David's Kitchen

I am happy to announce that David’s Kitchen is partnering with the Phinney Neighborhood Association on a pilot project to engage volunteers in north Seattle to create and serve meals for the homeless. “Burritos Without Borders” will convene a weekly event where volunteers gather to assemble hundreds of burritos, which I and others will deliver to places of need.

The first “Burrito Party” is this Saturday, November 10, 2018, from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM at St. John United Lutheran Church, 5515 Phinney Ave N, (across from Woodland Park Zoo). There is plenty of parking in the lower lot behind the church, to the west. The #5 bus stops right in front of the church. Please join us! No special skills required.

We’ve chosen burritos because it is possible to pack a lot of nutrition into a delicious, portable package. Simple ingredients – beans, rice, cheese, and a wheat tortilla – combine to provide protein and calories that people need who are living outside or in precarious circumstances. The PNA’s professional cook, Joseph Wapner, is working on ways to add micro-nutrients and flavor by including vegetables and other ingredients.

Joseph was the one who came up with the name “Burritos Without Borders.” This whimsical phrase expresses our commitment to an ideal: In these times of growing tribal antagonisms, we believe that everyone deserves to live, and everyone deserves to eat. We hope this pilot project will engage a community of volunteers to make that commitment real, by providing simple, nourishing food to those who would otherwise go hungry, and by giving a touch of encouragement to those who would otherwise be alone.

Please join us on Saturday at 11:00 AM! Click here to see the Facebook event. For more information, please email me at david.baum.seattle@gmail.com.

I am doubling down on the cooking thing! For reasons I don’t understand, serving meals gives me the greatest “traction,” in contrast to political activism, journalism, organizing, or struggling with the bureaucracy. rumblecrash was the caterpillar. David’s Kitchen, God willing, is the butterfly.

My menu has expanded. I am not an accomplished chef, but the meals I cook are hearty and taste good. And I can cook for 30 in my home kitchen with ingredients purchased at Cash and Carry, the restaurant supply store.

Here’s what I can cook in quantity:

• Chili (ground beef, kidney and black beans, crushed tomatoes, frozen veggies: peas, carrots and corn; served with shredded cheese and corn chips)
• Shepherd’s Pie (ground beef in gravy, frozen veggies, mashed potatoes)
• Burritos (black beans, rice, shredded cheese, flour tortilla; served with salsa and sour cream)
• Oatmeal Bar (Bob’s Red Mill oatmeal; served with butter, brown sugar, raisins, and milk)
• Quesadillas, griddled on site (flour tortilla, refried beans, shredded cheese; served with salsa)
• Pancakes, eggs, and bacon, griddled on site.

One day, I may end up with a food truck! In the meantime, I make food at home and take it to my “clients,” who include:

• Licton Springs Tiny House Village, on Aurora
• Nickelsville Northlake, in southern Wallingford
• The Bridge Care Center, in Ballard
• Nickelsville Georgetown, near Boeing field
• Camp Second Chance, in southwest Seattle.

I also participate in the Rainier Popup Kitchen, which serves a sidewalk meal every Sunday in Rainier Valley. And every Thursday, I help pick up groceries for the Edible Hope food ministry of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, which serves breakfast to 200 people every weekday in Ballard.

Note the new web address: davids.kitchen. (It’s one of the new, non-standard, high-level domains.) All email will now go to my personal address: david.baum.seattle@gmail.com.

Please feel free to get in touch. See you soon!

–David B.

New gig today! Made bean & cheese quesadillas on my electric griddle outside a day center in Ballard. Served 40; big hit! Traumas revealed:

Young Black girl hadn’t eaten in days; too scared to leave her tent. Recounted eating muffins out of the garbage that tasted like actual garbage, but she didn’t care because she was starving.

Big white fellow was very upset over perceived gay come-on by another guy. Subsequently revealed he had been raped in prison and as a child. Courteously gave up half his last quesadilla to a young man who got there late.

A guy I know from a nearby camp was there, sweeping up and collecting garbage. Then he said he had to go push his hernia back in. Made a point of letting me know he was sober. I could tell he was thinking clearly; nice to meet him that way, finally!

Nearly everyone you meet has some dreadful trauma that has distorted their lives and landed them adrift and wretched. They want to share; not in the hope you can help them, but just not to carry the burden alone.