This Wednesday, Merrilee and I had the pleasure of cooking with the Rising Stars and the Dreamcatchers, groups of very enthusiastic and fun volunteers from Charlotte White! It was my first time meeting them and attending a cooking day, and I had so much fun watching them chop, stir, pour, mash, and prepare the Spice Drive samples for the distribution today at the Dover-Foxcroft Area Food Cupboard.
Since beginning my service here at PRFC, I've done lots of behind-the-scenes work with Spice Drive; there is a lot of planning and coordination that goes on, but I finally feel like I understand what Spice Drive is all about. The first part of Spice Drive is providing spices to food cupboard patrons so that they can cook more creatively, and prepare more healthful food. The second part is about facilitating an opportunity for community volunteers, such as the Rising Stars and Dreamcatchers, to serve their community while also learning how to cook! It was so great to finally see the faces and shake the hands of the folks that I have been writing about, posting about, thinking about, and planning with for a couple of months now.
January's spice of the month was garlic powder, which was a great spice to kick off the new year because it's so widely loved and used. We made Cheesy Pull-Apart Garlic Bread, and also a great tomato dipping sauce. The link can be found on our Facebook page! In the upcoming months, we're looking forward to working out all of the kinks in the program, and making Spice Drive the best that it can be!