Our village is an independent living place so meals are not usually provided. However, our CEO, Chiou See Anderson, organises a monthly dinner for us in the community centre. Naturally, these dinners had to stop during the lockdown. But our CEO, concerned about our mental heath being isolated in our units, decided to provide meals for small groups of us in our units when the restrictions started to ease. She cooked the meals with her staff's help and they delivered them to our units one street at a time. One each week for five weeks. The residents were organised into groups of 4 or 5 and were hosted by one of the group in their unit. It was a quite an effort for Chiou See to cook for 30+ and organise getting the food to the units.
Each week the organisation improved. The first time she and her partner and staff delivered the meals from the boot of her car. The next time they plated up the food and delivered from the back of a village buggy. After that she turned one of the empty units into a mobile kitchen and plated up there but the staff still delivered by a buggy. It was fun for us to get dressed up for a change and go to dinner with friends. As we are the village photographers we were given a meal each week. We didn't take photos of the first street but here are some from the other streets.
Each week the organisation improved. The first time she and her partner and staff delivered the meals from the boot of her car. The next time they plated up the food and delivered from the back of a village buggy. After that she turned one of the empty units into a mobile kitchen and plated up there but the staff still delivered by a buggy. It was fun for us to get dressed up for a change and go to dinner with friends. As we are the village photographers we were given a meal each week. We didn't take photos of the first street but here are some from the other streets.
Chiou See cooking salmon rolled in tea leaves and seasoning and eye fillet steak with blue cheese topping on a bed of mushroom risotto. There was a side dish of vegetables as well. Dana, a staff member, cooked orange and almond cake for dessert.
They plated up from the back of the work buggy.
Staff member and daughter of Chiou see delivers to the unit.
Residents enjoy.
The next week Chiou See cooked garlic and chilli prawns with linguini and beef ribs. Bill taste tests the marinade for poached pears.
Single ladies really enjoy these nights where they can enjoy friendship.
The next week it was our turn. Another lady took the photos so we had a night off.
We had fish or brisket and cheese cake
The last week the last two streets combined for a street party lunch. Chiou See and her daughters prepared traditional Chinese fare. She cooked in her own house which is in one of the last streets.
Brendan, Chiou See's partner dishes up Won Ton Soup.
Just one of the many dishes.
Just one of the happy couples. We were invited to join them for lunch too.
That sounds very well organized, great to see how everyone enjoys the meals in their units.
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea, having the dinners with smaller groups taking turns. The food sounds delicious. Have a great day!
Chiou See seems like such a warm and caring person and also looks like a great chef. Wonderful that she provided a bit of a break in routine for all of you. Stay safe.
ReplyDeleteWell what a good idea and a great time had by all according to your writings and photos.
ReplyDeleteTake care.
you folks are certainly living the good life!
ReplyDeleteYou really hit on a winner with where you now live. Chiou sounds wonderful and so accomplished.
ReplyDeleteLooks like she did a good job. We had our first meal out on Tuesday. A barbie with friends. It is the first time we have eaten out, or in fact spoken to anyone other than each other since 27 February!!! It was great fun. Stay safe Diane
ReplyDeleteHow nice. Nothing like that happening here. I'm surprised though that no masks were in evidence. Not required in Australia?
ReplyDeleteNo we were not required to wear masks in Australia unless we were sick or going to be in contact with those who were sick. Some people opted to wear them on public transport and in shopping centres. WE were lucky here and flattened the curve fairly quickly and had one of the lowest death rates. Most of them were from cruise ships. We had very few cases of community spread that wasn't able to be traced. We are up to Stage Three of coming back to normal.We still have our state border closed.
DeleteThey sure do treat you well! What a lovely thing to do.
ReplyDeleteyour dinner looks yummy
ReplyDeleteThings can be different and good at the same time, so many great photos.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great way to enjoy togetherness but still carefully and safely.
ReplyDeleteYour CEO is amazing. Not only did she think of this wonderful way to help residents through the restrictions, she did a tremendous amount of work to make it all happen
ReplyDeleteYour CEO is a wonderful lady to organize these events. Great to see you all enjoying yourselves.
ReplyDeleteThat's a lovely thing to do.
ReplyDeleteGreat photographs.
All the best Jan
Oh my...how absolutely delightful.
ReplyDeleteYour meals are certainly gourmet.
I think it's wonderful that there is a creative way of being together,
Good times, good photos, good food.
Sue
Now that is very creative. Good food and a day for some company. Very wise. Stay safe.
ReplyDeleteAnother example of the wonderful spirit of your village. Your CEO is a treasure! I had my first meal out on Wednesday. I suspect we will go to Stage one this coming week, borders still closed but everything else returning to something close to normal.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a wonderful idea. You seem to have an amazing, caring staff in your community, and Chiou sounds like a real gem--as well as a fantastic cook. Those meals look delicious.
ReplyDeleteI never cease to be impressed by the whole atmosphere in your village and having a CEO like Chiou is a huge asset.
ReplyDeletethat's very nice to do it is so good for the people to get together ! Here too in the retirement homes they are allowed to eat together in two groups, but they are all happy and when the weather is nice they can go in the garden and receive family. Of course that's here, in Brussels center it's probably not so good. But they all do their best for us oldies !
ReplyDeleteYou certainly seem to live in a very special village.
ReplyDeleteOh, how wonderful it must be to eat someone else’s cooking after this siege! I haven’t eaten a meal I did not cook myself since early March. You seem to have such caring staff where you live with fun and creative ideas to keep people engaged, yet safe.
ReplyDeleteI think you have such a special CEO Diane, her daughters and partner look really lovely too. Would have been hard work, so much effort to make this happen and so enjoyable for all 💛
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely effort to keep your spirits up!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog!
I agree with previous comments, Diane, that your CEO and her daughters did a wonderful job in organizing dinners for small groups. Your larger gatherings also always seemed great social get togethers and while they will undoubtedly resume these small intimate groups looked like fun for everyone. Our local restaurants have outdoor dining now and will open next week for indoor dining with restirctions on capacity. Glad the numbers have been so low for your area.
ReplyDeleteThat was all really a lovely thing . (And how great for you guys to be the official photographers... you do a lot for the community and it’s nice you got this benefit.,). I have a couple of dear widowed friends and they have each had a rough time during all of this (and there is so little we can do, under the circumstances). the photo of the ladies so happy to get together made me think of them.
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