Christmas With Stepping Stone

What does food mean to you? Is it a source of nutrition, comfort, entertainment, pleasure, satisfaction or all of the above?  Food is a necessity of life, but for many of us who are privileged enough to have food in abundance its meaning goes well beyond that. Food is the centerpiece of celebration, a way to express appreciation, a way to escape from a stressful day or a way to share memories with friends and family. Think back to the food you enjoyed over the holidays and see how many different ways you used and enjoyed food.

I had the distinct privilege of helping to create a food memory at the annual Christmas party held by Stepping Stone in Halifax over the holidays. My family provided and prepared a wide variety of our favorite Christmas meal items and this effort was combined with the efforts of a small but mighty pool of volunteers to provide a Christmas feast.  I wanted to not only provide nourishment but a special and memorable experience. My family and I prepared our own Christmas recipes with all the love we put into the Christmas season.  Christmas meals are full of meaning to me as they connect me to my family and memories of Christmas past. I wanted to help provide the same thing to the clients of Stepping Stone.

Stepping Stone is an organization dedicated to working with sex workers in our community and is the only organization of its kind in the Maritimes. The dedicated staff works diligently to improve the quality of life for sex workers and does so in a non-judgmental manner working from a harm reduction perspective.  It was my pleasure to cook for the amazing clients and staff of this organization.

Food is something that should unite us so I am going to take a moment for an aside to talk about stigma, something that causes harmful division. Stigma is a debilitating and it interferes with people who are fighting to improve their lot in life. Stigma slowed progress in AIDS treatment, intravenous drug treatment, human rights and safety for the LGBT community and many other areas in our society.  It is currently making the life of sex workers incredibly dangerous and it impedes the ability of those who provide services to sex workers from doing their valuable work.  Sponsors and volunteers are often hard to come by and funding goes up and down at the whim of politicians. Stigma makes it difficult to gain support for resourcing this valuable work. There is much good that can be done to improve the lives of sex workers and their families if we let go of our judgments and engage in solutions. I highly recommend supporting Stepping Stone. Let’s come together and try to understand those who live different lives and end the stigma that causes so much damage.

Here are links to some of the feature recipes that I used for the meal and as well some tips and tricks for cooking for a crowd (we were preparing food for 100).

Cider and Herb Butter Injected Roasted Turkey with Apple Cider Gravy

Citrus Glazed Ham

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes (Coming Soon)

Orange and Port Cranberry Sauce

Our contribution to the meal also included a homemade stuffing, dozen pies of 3 different varieties (fresh pumpkin, coconut cream and pecan), mashed sweet potato and turnip, honey glazed carrots, dinner rolls and assorted party trays of fruits, veggies, cheese and pepperoni, pickles and crackers.

Those who know me will not be surprised that I would choose to support people who are stigmatized.  We as a society can be exceedingly cruel to those we don’t understand and I believe that there is where the most valuable work can be done. I ended my association with the church I was a member of because they were promoters of stigma and I got burned out trying to work within that organization to help those in the most need. I have been blessed with a great background in food which I learned in the kitchens of my family. I have decided that this talent can be used to help those who struggle to find help. I will be dedicating my cooking efforts to finding ways to bring special moments to the lives of those who need it most.