How Fast Can You Feed 150 People?

Monday, February 23 - 25, 2015

This was a busy week for cooking and feeding missionaries.
Elder Francisco J Viñas came to our mission to visit, do some training, and speak at 2 multi-zone conferences.  More about Elder Viñas
So Monday, we cooked lunch for a group of about 50.  Mary was the head chef and she always does great food.
Tonight was also FHE with the temple group.  They had no planned lesson because the couple that was scheduled could not attend because of health issues.  So Mike was volunteered by all to give another lesson on the 2nd coming.

Tuesday was the beginning of our zone's efforts to provide lunch for 150 people on Wednesday in the Malvin building.  Last Friday, the zone leaders of Este, Elder Alder and Elder Oliver had asked my opinion on what to prepare.  They were in charge.  No one wanted to really do pizza again.  It either comes late, or cold and it is not cheap.  Subway was kind of the same deal.  Would they deliver on time? Would the sandwiches be fresh or soggy?
The elders were instructed that everyone be fed in one hour, so that the conference could continue after lunch.  As we bashed some ideas around, we decided that a burrito bar would be a great option and could be done within budget.  We would do black beans with hamburger, cheese, tomatoes, lettuce and if we had enough money, we would splurge and do sour cream.
With that plan in mind, the elders tested that night how many beans and how much hamburger would fit in a burrito.  They came back with the results and were excited about how good they were.
Sunday night the elders talked with Hermana Cook and she told them that she did not think they could do all that.  She wanted them to order something else on Monday. I don't think they told her that they had been talking with me so she probably didn't know I was involved.  They were pretty disappointed. Hermana Cook and I talked about the plan. After she knew I was more than willing to do this, she gave us her blessing.  Sooo...on with the show!
Tuesday was spent in Hermana Cook's kitchen cooking hamburger and lots of pots of beans. Hermana Harris and Hermana Ness came over and helped. Hermana Cook was not home because they were attending the conference in Maroñas with Elder Viña. The elders chopped all the tomatoes.

This was our list of food to buy and prepare:
450 flour and corn tortillas
450 slices of cheese  (we did slices because that would be easier and faster)
10 heads of lettuce (we should have done more)
20 lbs of tomatoes (could have done more)
40 lbs of beans  (we had one large pot left over)
40 lbs of hamburger
11 sour cream containers (16 oz)
My bean recipe called for cooking a whole onion and squeezing a juice orange into the pot.
40 oranges, 40 onions, lots of garlic, kosher salt
150 crisp apples (they are really good right now)
150 ice cream bars for dessert
The elders were in charge of buying all the drinks. (soda and water)

We were done cooking at around 6 pm.

That evening we had maintence in the Malvin kitchen to help us fix the big stove they have there. We needed that to reheat the pots of beans.  The first item of business was to get their propane tanks filled which they did that morning.  Second now, was getting the burners to light. It seemed like nothing was going to work.  This wasn't crucial because we could have brought in our little stoves we have for missionary apartments and set them up in a classroom, but fixing the big kitchen stove was the better option so I went into a little room and said a prayer.

Within 10 minutes my prayer was answered and the stove was working. I gave a quick prayer of thanks! The maintenance man also brought back the chest freezer that was lent out to youth conference camp.  That helped alot.  Mike also brought in from storage some smaller refrigerators and we set those up in classrooms.
The elders set up all the tables and chairs and put on the tablecloths.  They had contacted their whole zone to come early tomorrow morning to be instructed on how to serve the food.  We were going to serve "Peggy Clark" style.  She knew how to move the masses!
We had four tables set up and each table had the same food and a server to go with it.

Wednesday - D-Day!
This had better work! Pressure is on because we have a general authority visiting and we want a good meal! Can we feed 150 people 3 burritos, an apple, soda, and ice cream in 1 hour???????????  Would we have enough food?  We found out this morning, that most of the missionaries came to this conference fasting.  YIKES! They will be famished.

Five large pots of beans and hamburger mix.

Tortillas in the warmer.

Two more crocks of beans. We had a total of 4. Notice the transformers.
Uruguay does not sell crock pots. These are from the States that
others have graciously brought and left here. 

Refrigerators in classrooms full of soda. For some odd reason, Malvin
does not have a refrigerator in their kitchen.

Makeshift kitchen in a classroom.

Freezer full of ice cream bars. 

Our four serving tables.

On your mark..get set...go!  Mike is
standing at the door directing traffic because they have
never been served like this before.

The sisters always eat first.

Order: Plates, tortillas in box, slice of cheese, beans, sour cream,
tomatoes, lettuce.

They go through the line and get one burrito. They can come back for
more later. (which they did!)

Elders waiting in the foyer for the sisters to finish.

And now the Elders flood the room!

How long did it take to get 150 people through the line for their first burrito?

Watch the video to find out. 

With a sigh of relief, all were fed very well. Elder Viñas said it was one of the best "conference" meals he has had!  We did run out of tomatoes and lettuce, but a burrito is still good with just cheese and beans and if you run out of cheese, it is still good with just beans!
Clean up took a while but we were all "happy campers" when all was done. We froze the leftover beans and tortillas to be used at a later time.  The beans could certainly be used for a potato bar!
Elder Alder and Elder Oliver said they were going to sleep really well tonight!
Thank you to everyone who helped this event to be a successful one.