St. Anne’s Living Center – Page 21 – St. Anne's Living Center

January 13, 2016

Job Opening….Kitchen / Server

If you, or someone you know, is looking for part-time employment, you can stop by St. Anne’s or visit www.stannesguesthome.org/employment.html to apply.

Hours: Mon., Thurs., Fri. (4-7 p.m.); Every other weekend: Sat. & Sun. (6:45 a.m. – 1:15 p.m.)

Kitchen (minimal cooking) / Server

JOB SUMMARY
Prepares meals according to the menu and sanitary standards set forth by state requirements. Assists in serving the meals while being attentive to resident needs and preferences and maintains the dietary area in a clean sanitary manner.

JOB RELATIONS
Is responsible to the Dietary Supervisor.

JOB REQUIREMENTS
1. Education: High School.
2.Training/experience: Previous cooking experience preferred, will provide on-the-job training for institutional cooking.
3. Physical demands:
A.Ability to tolerate walking, standing 90-95% of the time.
B.Ability to lift or transfer a minimum of 50 lbs.
C. Ability to frequently bend, stoop, stretch, pull, and climb three-step ladders.
4. Ability to tolerate disinfectant soaps.
5. Verbal and auditory abilities to respond and communicate effectively with the residents and staff members.
6. Ability to taste and smell foods for quality and palatability.
7. Visual acuity and observations skills in responding to resident dietary needs.
8. Hand and finger dexterity and upper extremity mobility in manipulating kitchen equipment and supplies.
9. Ability to tolerate temperature changes–heat near ovens and stoves; and cold in walk-in cooler and freezer.
10. Ability to work with limited floor space.
11. Valid driver’s license.

BEHAVIOR
1. Maintains strict confidentiality regarding resident’s personal life and activities as well as the internal affairs of St. Anne’s.
2. Uses tact, patience and sensitivity in dealing with residents.
3. Works as a team member in the dietary department.
4. Maintains a positive attitude.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Serves meals as prepared by the A.M. staff in accordance to the menu. May have to prepare minor dishes for a meal.
2. Assists supervisor with food supply inventory.
3. Monitors foods in storage for compliance of sanitary requirements.
4. Performs sanitary maintenance tasks on stoves, counters, cupboards, cooler, freezers, storerooms, equipment, and general areas.
5. Carry out instructions for residents with special nutritional needs.
6. Report to supervisor any concerns that may arise regarding resident’s eating habits.
7. Place food on plates in an attractive manner.
8. Monitor food waste.
9. Observes safety and infection control policies and procedures.
10. Observes sanitary standards as set forth by state regulations.
11. Reads department’s policies and procedures manual annually.
12. Assists staff with Resident Work Therapy Program.
13. Completes the daily check list at the end of the shift.
14. Go to the grocery store for immediate grocery needs.

Information regarding salary and benefits to be discussed with supervisor.

January 7, 2016

Soup’s On…January is Soup Month

What is there better than a hot cup of soup when you’ve got a lousy cold and sore throat? Next to plenty of rest and lots of fluids, you can’t beat it. Actually, it’s great on any cold day in January.

Can you remember, as a child, coming in from an afternoon of sledding or ice-skating, and smelling the aroma of simmering soup on the stove?

At St. Anne’s, we serve soup several (11) times during our five-week menu cycle. Our residents enjoy tasty:

Split Pea Soup
Chicken Noodle Soup
Beef Noodle Soup
Chicken Rice Soup
Cream of Potato Soup
Cream of Broccoli Soup
Beef Vegetable Soup ~and~
Tomato Soup

The experience of making soup can also be enjoyable. The writer of this post recalls standing over a hot kettle of broth next to her mother, forming and dropping dumpling/noodles into it, having used the simple recipe of 1 egg per cup of flour, a little salt and just enough water.

What is also fun about soup is that there is room for creativity and resourcefulness. If you have a little extra meat or some leftover vegetables, you can just throw them in the kettle.

