1 month ago
15
I flew to Kansas on Thursday to help my parents with the annual Valentine’s Banquet they help host for their church and community. This is an annual tradition they started years ago and it’s a much-anticipated event every year. I thought you would enjoy seeing a recap of the event and it might inspire you with ideas for events you might help host or give you ideas if you’d like to do something similar in your community!
Last year, I got to help with it and enjoyed it so much that I asked if I could come back again this year to help! The preparation for it starts weeks in advance with planning the theme and the decor and the menu plan. It takes a lot of hands and volunteer hours to pull off and the end results were incredible!
Friday morning, we went to the church to help with the cooking prep and decor set-up. I helped make the dessert (cheesecake in chocolate bowls) — I made 6 batches (I think?) of the cheesecake mixture, washed over 100 goblet glasses, helped plan the strategy for all the serving, and helped chop and peel food and clean up. It was so fun to watch it all come to life and how many hands truly made light work!
My sister, Olivia, made dairy-free, gluten-free desserts for those with sensitivities/allergies. The dinner menu was fully gluten-free except the rolls and she also made gluten-free rolls for those who were GF.
We had 56 couples who RSVP’d for the event + all the servers and extra helpers, so all totaled it was around 140 people who would be eating dinner, which meant there was lots and lots of food to make!
