The sign up sheet hung on the refrigerator door in the staff break room for a couple of weeks. When I signed up to bring 2 lasagnas, there were already many signatures of my colleagues, and for more than just lasagna - for fresh Italian bread, cookies, salad fixings and all the trimmings a hungry student could want. I always bring one vegetable in cheese sauce (no tomato sauce) and one chicken lasagna, just to be different - also with cheese, no tomato sauce.
It is a bit of a hoop jumper to figure out how to get them cooked in time and still bring them piping hot out of the oven at 5 PM when the students arrive. Somehow, it works out. There is something fulfilling about wrapping the hot trays in towels and tucking them safely on the floor in the back seat of the car, gingerly navigating the 5 miles to the library from my searing oven, backing up to the loading dock, lifting them with oven mitted hands from my car to the mailroom area, the carting them upstairs to the Fireside Reading Room where tables are set and the buffet is redolent with wonderful homey smells of great food.
Students actually stay and chat, clustered around tables groaning with food. A few fill a take out box and run to class, but mostly they stay. It's the best part of the dinner - having an opportunity to converse and get to know people better. I am fascinated by the different majors, the career plans discussed, the family stories that are told, the whole interaction. This is my adopted family, and I am delighted to set aside an evening for connecting.
As a bonus, I didn't end up doing any of the cleanup. By the time I checked, everything was tidy and put away. How amazing is that!
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