Bringing out produce, processed and frozen or canned the previous fall, also adds to the enjoyment of soup-making. There is gratification in pulling out home-processed items (that you worked hard on months before) and enhancing your pot of soup with them.

Another great thing about soup is that it gets better as it ages. Can you remember that kettle of soup that sat on the back step in wintertime for several days until it was all eaten? It always got better with time, and the outdoor refrigeration system worked great.

So whether you’ve got a bit of a cold, or the January weather is just getting to you, why not put on a pot of soup…or stop over at St. Anne’s some evening. We might just be able to tell you: “Soup’s on.”

Sr. Christina M. Neumann

January 1, 2016

Job Opening…Dietary Assistant

Visit www.stannesguesthome.org/employment.html or stop by to pick up an application. More information available by calling 746-9401.

Hours: Weds. and Thurs.: 4:30 – 7 p.m.

Every other weekend (Sat. & Sun.) 6:40 a.m. – 1:15 p.m., 4:30 – 7 p.m.

JOB SUMMARY

Responsible for serving meals to the residents and visitors in a courteous manner; cleans and maintains the Dining Room area and washes dishes in the dish-washing room.

JOB RELATIONS

Is responsible to the Dietary Supervisor.

JOB REQUIREMENTS

1.         Education: High School diploma preferred
2.         Training/experience: Will provide on-the-job training.
3.         Physical demands:
A.        Ability to tolerate walking, standing 90-95% of the time.
B.        Ability to lift or transfer a minimum of 50 lbs.
C.        Ability to frequently bend, stoop, stretch, pull, and climb three-step ladders.

4. Ability to tolerate disinfectant soaps and bleach.

5. Visual and auditory abilities to respond and communicate effectively with the residents and other staff members.

6. Visual acuity and observations skills for monitoring resident dietary needs.

7. Hand and finger dexterity and upper extremity mobility in manipulating dining equipment and supplies.

8. Ability to tolerate temperature changes from cold in the cooler and freezer to hot and humid in dish-washing room.

9. Eye-hand coordination for serving liquids at tables.

10. Ability to walk through a limited amount of space when serving meals to residents.

BEHAVIOR
1.         Maintains strict confidentiality regarding resident’s personal lives and activities as well as the internal affairs of St. Anne’s.
2.         Uses tact, patience and sensitivity in dealing with residents.
3.         Works as a team member in the dietary department.
4.         Maintains a positive attitude.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBLITIES
1.         Assists cooks in serving the residents their meals.
2.         Pour coffee, tea, and other liquids during mealtime.
3.         Report to supervisor and/or cook if a resident is eating poorly.
4.         Sets table according to sanitary standards.
5.         Cleans tables with appropriate disinfectant.
6.         Cleans chairs of any food after each meal.
7.         Maintains an eating attendance record for each meal.
8.         Cleans dining room furnishings, equipment, and supplies in accord with established policies and procedures.
9.         Operates dishwasher according to established procedures.
10.       On occasion, assists cooks in dishing up plates.
11.       Work patiently with residents on the Work Therapy Program.
12.       Implement safety and infection control policies and procedures.
13.       Observes sanitary requirements in dress and appearance.
14.       Read dining room policies and procedures annually.
15.       Monitors food wasted and informs supervisor and/or cook if certain foods are not being eaten.

December 25, 2015

“O Come, Let us adore Him” with the Christmas Crèche

December 17, 2015

Nuttier than a Fruitcake?

Sometimes around St. Anne’s, we’ve said “It’s nuttier than a fruitcake around here.” Now, as Christmas approaches, these words hold true once again.

But during this ‘National Fruitcake Month’ we might ask: Just how nutty is a fruitcake? Recipes for this holiday treat vary. A variety of ingredients can be used, and substitutions may be made. The one caution given is that the original proportions be maintained when making substitutions (e.g., if you substitute mango for pineapple, use the same amount as that given in the recipe.)

Another thing to keep in mind is the need to make the cakes ahead of time. Fruitcake should age for at least a month.

