Our latest Spotlight on Volunteers focuses on Michelle Fortin, our clean up volunteer coordinator, and the person who orients new volunteers for Thursday evening prep.  Recently Michelle has also taken on beautifully facilitating Thursday evening prep, which takes a lot of organizational and interpersonal skill.  Our kitchen has never been so clean, and her commitment to helping all our volunteers feel valued and included is fundamental to the sustainability of our weekly breakfast.  Be sure to say hello to Michelle next time you see her, and tell her thanks for her hard work and enthusiasm for Selma Cafe.

Tell us about yourself Michelle:
I grew up in Brampton Ontario, just outside of Toronto. Just close enough to feel like we were big city kids, but just far enough that the city kids thought we were bumpkins.  It is culturally diverse in a very different way from AA in that people tend to keep more of their original culture than I’ve found to be the case here. This has its good and bad points, but has obliged me to adjust my thinking of how people feel about their cultural heritage here. So, I’m learning a lot.  I’ve been in the service industry all my life and I consider myself richer every time I meet a new person. Even if I don’t get along with that person, I’ve learned something about myself.
My children are in grade school, so they follow me to Selma on Thursday nights as well as Friday mornings in the summer and they love it. I’m so glad that they have the opportunity to see community at work in such a natural and effective manner.
My husband, Patrick, makes this all possible through his hard work at a job he loves; a job that brought us here, so I really feel blessed.

What is your role at Selma:
I’ve been attending most Thursday preps at Selma since February and leading them just recently. It’s really important to me to make prep enjoyable for our volunteers so that they’ll want to come back. Of course, just the energy of so many great people in one place works its own magic;  but I want to make sure that they felt that their time was used wisely. I enjoy running prep because I can go home knowing that everything is well-set for the following morning.
It was also important to me to do my part to make Selma sustainable. It’s a big commitment to offer the breakfast every week, so I wanted to see what I could do to keep Lisa and Jeff energized about Selma. This came in the form of taking a party house off their hands and turning it into their family home again. This I do with a great team of volunteers, many of whom are now regulars, just getting through the clean-up list until it’s done, done, done. That way, I feel that I can look forward to many years of Selma which has been a great pond from which to fish so many wonderful people.

What work do you do when you aren’t helping out at Selma?
Like most of us at Selma, food is a big passion. I work with the students at my children’s school to help them make healthy food choices. We work on natural crafty stuff.  I work on the food committee for our Ice Cream Social. We had all local food this year AND made a great profit. That felt good.

Tell us 3 things about yourself that most people don’t know about you:
I was a flight attendant for 11 years before deciding to stay at home. That decision wasn’t hard. I hated jeg lag so much that I would do red-eye turn-arounds rather than deal with the sun being in my eyes when I was supposed to be sleeping.
I had a stall at my Farmers’ Market in VanKleek Hill, Ontario. I sold home-made ice cream and I once sold ready-made picnics (when I say once, I mean I sold ONE).
I’m dreaming of going to Nepal with my kids to work for three months in a home for destitute children. I need to see how other families live.

What is your favorite food and Drink?
My favourite food is shared with friends. No joke.
Buuuuuut, I must say that maple syrup goes with pretty much everything in my books, and you can drink it too. So I think that covers that.
Good spring water when you’re really thirsty is a close second.
Oh, and have you tried pomegranate juice? Man, that’s tasty.
Another food I won’t forget was actually a half-dozen eggs Lisa gave me as a gift recently. They had the orangest yolks I’ve ever seen and I could feel the goodness go down like sunshine into my tummy. All those Selma greens-stems make goooood eggs.

What else would you like us to know about you?
I’m working really hard on enjoying all this wonderfulness that’s in my life without marring it too much by wondering about the reason some other people don’t have it.

I hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know Michelle as much as I have.

~Lisa

Tammy knows her way around a kitchen.  Hosting her own gourmet fundraising dinners and creating artisan chocolates gives Tammy the confidence to make delicious food happen creatively, efficiently and best of all, with a spirit of fun and enjoyment that makes it a pleasure to work with her.

Tammy’s first special was an Indian inspired dish that featured hard boiled eggs with a spicy tomato and onion based ragu, broccoli infused with curry flavor, home baked whole grain chapati, and a cooling mint and cucumber yogurt raiti to ease the heat.

Tammy’s second special was a rich and luscious ham and cheese strata.  This savory bread pudding was melt in your mouth creamy, and the side of garden greens with a tart vinegrette created a perfect balance in the dish.

Thanks Tammy, and we look forward to more FM@SELMA’s with you soon.

Thanks also to all the Thursday evening prep and Friday morning service volunteers this week, including Michelle Fortin, Patrick Racine, Heidi Kumao, Jennifer Jensen, Sarah Juster, Olivia Gramprie, Chelsea Cendrowski, Kevin Hawkins, Sarah Rontal, Rachel Shevrin, Elizabeth Beers, Brittany Brown, Noah Miller, Courtney Peterson, Greta Spivey, Codi Sharp, Rachel Gooze, Kerstin Barndt, Kris Kaul, Andrew Bozio, Nevon Clark and Debbie Eyde.

This week we say good-bye to Remi Holden, who did a terrific job as breakfast expediter for many months now.  Check out Remi’s interview here, and wish him well on his future adventures.

Next week we have EAT catering serving us up breakfast again, and these two make amazing food!  Be sure to come by and enjoy their specials.

