Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: cooking, meals (was please help us....)

[Lynn Nadeau (welcome]

[An initial note - it helps if the title of your post helps those who 
will later search for content!] 

RoseWind Cohousing, Port Townsend WA, has a pretty loose meal system 
compared to some listed here, but it works. I'd also note that when we 
first had our common house and were not yet sure how to get group meals 
going, we copied another group and had Mondays be "bring your supper" 
night. People would come to the CH plate in hand and we enjoyed each 
other's company. Some people would voluntarily bring a dessert or 
something else to share. It set up the habit of having supper at the CH 
on Mondays. 

Now we have potlucks Thursdays, potluck brunch one Sunday a month, TGIF 
Friday snacks & beverages, and Mondays we have meals cooked by volunteer 
teams, which range from 1-4 people. 

Our CH Operations committee keeps the kitchen pantry stocked with 
condiments, flours, quality spices, canned tomatoes, butter in the 
freezer, oils, and such. Pantry and many meal ingredients are mostly 
local or organic. We use a variety of recipes, but the Moosewood Cooks 
for a Crowd book has been a treasure chest of useful recipes that have 
worked well. 

Sign up sheets are pre-printed, with space for Date, Cooks, Menu, and a 
list of all the usual diners. Circle your name if you plan to come, cross 
it out if you know you won't be there. That way if cooks want to rustle 
up more diners (more budget to spend!) they can phone those who haven't 
marked their name one way or another. Write-ins are done for additional 
diners not on the printed list. ("Pat + 2 guests"). If you decide you 
want to come to a Monday meal in the day or two before it, it's polite to 
call a cook and check if it's OK still to add on. Usually it's OK. 

Menu may ask people to note if they want chicken or vegetarian, or such. 
We have an ALLERGY notebook in the kitchen with info on each person's 
food needs and preferences, but most important there is a first page in 
the notebook grouped by food: 
NUTS: Eli cannot have ANY peanuts or peanut oil-serious allergy, Sue no 
walnuts.
WHEAT: Tom none, Marge not much, etc. 
And so on for grains, fruits, vegetables, etc. 
That makes it very easy for a cook to see if they need to provide 
appropriate food to anyone signed up. 

Cost: $4 per adult, $1 per kid, $5 per guest (someone not in the cooking 
rotation). Cooks eat that meal free, and have $3.50 per diner to spend on 
groceries. 
At the beginning of the meal, one fellow has the money notebook. He's got 
it on his computer so for each meal there is a page with a record of how 
much each person has credit for in prepaid meals, and what they paid for 
at that meal. Most people pay $20-40 at a time, and just get docked each 
time they eat another meal. Others pay cash, one meal at a time. At the 
end of  the meal, the cooks tell the accounting person what they spent, 
and get reimbursed up to the amount brought in (minus 50 cents per meal 
for buying pantry staples). We've gotten pretty good at either coming in 
on budget, or knowing if we are voluntarily going over (at our own 
expense). 

I hope to start a $2 meal on Tuesdays, with something like soup and bread 
and fruit, as well as leftovers from Monday. Currently we just take 
leftovers home. A drawer by the serving counter has yogurt tubs etc for 
taking home leftovers. If a meal is over budget, you can pay something 
for your leftover carryouts, honor system. 

Cooks sometimes only sign up a week ahead of time. Thursday potluck is 
when most people sign up to eat the Monday meal. There is an advance sign 
up sheet for Monday dates and cooks, with a list of those who usually 
cook. Crossing off your name helps to see if you've already cooked in 
that rotation (about 6 weeks). There are typically about 25-30 adults, 
plus half a dozen children, at a Monday meal. 

Clean up is ultimately the responsibility of the cooks, but many people 
pitch in to clean up, pretty regularly. The guys especially seem to like 
the big steamy dishwasher! 

Lynn Nadeau, RoseWind Cohousing
Port Townsend Washington (Victorian seaport, music, art, nature)
http://www.rosewind.org
http://www.ptguide.com
http://www.ptforpeace.info (very active peace movement here- see our 
photo)