Odd kitchen stories

[fan-of-fans]

I was thinking yesterday about some memorable events that happened in the school kitchen.

In elementary school, one time some foam containers caught fire in the kitchen, and someone pulled the fire alarm. The exhaust system sucked the smoke outside and the sky was filled with black smoke. It was a little scary to me at the time. I forget who put the fire out but it was gone by the time the fire dept arrived. I just remember the lunch ladies standing outside saying "There's a fire in the kitchen!"

In high school I remember once one of the motors in the kitchen exhaust system went out, the one that took air from over the fryers. For three days the steam from the fryers kept going up and spilling out of the hood, you couldn't barely see into the kitchen because it was filled with clouds of steam! Even the dining room had a slight haze in the air. The maintenance dept had to order the parts and I think it took two or three days to get the motor running again.

 

[abcomatic]

I remember the plumbers coming to school to take care of the grease traps in the kitchen of the cafeteria. My room was at the other end of the building and you could still smell this wretched, acrid order. When the kids would go to lunch and then come back after the bell rang, they had a lot to tell me about that experience!

 

[vacerator]

In my

parochial elementary school, we didn't have a cafeteria. We had to brown bag our lunches except once a month, when our moms volunteered to make us hot dogs in the parish social hall kitchen.
Started by baby boomer families, and little funds, the church was originally supposed to be the school gym.
By 1967, it had over 500 families as members though.
In high school, I can remember the smell of the Govt. canned beef they used for hot beef and gravy sandwiches.

 

[twintubdexter]

When I was in grade school lunches cost 35 cents. Of all the things they served, canned spinach was the most hated. You could smell it cooking early in the morning. As sort of a "spinach boycott' all the kids would bring pennies to pay for lunch. It really slowed things down and caused some definite problems but of course we inmates had no power and the spinach continued. I sort of liked it.