Foodie Fridays: more than just a food outreach

They say too many cooks spoil the broth, but at Stone Church in Saint John, there were 10 cooks, and the broth turned out just fine.

The cooks, all in aprons and bandanas, were busy chopping vegetables, making biscuits, stirring the pot, prepping dishes for the dishwasher and setting the table on Dec. 13. The New Brunswick Anglican visited to see what a mission program called Foodie Fridays is all about.

Miriam Westin heads Foodie Fridays, and it came about in 2022 after she took a community food mentoring course.

“It inspired me to start a community kitchen at Stone church,” she said. “I asked Terence and Jasmine and they told me to try it out.”

Miriam is an ESL teacher with Pennies & Sparrows, a mission run by priests-in-charge at Stone, the Rev. Jasmine and the Rev. Terence Chandra. 

Miriam found that people were interested, including some of her newcomer students. They meet each Friday to prepare and share a meal. In that two hours, bonds are forged, life skills are learned and good food is enjoyed. 

Early on, and even now, Miriam often gets food donations. But this year, the Waterloo Village Neighbourhood Association got a grant to fund the initiative, so now running the mission is a little less onerous.

“That grant pays for the food,” said Miriam. “Before that the money came from Pennies & Sparrows.”

THE BENEFITS
Miriam is quick to point out that sharing a meal brings everyone together, but preparing the food together comes with an added bonus.

“It’s a fun experience for people to see the fruits of their labours,” she said. “It’s ended up being a very nice social time. When we started, I was pretty isolated myself and I enjoyed eating with others. It turns out that others felt the same way.”

There are a wide range of skills among participants. One woman is retired after a long career in health care. Others are gaining new skills each week, with some gentle instruction from Miriam and her co-worker, Jennifer Hallihan.

Jennifer works as a community navigator for Waterloo Village, an association headquartered at Stone with the aim of building up the neighbourhood to improve the lives of those who live and work there. 

“I enjoy watching the different levels,” she said. “Some had no skills at all, could only set the table. Now they come in the kitchen and actually help prepare the food.

“It’s progress — social progress. A lot of them are stepping outside their comfort zones of what they do in the kitchen. And for some, it’s the one time a week they’re not eating alone.” 

Jennifer’s arrival brought a second course to the meals, since she is a baker. 

“I enjoy sharing my baking skills,” she said, adding they’ve made everything from cake pops to pies, cupcakes and cookies. 

THE MENU
On our visit, the lunch was seafood chowder and biscuits, with no-bake cherry cheesecake for dessert. 

Miriam tries to focus on local and organic ingredients as much as possible. The scallops were from Maces Bay, donated, and the shrimp was from Newfoundland and Labrador. Also going into the pot: clams, potatoes, onion, celery, carrot, corn, vegetable broth, cream and herbs and spices, with chopped dulse as a garnish. 

The weekly menu is a blend of simple foods that are easy to prepare at home, fancy foods like lobster that was donated, and international foods the participants might never get to try otherwise. 

“Sometimes it’s simple stuff, but other times, for fun, we do special things we’d never do at home,” said Miriam.

“Everybody is able to try something they’ve never had before,” said Jennifer.

In these two years, they’ve prepared wonton soup, homemade pasta, lasagna, fettuccini alfredo, roast chicken, burritos, tacos, turkey dinner, shepherd’s pie, Indian chicken stew, Korean Japchae (glass noodles with beef), Chinese dumplings, beef stew, homemade rolls, stir fry, veggie burgers, pizza, soups, chili and chicken fingers made from scratch.

The leftovers are sometimes taken home, and the rest is frozen. Then every few weeks they have leftover day and make new meals with the various dishes. 

SPECIAL GUESTS
The group invites special guests to join them from time to time. Earlier this fall, Miriam’s neighbour came and taught them how to make homemade soup. Another showed them how to make blueberry jam.

Some local nursing students came by and took on a project. The cookbook the group had produced was updated with colour photos and illustrated how-to steps for things like making wontons, thanks to the students.

They’ve also welcomed dieticians who’ve taught them the difference between expiry dates and best before dates. They’ve also learned about diabetes and eating healthy on a budget.

PARTICIPANTS
Lydia is a widow, a retired personal support worker, and was out of sorts with her new reality of living alone a couple of years ago.

Lydia attends Trinity Anglican nearby, and found out about Foodie Fridays through a friend.

“I came and I like it. I like to feed people,” she said. “This got me out of my depression. I feel like I contribute to something here.”

She looks forward to Fridays because, although she enjoys cooking, she doesn’t like cooking for one.

“It’s amazing how everybody works together,” she said. “The meals are spectacular! I hadn’t eaten tofu before so I experienced that. I enjoy meeting the people. They’re all lovely.”

Aaron McKenna attends for the people as much as the meal.

“I’m here for the companionship,” he said. “And I’m learning how to cook. It’s lots of fun here.”

Melissa Yates and Brian Manuel had made biscuits the week before, so they were building on those skills by making them again this time. 

“I’ve been here since last year,” said Melissa. “I come every Friday. I like cooking and eating too. I cook at home so this has helped.”

Once the table was set and the chowder was ready, everyone gathered to share the meal they’d prepared. But before the first bite, Miriam asked each one to say something they were grateful for: waking up this morning, this day, this meal, friends, and so on. 

“Seeing everyone together, so joyful — it’s a very nice way to end the week,” said Jennifer.

And with that, another Foodie Friday was complete. 

Photo captions:
1.  Melissa Yates and Brian Manuel work at making biscuits to go with the seafood chowder at Foodie Fridays, Dec. 13 at Stone Church in Saint John.
2.  Aaron McKenna adds celery to the pot.
3. Christine Bouzane and Lydia O'Hara chop vegetables for the chowder.
4. Jennifer Hallihan and Miriam Westin (standing) serve Lydia O'Hara and Carl Sabean a lunch of seafood chowder.
McKnight photos