With the school year ending soon, Riverbank High School (RHS) Culinary students served their final Senior Brunch this past Friday, May 5 at the Riverbank Community Center. Central Valley Community Resources has been hosting the Senior Brunch for the local senior citizens in the community for about 10 years and collaborated with the school’s culinary class in 2019.
The brunch will continue – just without the participation from RHS students – every Friday through the summer from 10 a.m. to noon at the Community Center, 3600 Santa Fe. They host approximately 20 guests during a brunch where they are served a variety of home cooked meals and specialty holiday meals that can include sandwiches, soups, salads, and pastries.
There were 17 students from the high school under the direction of Culinary Arts and Food and Nutrition Instructor, Emily Cowdrey that served the seniors this past Friday.
“Students did great,” said Cowdrey. “They made meals once a month for the seniors. They all did a great job prepping all the meals. They are fabulous prep chefs. I would recommend any of them for a kitchen job. They worked well together. Things went really smooth. I am really proud of how far they have come and their cooking skills.”
The students serve a meal at the senior brunch once a month and attend the brunch in person twice a year. They attend the brunch once in the beginning of the year so they can meet the seniors and note any dietary restrictions and then again at end of the school year. This past Friday the students dined and socialized with the seniors.
“It was very satisfying and fulfilling emotionally,” expressed CVCR CEO Darlene Barber Martinez. “Some students do not have grandparents in the area and some grandparents do not have grandchildren in the area. They both connect and look forward to talking about their shared experiences about food and education beyond high school. Some of the meals prepared were requested by the senior citizens.”
Cowdrey explained that the entire culinary class contributed to the meal and broke up into teams to bring a delightful menu together for their final brunch with the seniors.
They served up a mixed green salad with a specialty honey balsamic vinaigrette that was made in house, three pizzas, the Margherita, Garden, and Thai Chicken, and for dessert they served Fresas con Crema which is a sweet cream with strawberries. The pizzas were baked in the Community Center kitchen.
“The food was really good,” added Martinez.
Riverbank local Diana Gonzalez attended the brunch with her sister and shared that the food was delicious.
She said, “I had the Margherita pizza. They were so good. We all sat down to eat together. The Fresas con Crema was really good. It was homemade by the students. It wasn’t heavy and had a great taste.”
Brunch for senior citizens in the community will continue each Friday and for more information call 209-896-3055.
