food glorious food

As you know every firehouse has a resident chef. There is always at least one firefighter who is passionate about food and cooking. Our resident chef is so passionate about meal planning and food that he needs to be escorted into the grocery store lest he blow the food budget for the day. We pitch in $5.00 per person per meal. It's not a lot of money for a healthy home cooked lunch or supper. Some of our faves are calzones from scratch (we buy the fresh pizza dough... easier than making our own and waiting for the dough to rise, stuffed with sausages, bacon, pepperoni, green peppers, mushrooms, cheese, hot peppers and olives), cheddar tuna melts (so deelish with a touch of chopped cilantro mixed in), chicken Caesar salads, massive 1/2 lb hamburgers, and of course the requisite pasta. At Christmas we'll pitch in some extra funds for a turkey or a roast. There's no lying... we eat well. Although often the food is cold because we get dispatched... and it may be hours until we can eat again. And when we do, we tend to eat with caution. By this I mean we don't gorge until we can't move. I mean, you can, but I don't recommend it. I witnessed early on in my career 3 firefighters down a party tray of Sheppard's Pie. Then we got a call that involved climbing stairs.... lots of stairs in a hot environment wearing full bunker gear and carrying equipment. I do not have to explain what happened next except that the firefighter needed to order a new facepiece. And will probably never eat Sheppard's Pie ever again.