by Noah Rand
With the 2024-2025 school year winding down, it’s appropriate to talk about something lots of people take for granted - our school lunch…more importantly, our cooks! They feed almost 175 people on average daily! In fact, they plan for 200 meals a day and serve seconds almost every day. There have only been two days where they didn’t have seconds in all of this school year.
There have been some burning questions to ask the cooks, and this article gives you the answers. For example, ever wonder how long it takes to prepare the salad bar? It takes 30 minutes on average to pan and weigh everything. How many gallons of ranch do we go through a week? Depending on the week, anywhere from two to four gallons! (Which is all homemade) In fact, a good portion of our dressings and sauces are homemade!
Elwood cooks Felicia Rademacher and Casey Barrow agreed that there are some great things about being a cook, but there are also some tough days.
“Front row parking, and getting to see all the kids enjoy the food we make,” Rademacher and Barrow said, referring to the high points. However, “Some days are super stressful; others aren’t as bad. Also not being able to please everyone is really hard because that is what we strive for.”
Some things coming next year to the menu are a wrap and sandwich bar. Students would be able to choose one and make it just how they like. There is also a possibility of other buffet style options coming to the menu. Along with the pasta bar, taco bar, and loaded tater tot bar, this will be a great addition to the menu. The newer addition will likely be well worth it to many kids. So next time you stop by the kitchen, thank your cooks - they deserve it.