Special treats for all tonight

Thursday is "Senior's Day" at our local Chinese/Korean buffet
restaurant. Dave and I eat there once or twice a month. No MSG is
used.... Sometimes we go on Fridays for the AYCE crab legs @ $7.95, or
Saturdays for the AYCE butterfly shrimp and fish tempura @ $7.95.

But on Thursdays we pay $5.95 for the buffet and there are always some
especially nice dishes. Tonight it was "Lemon Fish" and some very
fresh chop suey with snow peas, baby bok choy and mung bean sprouts,
among other vegies.

We normally try to arrive before 5 PM when there's no waiting for a
table, but today we were busy working outside almost until dark, and
then were *very* hungry and too tired to cook, so it was off for a
Chinese dinner. We arrived about 20 minutes before closing time, when
they lock the door to new customers but let everyone already inside
finish eating.

We were there as the buffet was being shut down. First time I've seen
this. I was somewhat horrified watching the kitchen staff toss ALL of
the remaining buffet food directly into a trash can! I mean, this
buffet has at least 50 different selections in it, and every bit of
every steamtable tray was dumped.

Well, I always stuff a few tidbits into a napkin for the cats and this
time was no different, except I told them when I handed out the treats
"This is only an appetizer, we're going back for a lot more".

We waited half an hour or so then returned and got about 5 quarts of
still steaming hot meats, fish and vegies (no onions, of course) for
the clowder, free of charge. I could easily have gotten 3-4 times as
much, but it's rather tedious picking through all that food for the
right stuff.

Most of the haul is going in the fridge or freezer for other days but
they sure are loving their bowl of special treats tonight. We've
raided this dumpster other times but never realized before tonight
that they throw away so much more than just what people leave on their
plates.

Today the kitties also got the first live green grass of the season.
They're very happy tonight, and I'm very happy to see their enjoyment.

Lucky cats. :-)

--
Adrian

On Mar 18, 5:53*am, Pat wrote:

Well, I always stuff a few tidbits into a napkin for the cats and this
time was no different, except I told them when I handed out the treats
"This is only an appetizer, we're going back for a lot more".

Lucky cats indeed!

It's amazing how much food is wasted. Over here a lot of places give
unsold sandwiches etc to charity at the end of the day- they get given
to the homeless on the soup runs although some stores dump the food
and have even been known to deliberately spoil it (spraying it with
dye, and suchlike) so homeless people won't be able to use it

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

"Pat" wrote in message
...
(early snippage)
We were there as the buffet was being shut down. First time I've seen
this. I was somewhat horrified watching the kitchen staff toss ALL of
the remaining buffet food directly into a trash can! I mean, this
buffet has at least 50 different selections in it, and every bit of
every steamtable tray was dumped.

I worked at Red Lobster as a server when I was a newlywed, 30 years ago. We
were all appalled at the amount of food that was thrown out at the end of
the night. Before the dinner service started the kitchen manager had to try
to guess how many trays of baked potatoes to make for the night. He/she had
to err on the side of caution. Potatoes take an hour to bake; you can't
leave a guest sitting there waiting for an hour for a potato when the main
entree only takes 10 minutes. So they always baked way too many. (Ditto
the rice pilaf and the dinner rolls and cornbread muffins.) They tossed
everything that was left when we closed into the trash can at the end of the
night. Unfortunately, it's against health department regulations to give
the [untouched] food to employees to take home. There we were, making
$2.13/hour plus whatever measly quarters the customers deemed to leave as
tips, watching them throw all this food away. Trust me, we would gladly
have taken it home if we could.

We waited half an hour or so then returned and got about 5 quarts of
still steaming hot meats, fish and vegies (no onions, of course) for
the clowder, free of charge. I could easily have gotten 3-4 times as
much, but it's rather tedious picking through all that food for the
right stuff.

Dumpster diving seems a little extreme. You could probably have asked for
some to-go boxes and taken a few items with you. But I'm glad the cats
benefitted

Jill

Adrian wrote:
Lucky cats. :-)

A number of years ago Albertsons had a store by a creek. At closing
time, the bakery dumped excess baked goods into the creek where hundreds
of ducks waited each evening for the handout. I believe the law has
changed since then. If I remember correctly, restaurants now have left
over food picked up by charities. I'll have to research this to see
what the present law is.

"MLB" wrote in message
...
Adrian wrote:
Lucky cats. :-)

A number of years ago Albertsons had a store by a creek. At closing time,
the bakery dumped excess baked goods into the creek where hundreds of
ducks waited each evening for the handout. I believe the law has changed
since then. If I remember correctly, restaurants now have left over food
picked up by charities. I'll have to research this to see what the
present law is.


