Cohousing-L Mailing List: Common House Meal Prices

[G/P Looney-Burman (burloon]

After some needed adjustment, our community has had the same meal prices for
about 9 years.  At the top of the sign-up sheet are two boxes:  one for
"Limited to $5.50" and "Could be more."  The chefs check the box for what
they anticipate the meal charge to fall into.

 

Prices:

Full-price Meals are for adults, which includes anyone over age 12.

Half-price meals are for residents ages 11-12 and guests ages 3-12

Free meals are for residents 0-12 years of age and guests under 3 years.

 

Our regular meals seldom reach the $5.50 mark and are usually between $3-4
(or less) per person. For special occasions, e.g., Valentine's Day dinner,
with fresh salmon on the menu, the price has averaged around $6.50 per
person.  This does not include any beverages; people bring their own, if
they want wine, etc.

 

The chefs submit the sign-up sheet and receipts (for the food they have
purchased) to the kind soul who keeps track of billing.  Residents receive a
quarterly statement (which also includes laundry usage, guest room usage,
etc.).  If residents have cooked, they have a credit.  If they run over
their credit with the meals they have eaten, they are billed for the
balance.

 

The chefs use whatever they can from our community garden for their menus.
Our menus are not elaborate, but they are tasty and healthy.  For example,
last night's menu consisted of fresh corn-on-the-cob, purchased at the
Fresno State Farm Store, chicken sausages (from Trader Joe's), tomato bread
salad (tomatoes, bread and red onions also from the Farm Store and basil
from our garden-our tomatoes aren't ripe yet), and a plum crisp with custard
sauce for dessert (plums from a resident's tree in her yard; coconut milk
from TJoe's used for the sauce, since one resident is dairy-allergic).  The
average cost was $3.43.

 

Sunday night's menu will be 3 different summer salads.

 

One of our families does a "Stone Soup" dinner from time to time, with
donated items from residents' refrigerators (and their own) that look like
they won't be used in that household.  It makes for a creative dinner, with
the total cost per person averaging less than $0.50. 

 

Pat Looney-Burman

La Querencia Cohousing (Fresno Cohousing Community)