Whee! 320 eggs, 1,150 chipolatas and I made it!

This is one post I am most proud of. It is not my personal achievement but the total commitment of a group of us, working together for the community. This group of marvelous ladies had come together to make a personal, home cooked breakfast for a huge group of guests. All of us have never done something this big before.

It is the 200 years celebration of College General and there are five archbishops, 25 bishops and 200 priests plus many more seminarians (those in college studying to be a priest) who gathered for three days, 2 nights of alumini gathering. We chose to prepare the breakfast as we feel that it is only right to give them something from the hearts of the community as they had sacrificed for the good of the community.

There are elderly French priests, Singaporean, Thais, Brunei and other nationalities. We are working on tight budget so we put together a simple breakfast for them. Anyway, to cater to the tastes of so many different nationalities and also considering the age of them (some are in their 80s while there are groups of hungry late teens seminarians), we dare not be too adventurous and stick to bread and butter, baked beans, chipolatas (very nice chicken sausages) and scrambled eggs.

Contrary to the saying, “Too many cooks, spoil the soup”, I admired my fellow church members for their fantastic teamwork, great organizing skills and most of all, our faith in God. It is very worrying and scary as we didn’t have the exact numbers of people who will come for breakfast as many of them turned up with extra guests. So, we prayed very hard that everything goes smoothly and indeed it did. Praise the Lord.

There are two of us who prepare the scrambled eggs but there are five of us who helped to cook. Then, another two just focus on breaking the eggs and beating them. I am quite relieved that all the hundreds of eggs I seasoned with my instinct turned out without complaints. Phew…….Imagine frying eggs within a time limit. I bought some oregano to sprinkle on the eggs as well. I must say that the eggs tasted yummy.

In an event like this, where guests come in large crowds and trickle in on and off, it is not easy to estimate the quantity of foods to prepare. However, maybe our cooking was really nice and the foods were wiped clean and none goes off hungry.

I feel so blessed to be part of the committee as it is so heartwarming to see everyone putting in their best efforts to welcome these Catholic priests who returned to the old college for a reunion. Another team of ladies put all the flower arrangements to make the whole dining area into a welcoming home. I hope it has been a fantastic homecoming of sorts for them. I learnt so much from the other ladies because they are much more experienced than me and I valued every advices and tips from them.

Will I want to do such thing again? Of course! I hope to cook for the homeless one day. In Penang, there is a Lighthouse kitchen which serves free dinner to the homeless and poor. So far, I have not dare to volunteer to help yet but after this, I may do so. I heard one has to cook for 90 people. When I gather enough people (well-wishers, donors and volunteers), we will have fun. Oh, waiting list to cook takes about two months because a lot of people have came forward. Anyone interested to be part of the cooking and serving team?