A reflection about the highs and lows of working to realize the Annual Food Festival by Ladies Society Board Member, Linda Lester.

We always say we are cooking for the annual Bazaar, but it really is a good excuse to work hard, complain, visit and have a great lunch and then go home (Maybe a slight exaggeration).  Usually a plan and a schedule is set into place months before the actual Bazaar.  In the background many decisions are taking place. What to make, how much should we make? Reviewing the recipe which can be tricky; there are usually 2 or 3 of the same thing with variations. The cryptic handwritten notations in the border of the recipe are always a fun diversion.  Shopping for the right ingredients is essential and most times it is usually one or two people who volunteer. Many of our recipes have some aromatic ingredients such as Mahleb and Black seeds that can only be purchased in a Middle Eastern specialty store or online. It is important that these ingredients are fresh and there is no mistaking a baked good with these unusual ingredients.

Many phone calls and messages are left to get volunteers to come in and help.  By the way no one volunteers to take the lead and call people and it usually falls on the shoulders of one person.  Unfortunately or fortunately we never know who is going to show up to help on any given day.  In the past few years much of the prepping is done by a few people days ahead of time and showing up earlier on the day of to clarify 20 plus lbs. of butter or cracking 200 eggs or just mixing dough and having it ready to go before everyone shows up.  "Get your hairnets on and put on some gloves ladies we have enough people to start”

We appreciate all of you who share and participate in the prepping and cooking.  You are carrying on a tradition of communing with one another in the way that your mother’s or grandmother‘s had done many years before.  We are the key ingredient.