June News – The Third Day!

shobistable
  • Adding Tuesdays!
  • 5K-As-You-Can
  • Truck Update
  • Volunteer All Call 
  • Our Supporters
  • A Note from Daniele
  • Recipe Spotlight

The warm weather of summer is here!  Thanks be to God!  It’s been wonderful to shed the warm layers and pull the truck into our partner parking lots on beautiful days – sometimes to people sitting in the sun, already waiting for us.  There are so many wonderful things to update you about such as adding our third serving day and the success of our 5K-As-You-Can.  One of the things I’m most excited about right now is introducing you to our new full-time Kitchen Manager Daniele Maeder. Many of you may already know Daniele as one of our part-time Kitchen Assistants, but as of June 1st – she began full-time as our Kitchen Manager!  I hope many more of you get to meet her by coming to work in the kitchen or getting lunch at the truck. She is a beautiful soul who brings a lot of love, creativity and genuine hospitality to the ministry of Shobi’s Table.  You can email her at shobistablekitchen@gmail.com. 

Adding Tuesdays (Good things happen on the third day!)

We’re adding a THIRD DAY! June 8th is our first regular lunch service on Tuesdays.  Just like every Thursday and Friday, we’ll serve from noon-1pm.  We will park the truck in the parking lot at Christ on Capitol Hill – just a hop, skip and a jump from the kitchen where we cook.  We are so grateful for the partnership with this church!  They have given such deep support to Shobi’s Table, especially in these last few years.  We are so excited to have a new serving site in this place that has already done so much for us.  Adding Tuesdays also means we’ll be adding another prep day on Mondays, so if you’re available on Mondays or Tuesdays – email us at shobistable@gmail.com and we’ll set up a time for you to be trained, and then join the growing team of volunteers we depend on to help make delicious meals each week. 

5K-As-You-Can Success

A huge thank you to everyone who participated in our first ever 5K-As-You-Can!  Together we gained 12 new friends of Shobi’s Table and raised $1,581.42! We gathered for a delicious lunch of quiche, salad and banana “ice cream” on a beautiful and hot day.  Some folks did their 5K throughout the week while it was cooler, and some braved their 5K in the hot sun on Saturday on bikes and on foot.  We are so grateful to everyone who ate, who walked, who biked, who shared the good word of what God is doing through Shobi’s Table.  

Volunteer All Call!

With the additional serving day, we’ve got lots of volunteer spots to fill at Shobi’s Table!  If you enjoy meaningful work alongside wonderful people in St Paul, you are invited to join our volunteer crew!  We’ve now got openings each day of the week, and we’d love to see you – especially in the kitchen.  If you aren’t trained yet, email Daniele at shobistablekitchen@gmail.com and she’ll get you on the schedule.  If you’re already trained in, please check out our SignUpGenius for Shobi’s Table and fill up the open spots! We hope to see you soon.

Our Supporters

Did you know that Shobi’s Table is supported not only by your generous donations, but by grants from other organizations and church foundations? We are so grateful to these communities for supporting the work needed to make our pay-as-you-can cafe run smoothly and keep growing! A huge thanks to our most recent foundation givers: 

  • Memorial Lutheran Church Foundation 
  • Christ the King Foundation

If you want to donate now, click on this link: DONATE NOW TO SHOBI’S TABLE

(re)Introducing Daniele Maeder – Kitchen Manager

In the past year, my oldest son graduated high school, my youngest has done virtual school, I married my sweetheart, and the four of us moved across the country from a small town in Washington to St Paul where we are adjusting to living as a blended family for the first time. I feel like just one of those transitions would have been enough, but somehow we made it through and have, more or less, acclimated to life in Minnesota.

One of the things that helped me through those first weeks of being in this new place was volunteering at Shobi’s Table. I was welcomed into a community of helpers and sank comfortably into the warmth and familiarity of the kitchen  As I chopped onions and helped form delicious hand pies, I felt useful, needed and loved. As time went on, I spent more time at Shobi’s, helped serve from the truck and began to meet more people from the community. I am to be proud to be part of the work Shobi’s Table is doing.

Now that I’ve been given the opportunity to serve as Kitchen Manager for Shobi’s Table, I’m excited (and nervous!) to transition into this new role. I look forward to growing with Shobi’s as we add a third serving day.  I hope to continue to provide a nurturing, loving space for volunteers to come help serve the people of St.Paul. 

I invite all of you to join us in the kitchen for a volunteer shift or lunch at the big blue truck and look forward to meeting you.  Thanks for all you do to support the mission of Shobi’s Table.

Recipe Spotlight

It’s all about that sauce!

At Shobi’s Table, meals often begin with a base of fresh vegetables, greens, legumes, and grains. When cooking with such simple ingredients, it helps to have something to bring it all together and give the dish some personality.   We often say that “it’s all about the sauce” and we use a variety of sauces in our cooking to lift our dishes and make them sing.

One of our favorites is the ever-adaptable Green Goddess dressing. This sauce is bright, fresh, and creamy, and can be tweaked to work with the ingredients you have on hand.  The creaminess can come from sour cream, mayo, yogurt, avocado, or combination of these.  The fresh herbs can be combined as you please. Use basil and parsley to evoke the flavors of Italy, mint and oregano for a Greek feeling, and cilantro to compliment a Mexican inspired dish.

Enjoy this dressing on roasted vegetables, a baked potato, to dress a simple piece of fish, or as dip for crudité.

Green Goddess Dressing

1 cup fresh leafy herbs finely chopped (basil, dill, parsley, cilantro, chives . . .)

1-2 cloves garlic grated or finely chopped

½ cup mayo

½ cup sour cream or yogurt

2TB lemon or lime juice, or apple cider vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions: 

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.  

For a smoother sauce this can be made in the food processor or with an immersion blender (in this case, no need to finely chop the garlic and herbs).

Taste and add lemon juice and salt as needed.  Can also be thinned with milk or water if desired.

Personalize this recipe to your taste.  Include your favorite herbs, add chilis for some heat, omit the garlic or replace with granulated for a softer flavor. This dressing never has to be the same twice-have fun creating in the kitchen.