I think it varies by state and local health department regulations. When I
worked as a server (30 years ago) the restaurant wasn't allowed to donate
excess food to homeless shelters or soup kitchens (or even give the food to
employees.) Personally, if I didn't know where my next meal was coming from
I'd have been grateful for day old bread.

Jill

jmcquown wrote:

Dumpster diving seems a little extreme. *You could probably have asked for
some to-go boxes and taken a few items with you. *But I'm glad the cats
benefitted

There was another oriental restaurant in town (closed a few years ago)
where I knew the owners fairly well, and they would load the leftovers
right into my containers at the end of the night. I don't think the
place we ate last night would do that ;(.

We checked the configuration of the existing dumpster contents before
we left after dinner, so I would know which bag contained the fresh
discards. Thankfully, the bin was nearly full, and diving was not
required .

On Fri, 18 Mar 2011 11:04:36 -0400, "jmcquown"
wrote:


"MLB" wrote in message
...
Adrian wrote:
Lucky cats. :-)

A number of years ago Albertsons had a store by a creek. At closing time,
the bakery dumped excess baked goods into the creek where hundreds of
ducks waited each evening for the handout. I believe the law has changed
since then. If I remember correctly, restaurants now have left over food
picked up by charities. I'll have to research this to see what the
present law is.


I think it varies by state and local health department regulations. When I
worked as a server (30 years ago) the restaurant wasn't allowed to donate
excess food to homeless shelters or soup kitchens (or even give the food to
employees.) Personally, if I didn't know where my next meal was coming from
I'd have been grateful for day old bread.

Jill

I don't know about restaurants... but the church's feeding program
gets leftover bread and bagels and baked goods donated by Panera
Bread. Somebody from the church goes over there after closing time to
pick them up. Then we use as much as we need to feed 75-100 for lunch
and take the rest to another feeding program who serves dinner.

"Kajikit" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 18 Mar 2011 11:04:36 -0400, "jmcquown"
wrote:


"MLB" wrote in message
...
Adrian wrote:
Lucky cats. :-)

A number of years ago Albertsons had a store by a creek. At closing
time,
the bakery dumped excess baked goods into the creek where hundreds of
ducks waited each evening for the handout. I believe the law has
changed
since then. If I remember correctly, restaurants now have left over
food
picked up by charities. I'll have to research this to see what the
present law is.


I think it varies by state and local health department regulations. When
I
worked as a server (30 years ago) the restaurant wasn't allowed to donate
excess food to homeless shelters or soup kitchens (or even give the food
to
employees.) Personally, if I didn't know where my next meal was coming
from
I'd have been grateful for day old bread.

Jill

I don't know about restaurants... but the church's feeding program
gets leftover bread and bagels and baked goods donated by Panera
Bread. Somebody from the church goes over there after closing time to
pick them up. Then we use as much as we need to feed 75-100 for lunch
and take the rest to another feeding program who serves dinner.

My church picks up food from Viva la Pasta on the days when it's our turn to
feed the homeless.

Joy

On Mar 18, 9:35*pm, "Joy" wrote:
"Kajikit" wrote in message

...





On Fri, 18 Mar 2011 11:04:36 -0400, "jmcquown"
wrote:

"MLB" wrote in message
...
Adrian wrote:
Lucky cats. :-)

A number of years ago Albertsons had a store by a creek. *At closing
time,
the bakery dumped excess baked goods into the creek where hundreds of
ducks waited each evening for the handout. *I believe the law has
changed
since then. *If I remember correctly, restaurants now have left over
food
picked up by charities. *I'll have to research this to see what the
present law is.

I think it varies by state and local health department regulations. *When
I
worked as a server (30 years ago) the restaurant wasn't allowed to donate
excess food to homeless shelters or soup kitchens (or even give the food
to
employees.) *Personally, if I didn't know where my next meal was coming
from
I'd have been grateful for day old bread.

Jill

I don't know about restaurants... but the church's feeding program
gets leftover bread and bagels and baked goods donated by Panera
Bread. Somebody from the church goes over there after closing time to
pick them up. Then we use as much as we need to feed 75-100 for lunch
and take the rest to another feeding program who serves dinner.

My church picks up food from Viva la Pasta on the days when it's our turn to
feed the homeless.


The Sikh temples in the area, following 500-plus years of custom, have
an all-veg luncheon after every religious service. Their leftovers get
taken to the nearest shelters and soup kitchens.

Except at my wedding. We had a gang of young men serving it up; since
they represented the bride's family, there was not a Sikh among them.
They made off with every last crumb, drop of curry sauce, and grain of
rice to be had. One man is rumored to have shipped several tubs of
food home to Florida, because he didn't like any of the Indian joints
near his home.

Blessed be,
Baha