To kick off the season of giving, St. Anthony’s will launch our 24^th annual Curbside Donation Program.  Each year, St. Anthony’s relies on the generosity of people all over the Bay Area to donate clean, cared-for warm clothing, canned or dried bulk foods, and monetary donations.  Our donation valets, clad in bright red jackets, will gladly greet donors curbside at St. Anthony’s to receive donations.

This year, St. Anthony’s would like to send a special thanks to our friends at the Institute on Aging.  What began as a small gesture of generosity several years ago has grown exponentially through the tireless efforts of their staff and supporters.  We are blessed to have the IOA as members of the St. Anthony community and we wish them hope and happiness this holiday season.

Curbside donations begin tomorrow at 9 A.M.  Have a wonderful weekend!

Local San Francisco street cart food vendors are teaming up this Sunday to benefit St. Anthony Foundation. Swing by for some Adobo Hobo, Toasty Melts, and perhaps a Bike Basket Pie for dessert!

The event is being organized by Soul Cocina. For Exact Location check Soul Cocina on Twitter.

April is well underway at this point and sunshine has replaced the typical rainy days of February and March. This week’s menu features a number of chicken dishes, prepared in various ways. A few of the different flavors our guests will enjoy include:classic BBQ, Adobo w/ fennel and paprika, and chicken simmered in dijon mustard. For many of St. Anthony’s guests, the meal they eat in the dining room will be the only meal they eat that day. That means the nutritional value of every meal the dining room serves is that much more important. Almost 40% of our diners are over the age of 50, and their health depends on nutritious meals. Chicken is a great and economical way to provide our diners with the protein and low fat options they need. Meat-eaters rejoice, as Easter Sunday quickly approaches, and meat on Friday’s is once again acceptable. Easter Sunday’s meal will be Beef Bourguignon, a French recipe, traditional preparation includes simmering the beef in red wine (of course the alcohol is cooked out in the process), making the meat even richer and more tender.

April 6 Pork Braised in Coconut Milk: served with vegetables and rice

April 7 BBQ Chicken: fresh vegetables and mashed potatoes

April 8 Chicken Adobo: seasoned with orange, fennel, paprika, and saffron

April 9 Tortilla Casserole: layers of tortillas, chicken, salsa and cheese

April 10 Vegetable and Cheese Quiche: fresh veggies, cheese, and eggs

April 11 Chicken Dijon: simmered in mustard sauce

April 12 Easter Sunday Beef Bourguignon: served with carrots and mushrooms.

Please check back for weekly installments of On The Menu!

I can’t believe it’s almost April, seems like just yesterday we were inaugurating a new president, with hopes of a new beginning for this incredible country. With only three days left in March St. Anthony Dining Room celebrates the end of Winter with Vietnamese cuisine. The chefs at St. Anthony strive to satisfy the many tastes of the diverse Dining Room demographics. Also On the Menu delicious chicken and turkey dishes.

Mar 29 Chicken Cacciatore: served with vegetables and polenta

Mar 30 Arroz Con Pavo: turkey and rice, with tomatoes and vegetables

Mar 31 Lien’s Vietnamese Chicken: served with rice and vietnamese salad

Check back later this week for April’s first installment of On the Menu.

Mar 15 Sausage and Vegetable Ragu: Served over polenta. A staple of northern Italy’s Bologna, Ragu usually contains ground beef, tomatoes, onions, celery, carrots, white wine and seasoning. The Ragu is served over piping hot polenta, another dish common in Northern Italy, and is a hearty cornmeal mush, mixed with delicious parmesan cheese and fried.

Mar 16 Vegetable Tagine: North African stew served with couscous. This Moraccan stew is gently simmered with vegetables, olives, preserved lemons, garlic and spices like cumin, ginger, pepper, saffron and turmeric. The stew is served in a traditional style with couscous underneath. Couscous is made from coarsly ground flour or cracked wheat, which is the result of sifting out the finer flour.

Mar 17 Corned Beef and Cabbage: With potatoes and carrots. Believe it or not but corned beef and cabbage is an American tradition applied to the Irish holidy St. Patrick’s Day. Ireland however, exported more corned beef than the rest of the world until 1825. When Irish immigrants came to the states in the 1800’s and couldn’t find bacon they settled for the traditionally Jewish corned beef, which was similar in texture. Despite the history lesson, this wholesome meal is a favorite on March 17th for a reason, because it’s delicious. Love the orange carrots and green cabbage, they really celebrate the Irish colors.

Mar 18 Hot Turkey Sandwiches: With gravy and vegetables

Mar 19 Chicken Creole: simmered in tomato sauce with peppers and onions, served with rice. Creole is a cooking style orginally from Lousiana, a melting pot cuisine that includes the flavors of France, Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Mediterranean, America, and Africa. This combination of flavors and traditions mirrors the diversity of the St. Anthony guests. Peppers are a major component of this spicy dish, however, the mixture of tomatoes and onions, smoothes out the flavor.

Mar 20 Pasta Primavera: Fettucini and vegetables in a light cream sauce. I’m Sam the intern, by the way, I’ve been the force behind On The Menu for the past few months. Today’s choice, Pasta Primavera is so representative of the first day of spring. With ripe tomatoes and fresh local veggies, this refreshingly great pasta dish is a perfect Friday meal.

Mar 21 Feijoada: Brazilian spiced black beans with ham, served with rice. This national dish of Brazil was brought to South America by the Poruguese. Feijoada is traditionally prepared over a slow fire in a thick clay pot, but St. Anthony’s more contemporary preparation of black beans, salty ham, and rice is equally satisfying.

Mar 22 Lemon Rosemary Turkey: Mashed potatoes and vegetables. Not sure if you love to cook as much as I do, but I found this quick and easy recipe for Lemon Rosemary Chicken; or you can substitute turkey, like the recipe used for Saturday’s dish in the dining room.

Easy Recipe:1/3 c. lemon juice, 1/4 c. cooking oil, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/8 tsp. pepper, 1 1/2 tsp. fresh or dried rosemary crushed, 2 whole med. chicken breast

For marinade, combine lemon juice, oil, fresh or dried rosemary, salt and pepper. Skin and bone chicken breasts. Cut in half lengthwise. Place chicken in a plastic bag. Pour the marinade over chicken. Close bag and marinate in refrigerator for 6 hours or overnight. Remove chicken from marinade, reserving marinade. Place chicken on a broiler pan. Broil 4-5 inches from heat for 6 minutes. Turn chicken. Brush with marinade. Broil 6 to 8 minutes more brushing once or twice with marinade.

Please check back for weekly installments of On The Menu!

Also, I changed up the format of my post quite a bit this week and was wondering how ya’ll like it? Any suggestions of things you would like to see or learn more about, would be greatly appreciated.