Thanksgiving at The Doe Fund
Every year, Ready, Willing & Able trainees in our Culinary Arts career track prepare a Thanksgiving feast for the hundreds of men who live in our transitional residences. Under the watchful eye of Gino Dalesandro, our Director of Food Services, these men work together to accomplish this massive undertaking while also sharpening their skills in the field.
Our Culinary Arts and Chef in Training programs have always been immensely popular with the men that we serve. Graduates have gone on to achieve immense success in the industry—one of the friendliest for people who have experienced incarceration.
So what does Thanksgiving look like at The Doe Fund? Go behind the scenes in the kitchen of our Peter Jay Sharp Center for Opportunity to see what it takes to prepare this enormous meal: over a dozen whole turkeys, 280 lbs of braised turkey wings, 400 lbs each of mashed sweets potatoes and roasted butternut squash, 200 lbs each of collard greens and cornbread stuffing, 16 gallons of corn chowder soup, 48 pecan pies, and 2,000 other pieces of baked goods including pumpkin cheesecake pie, pumpkin seed bread, and white chocolate chunk and cranberry cookies.
And if you’re looking for some last minute inspiration, take a look at two recipes we use for our Thanksgiving sides—although given the circumstances of this year, we hope you’re not cooking for 24 servings like we are!