Until then, enjoy these long summer days, along with the bountiful harvest of local fruits and veggies pouring into farmer’s markets, farm stands, and local grocery stores in our community.  Looking forward to seeing you in our kitchen soon,

~Lisa

I’m thrilled to begin our first Spot Light On Volunteers website feature with our very own kitchen angel, Susie Baity Stearns.  Each week we will interview one of our many wonderful volunteers, and starting things off with Susie feels just right.  Susie has stepped up and taken a fundamental role in keeping Friday Mornings@SELMA sustainable by organizing and facilitating our Thursday evening prep parties, and by being our “front of house” presence most every Friday morning.  Susie has the uncanny ability of noticing what we need and taking care of it before we know it ourselves, and she always has a ready smile for everyone.  I sat down with Susie, in between her seating guests, and asked her a few questions to help you get to know her.

Thanks for talking with me Susie. Tell us a bit about yourself.

It’s not very easy for me to talk about myself!  I live downtown, and I have two teenagers; a boy and a girl.  I like to spend time up north, to cook with friends, to garden, and I love to read–I read everything–fiction, non fiction, and technical stuff. I love to go to NIA classes–NIA is a form of improvisational movement that combines martial arts, yoga, modern and jazz dance together, and it’s really fun and energizing.  It is also a wonderful spiritual practice, which is important to me.  Spending time with my close friends is also really important to me–it feeds my soul.

What is your role with Selma Cafe?

I am the host for Friday Mornings@SELMA, and I also facilitate Thursday evening prep part of the time.  I started volunteering for Selma early on.  I love the energy and the people and Lisa and Jeff.  I love the smell, and the coffee, and the bacon.  Especially the bacon.

What work do you do when you aren’t helping out at Selma?

My job is in financial services– in sales. I spend a lot of time on the phone–basically I’m in the relationship building business.  Selma is a great opportunity for me to balance the demands of my work with something that is a whole lot of fun.

Susie, tell us 3 things that people don’t generally know about you.

I am afraid of clowns. My dream job would be to open a women’s clothing store, and I have a weakness for high heeled shoes.

What is your favorite food and drink?

These days my favorite morning drink is Roos Roast coffee, my favorite afternoon drink is Yogi lemon ginger iced tea, and my favorite night time drink is prosecco with a splash of lemonade.  My favorite food is bacon.  A little salty, but not too smoky. Especially the home cured bacon made by my Selma friends.  I also love mac and cheese, and most anything dark green and raw–beet greens, kale, chard and spinach.

What else would you like us to know about you:

Whew, this was a little nerve wracking! Even though I am fairly extroverted, and I love people, I’m shy when it comes to talking about myself!

~*~

I hope you’ve enjoyed our new get-to-know-our-volunteers feature.  Let me know if there is someone on our crew you’d like to read about!

~Lisa

It was another colorfully beautiful morning at Selma Cafe.  It sure is a lot easier to get up before six every Friday in the summer than during the long dark months of winter.  And summer it is.

farmer's market tomatoes

ready for roasting

farmer's market sour cherries

preparing fruit compote

Eric and Ines offered two specials this morning that used the best of the season.  Corn meal from Ernst Farm was the basis for  their two specials.

Eric served up stone ground cornmeal pancakes, topped with warm fruit compote, and fresh fruit salad with a side of bacon or sausage.  The pancakes were rich with the flavor of cornmeal, and the mix of sour cherries, blueberries and strawberries in the compote created a perfect flavor combination. Especially with a bit of butter and real maple syrup.

Ines brought us a mushroom, cheese and kale baked polenta, topped with a roasted tomato salsa, and served with slices of zucchini, brushed with olive oil and broiled ’til they were nicely browned.  A side of hoop house greens and a spicy nasturtium flower  rounded out this savory dish perfectly.

We had tons of help with prep on Thursday night, and as usual, we offer some huge appreciation to our volunteer crew. Thanks to Dave Waterhouse, Robert Caplis, Brittany Brown, Noah Miller, Kevin Hawkins, Jennifer Jensen, Shoshana Hurand, Natsuko Nicholls, Rachel Shevrin, Chelsea Cendrowski, Patrick, Charles and Simone Racine, Olivia Gramprie, and an extra thank you to Michelle Fortin for facilitating prep.

Friday morning volunteers really rocked out the service this week.  Thank you, thank you to Remi Holden for expediting, and Michelle Fortin for facilitating the after-service clean up! More thanks to Robert Caplis, Sarah Juster, Dorran D., Megan P., Brittany Brown, Noah Miller, Sara Schlotterbeck, Ellen Moloney, Kris Kaul,  Jennifer Jensen, Joel Panozzo and Nevon Clark.  Our volunteers are amazing, and Selma Cafe depends on their continual hard work and sweet attitudes.

Sunseed Farm offered some beautiful groceries this week, including this gorgeous broccoli and cabbage.  Every week they bring extra produce, so even if you don’t have one of their generous CSA shares, be sure to do some shopping at their Selma Cafe mini farm stand after breakfast.

brad, kim and deirdre

We had some exciting HomeGrown Festival action in the driveway this morning. Sign production was fast and furious thanks to these three.  Check out the beautiful yard signs!  I love the blue background this year.  Pretty!  And, rumor has it the T-shirts are just as snazzy.

Thanks everyone, for continuing to keep Friday Mornings@SELMA such a happenin’ success.  Have a safe and pleasant July 4th weekend, and see you ’round the kitchen soon.

~Lisa