This past weekend, my home was transformed into a community kitchen! Every year, for the past 20 years, the weekend before Thanksgiving, I open my home up to the community, and bring people together to prepare a Traditional Thanksgiving Feast for the community surrounding Rufus King Park in Jamaica, Queens.  This year, in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the need for food and clothing was greater than ever, so in addition to our usual spot, we prepared enough food for the Rockaway and Coney Island communities that were devastated by the hurricane. We cooked and carved 54 donated turkeys, and had another 60 donated turkeys delivered to the park! We scrubbed and mashed 300 pounds of donated Idaho potatoes and 320 pounds of donated sweet potatoes in my very clean bath tub, and made 18 chaffing pans of Apple Pecan Stuffing. Then, of course I needed to cover my vegetarian friends with some Balsamic Glazed Tofu with Mushroom Red Wine Sauce and fresh Cranberry Relish with Maple Syrup and Walnuts.

To sweeten the ending, we baked 52 Pumpkin Pies and had 60 apple pies donated for dessert. The line was endless. Every time it looked like we were getting close to the end, more people would come up. We fed close to 500 people today in the park, and sent enough food for another 500 people to Rockaway Beach and Coney Island. It’s a labor of love, but the holiday wouldn’t be the same without it! I wish you all a wonderful, joyful and grateful Thanksgiving.

The Progressive Radio Network will be closed this Thursday for the holiday, so I will see you all next Thursday, at the regular scheduled time. My guest that week, November 29th, will be Karen Washington, the urban farmer extraordinaire, who has been changing the landscape in the Bronx for many years. I hope you can join us!