Culinary Central

LCB feeds communities during Thanksgiving

December 1, 2010 •Le Cordon Bleu •General • 0 Comments

Le Cordon Bleu students and employees were busy this past week providing great service to our communities. Take a look at some of the great activities:

Created by Angie Harmon and sponsored by the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts - Los Angeles and Albertsons, 40 youth who are aging out of foster care and their mentors cook and enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving meal together. Over 60 people attended this year's 5th Annual Thanksgiving dinner for transitioning foster youth. The event was hosted by the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts located in Hollywood, Calif. The youth, who have recently exited the foster care system, had the chance to share a traditional holiday meal with friends and mentors while learning to cook with other volunteer chefs. 

Read more: http://kids-alliance.org/TheAlliance_TYT.html


In the largest of many such gatherings, about 5,000 people shared a free Thanksgiving Day feast served up by thousands of volunteers Thursday at Central Park. The decades-old event put on by Union Station Homeless Services' outreach program in Pasadena drew people from across the San Gabriel Valley and from as far as Venice. More than 3,000 volunteers, including off-duty Pasadena police officers and local culinary school students, helped cook and serve 400 turkeys and hundreds of pounds of side dishes and desserts. Thousands more worked for weeks on preparations leading up to Thursday's massive feeding. For 10-year volunteer Sylvia Dominguez of Montebello, the annual event represents how society should be caring for its neediest during tough times. "The only way we're going to get out of this thing is to help each other," she said. Her grandmother would always have extra food on hand - just in case a hungry neighbor came by, said Dominguez, who has come to view Union Station's dinner-in-the-park program as a large-scale version of her grandmother's kitchen. "My grandmother instilled that gene in me," she said.
Students from Le Cordon Blue culinary school in Pasadena, Blair High School's culinary school, and Southern California Edison and the Southern California Gas Co. employee started cooking the turkeys early this week.

Read more: http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_16711723?IADID=Search-www.pasadenastarnews.com-www.pasadenastarnews.com#ixzz16gyceGrm



Kids Unlimited head chef Jennifer Ritter admits she was a little intimidated at the mountain of food facing her the day before she tackled the organization's annual Thanksgiving feast. "It was a little overwhelming at first," Ritter said as she stirred a pot of ham glaze. "But now that it's started it feels manageable."

Ritter spent most of Wednesday evening in the kitchen, cooking for hundreds of families seeking a Thanksgiving meal. The Kids Unlimited holiday feast is a tradition stretching back 13 years, according to Tom Cole, the organization's executive director. The food was donated by various businesses and families throughout the area, Cole said. "A lot of people pitch in every year," Cole said. "As the need gets bigger, so does the supply." In all, Ritter was tasked with cooking 24 turkeys, 13 hams, close to 200 pounds of potatoes, six gallons of turkey gravy and a mound of green beans. "The key is being prepared with your prep the day before so you can get started immediately," Ritter said. The Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Los Angeles graduate also had to deal with 500 pounds of pears donated by Naumes.

Read more: http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101125/NEWS/11250323

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