Kicking off the 2024 Season! (Originally posted in February 2024)

Quote of the Month: “Food brings people together on many different levels. It’s nourishment of the soul and body; it’s truly love.” – Giada De Laurentiis

Words from our Biggest Contributing Volunteers, Brandi Smith:

When I started going to yoga with my dog at a local dog cafe during the pandemic I had no idea that a year later I would find one of the most unique and impactful charities I have ever had the privilege to become involved with. I met Table for Lou founder Anthony Lynch via his friendly rolly poly bulldog Jolene, who took it upon herself to make everyone feel welcome in the class.  As I learned more about the organization and the purpose of the effort to help kids learn how to cook, aid in encouraging their creativity, encourage healthy food preparation, and to spread love via cooking, I was inspired.  

My first Monday night cooking class was a beautiful experience of enthusiasm, curiosity, and delight from all involved, me included.  I'm a "home cook", meaning I have no formal education in the culinary arts, and nor do I have any professional experience with it (unless you count Burger King for a year when I was 15 and a half). I do, however, love to express myself with food, and I am passionate about getting to know various cultures and regions better through their food. 

I was immediately deeply moved by the many ways that a class like Table for Lou's could impact our community extensively. As we drove away from class, our conversation was quick and thoughtful, and there was a rapid exchange of ideas as to what Table for Lou could mean to so many. Anthony's vision for the future was to get more and more people involved, to get donations, and have an even bigger impact on our community, and all involved were eager to see it happen. 

The kids enjoy the class so much that they show up eager to WORK, to chop, to get messy, learn new techniques, try new foods, wear an apron or a chef's coat, meet new people, learn about cultures through their food, work with each other as a team, share their meals together, analyze what they did, tweak recipes as they go, get artistic with their presentation, and think about their futures. Everyone's future will involve food no matter if it is in their personal or professional lives - our lives revolve around food. I strongly believe it unites us all regardless of our background, or current circumstances, and it's something we can all appreciate and find useful. Not to mention that I'm sure this program is setting off waves of inspiration, impacting those touched by it in immeasurable ways, and is positively uplifting. 

I only hope that Table For Lou's efforts can continue to expand, and help more people unite together to enjoy food and each other through food. What a genuine way to show love.  I hope that you feel it in your heart that you would like to help others by donating to Table For Lou to ensure we can continue to positively impact your community. 

January Highlights:

Dinner’s on the Table at BJC Children’s Hospital

Table for Lou hit a pretty significant milestone in January. We’ve now partnered with The Table! They will now help us cook for the families at BJC as well as teach classes at St. Vincent’s. The Table is run by some extremely talented chefs whose philanthropic ideas line up pretty perfectly with Table for Lou’s. They’ve even cooked at BJC a few nights now, which has received much fanfare from participating families. Having them join our cause has been a massive blessing for our organization and the people we serve. We can’t wait to collaborate with them more and see what we can cook up together. 

The Kids’ Table at St. Vincent’s

With a holiday and a nasty snow storm falling on two Monday’s in January, we ended up having fewer classes than usual. Even with these setbacks, we made some delicious dishes. 

With high anticipation of the KC Chiefs playing in the Super Bowl, we wanted to do some Kansas City inspired courses so we made Chili and Cinnamon Rolls, which if you’re unaware, are a few KC classics. Then a chef from The Table joined his first Kids’ class and helped with TexMex night. 

As we cook on these Monday nights, we continue to learn more and more about our kids. Some (including the ones that are always smiling and dancing), are not only coming to these classes to learn and participate, but are also taking as many leftovers as they can back home just so they can feed their family. We are proud that these classes help with not only skills they can learn to take back and help at home, but to also cook as much as we can to be able to dish out plenty of leftovers at the end of the class. We are more than happy to cook it, so someone else can experience it. 

The Importance of Vocabulary- Even in the Kitchen! 

The Superbowl isn’t all about the food, commercials or fancy half time shows, there’s an actual game right in the middle of it all. And during this time, it was apparent that a lot of friends knew very little about the about the sport. The game is fairly easy to understand at a high level, but if you don’t understand certain football terms, you are going to be confused. What could help? Understanding a shared language! It helps speed up the learning process and get us all on the track to mastery! 

For example, in the kitchen, if you learned that fond means the tasty caramelized bits left in the pan after you browned something, and that you can deglaze it with some wine, broth or water, you would go from thinking you have some dish scrubbing to do, to knowing you can make an amazing pan sauce. Knowing the term Al Dente makes us think “how long do I need to cook these noodles.” Personally, learning the term mise en place, or having a well thought out gameplan of prepared foods in the kitchen transformed how I work.

If you’re teaching or learning a new skill, a great first step is learning the language of the endeavor. The rest can start to fill in other gaps. Until then, enjoy these Super Bowl appetizers that will be fit for any future event or gathering.

Cardinal Numbers

According to the USDA, the portion of our household budgets going towards food has increased by 13% in 2023, which is roughly 11.3% of our disposable income. The increase occurred in equal parts due to Food at Home and Food Away from Home. There are many factors at play, including inflation and the fact that spending is rebounding after a decline due to the pandemic. 

Zooming out, it is fascinating to see our budgets go from 17% to 10% over the last 60 years. How much cheaper is our food, or more importantly, how much have our diets shifted based on our wallets? Take a look at the graph below. What are your thoughts? 

Last but not least…

Table for Lou gives kids a fun activity to look forward to each week and teaches kids how to support their community. Donate today or learn how you can help volunteer by emailing:Table4Lou@gmail.com . You’ll be amazed how much help just a small amount of money provides to our community. And don’t forget to to follow us on our social media for more updates!

We are excited for 2024 and a year of growth and triumph. Glad you’re here!

Cheers!