. This can be done in a crock pot overnight. Cool. Remove bones and tough skin. Bring back to boil. Add greens. When greens have thawed, add undrained pineapple, sugar and hot sauce. Simmer covered for 60 to 90 minutes. Add water if needed. Add extra hot sauce to taste.
Banana Pudding
6-ounce box vanilla instant pudding
12-ounce box vanilla wafers
14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
12-ounce whipped cream
8 to 10 ripe bananas
In a large bowl, mix the instant pudding according to package directions. Add 1/4 of the whipped cream and the condensed milk. Mix well. Spread a thin layer in the bottom of a four-quart casserole or 9-by-12-inch glass pan. Cover with a layer of vanilla wafers. Add half the sliced bananas. Cover with half of the remaining pudding mixture. Repeat the vanilla, banana and pudding layer. Top with reserved whipped cream. Refrigerate. Pudding can be made two days in advance. Flavor improves with refrigeration.
Updated: January 9, 2012 1:12PM
As Thanksgiving draws near, many home cooks are frantically trying to figure out the details for feeding the dozen or more relatives joining them for the annual holiday meal. But planning a meal for more than a hundred guests is something Naperville resident Linda Eickhoff does regularly.
As the Aurora PADS shelter coordinator at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church in Aurora, Eickhoff has been serving large groups each month for more than a decade. With a group of volunteers, she manages to feed more than 200 guests who come to the homeless shelter on the first Tuesday of the month. She has developed a rotating menu of different dishes each month and posts a sign-up sheet for donations at the church.
“We try to plan a balanced meal,” Eickhoff says. “The people who come really love meat, and they love good vegetables — ones that are fresh like broccoli, okra, zucchini and squash. And they also love cottage cheese. We serve it with tomatoes in summer and peaches in the winter.”
Each month, Eickhoff fills in the gaps for items that didn’t get donated and personally makes one extra special dish. For November’s baked chicken dinner, she made a steaming pot of mustard greens.
“They love the greens. I have come up with my own recipe that includes crushed pineapple for sweetness” she says.
Eickhoff has a crew of volunteers who come in at 3 a.m. to scramble 200 eggs and prepare biscuits with sausage gravy for the shelter guests.
“The secret to cooking for a large group is to have lots of help,” Eickhoff says. “We have a great group of volunteers. Each one is happy to give a little bit of themselves each month to help others.”
Although serving a meal for so many is a big task, Eickhoff says it is a wonderful experience.
“This is who I am,” she says. “The people who come here are very appreciative, and I am happy I can do this.”
She says the children and families who come to Hesed House tell her their stories.
“Some of these people could have been your next door neighbor,” she says.
To her it seams that homelessness is “happening to more and more people.”
“There is a real need for everyone to take time to look out for each other,” says Eickhoff, who then smiles, stretches out her arms and adds. “We always welcome new volunteers.”
Eickhoff suggests that everyone tries to find time to volunteer this holiday season — no matter the organization.
Know someone who really likes to cook and is good at it? Contact columnist Judy Buchenot at Buchenot@comcast.net.
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