Ole'! (That's Spanish for Hurrah)

Yesterday at the Center was a great day.  We got there early...as always (around 3), and it wasn't until five or after that people started to trickle in.  Everyone comes in, hangs up their coat and scarf and then heads for the kitchen.  It smelled good!
We fixed taco pileups.  Now you may think that is no big deal, but it was a big deal.  Finding all of the ingredients was  something of a triumph in itself.  We never know from week to week how many people will be there.  It is very possible that we might fix enough for 40 and have 10, or vice verse.  Since last night was only our second week to fix a meal, we just guessed.
We cooked up 7 pounds of ground beef and added all sorts of canned beans (couldn't find pinto beans anywhere....and black beans aren't even available dried).  I added baked beans (drained and rinsed), mixed beans (drained and rinsed), and kidney beans.  I put a fair amount of spice into that mixture.  We had 5 heads of lettuce all chopped up, 2 pounds of cheddar cheese, 19 tomatoes, 5 bags of tortilla chips (yes...really.  And they are not bad), some so-called salsa that I made with seasonings, and various other ingredients, sour cream and some guacamole.  I got 6 large avocados at a smoking good price because they were ripe.  I was afraid they would be black on the inside but they were beautiful.
Before dinner was served I explained how one creates a taco pileup and they seemed to like the whole idea. Each one of them created a culinary work of art!  Everyone seemed to eat with relish and so many were very complimentary.  I watched the ingredients disappear with some apprehension....afraid that it would not be enough.  We fed 30, and when the last one got through the line, the ground beef/bean mixture, the sour cream and the guacamole were all gone.  I think I could have prepared half again as much of each and it would have been eaten.
Dessert was pumpkin sheet cake with cream cheese icing.  You have to know that finding pumpkin around here is also a labor of love.  We found 3 cans at the back of a shelf in a grocery store after looking for a week.  It was even Libby's....well who else cans pumpkins right?
That was an even bigger hit.  One young woman declared that it was the best dessert she has ever had!!!  I had made two large cakes and sliced each into about 36 good-size slices.  When all was said and done, there were about 7 or 8 slices left.  So dinner was a hit.
Several stayed around to talk so we sat and visited too.  I was happy to get to know several of them a little better.  They are such nice young people and I admire their strength.
It was after 11 p.m. when we walked into our apartment.

The chairmen of the YSA organization have big plans and I so hope we can help them come to pass.  There is an average attendance at Institute of 40 to 50 with a smaller number usually eating.  But in the greater Copenhagen area there is a much larger number of people who could be coming.  Many live too far to come in every week and many have large callings in their home wards.  Add work and in many cases heavy college loads and it is a wonder that we have anyone attend.  But our chairmen are hoping to get our numbers up to the sky!  (I hope it doesn't happen before I get this cooking thing figured out,)

But it is such a great thing for them....just to get together with people who believe the same things they do and value the same things. I have met several marvelous couples here who met each other at YSA gatherings and I can truly see the long-term value of this great program.

Time for bed....Buenos Noches!
I mean  "Godnat!"