Sr. Rebecca, our administrator, remembers her mother making up fruitcake around Thanksgiving. Her mother would wrap the cakes in cheese cloth that she had soaked in brandy and let them set until Christmastime.

Interestingly enough, fruitcake is baked on a low temperature, no higher than 325 degrees.

One shocking aspect of fruitcakes is that they can be eaten long after they were first made; one source mentions up to 25 years later!

Although fruitcakes have a reputation among some people as being something awful-tasting that you certainly don’t want around for Christmas, experiences at St. Anne’s tell us otherwise. A friend of ours, MaryAnn Votava, kindly brings us her delicious homemade fruitcake each December. Her holiday treat shatters any presuppositions one might have about fruitcake being unsavory holiday fare.

If you’re interested in more fun fruitcake facts, check out this site.

Other Resources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruitcake

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Q-A/fruitcakesec.htm

December 10, 2015

Cottage cheese, if you please!

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This past Monday was one of a few times during our five-week menu cycle at St. Anne’s that our residents are served cottage cheese, in some form. The evening’s selection was ‘cottage cheese with pear half.’

Our poodle, dodge, really enjoyed it, to our surprise. He was in the Sisters’ dining room at suppertime, and Sr. Christina allowed him to lick out her cup with its cottage cheese residue. He ‘really went to town’ with it, getting his nose down into the cup. He even moved it around a bit trying to get to the creamy remnants.

Although it’s doubtful that this dog is health-conscious, he was actually on to something! Cottage cheese has some definite health benefits.

For one thing, it has a good protein content, to give you energy, without tons of extra calories; it also offers amino acids. It has less calories than most other cheeses. Cottage cheese also is a source of calcium and phosphorus for your bones. It also has vitamin A, which helps your cells and B vitamins. Some other helpful trace elements are also found in Dodge’s creamy treat, including iron, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, selenium, and zinc.

Substituting cottage cheese for other proteins may help you lose weight. Being a dairy product with calcium and vitamin D, cottage cheese may also reduce risk of breast cancer.

There are a few concerns, though, to keep in mind with cottage cheese, including the sodium and cholesterol content, if you are on a diet for high blood pressure.

Have you ever wondered where cottage cheese got its name? You’re not alone; but answers aren’t that easy to come by. According to some online sources, cottage cheese is thus named because, in times past, it was made in cottages using leftover milk.

It can be enjoyed on crackers, in a salad, or even with a pear half, like we have it here, every fifth Monday.

Sources:

December 3, 2015

Celebrating “Jolly Old St. Nicholas”

We published this last year, but had forgotten all that was written. We thought it wouldn’t hurt to share it again.

Have a happy St. Nicholas Day!

November 19, 2015

Let it snow…Sharing memories of past winter wonderlands

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This morning’s first [substantial] snowfall of the season had everyone talking here around St. Anne’s.

While this included a number of complaints, there is something about the first snowfall; it creates a special mood.

Below, we will share some memories of our residents and staff regarding the first snow fall, or of winter in general. If you have any antidotes of your own that you’d like to share, please feel free to leave a comment.

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As a kid, I loved [the first snow]. You could have fun and play in it. Jack

We would wear snow pants to school, but once we got there, we had to take them off because we had to wear dresses at school. Patty F.

I can remember my dad calling upstairs to tell me “There’s no school” because of winter weather. That was great. It meant that we would either read, embroider or cut out lawn figures from plywood. Sr. Elaine

We always heard that the angels were having a pillow fight when it snowed. Sr. Christina

I used to make snow men and snow-mobiling and sleigh-riding. That was fun, too. Norma

I remember when I was in third grade, the winter before the flood of ’97. There was so much snow we could sled right off our garage roof right into the snow. Mandy

I remember the big storm of ’66. The snow came over the eaves trough on the house. My brothers shoveled a tunnel through this massive drift and we all went outside to play. Paulla

November 13, 2015

120 Buttons…

November 16th is National Button Day!

Where does one find 120 buttons? On the front of a Priest’s cassock? (Imagine buttoning one of the buttons wrong and having to do it all over again!) On a princess’ dress? On a display of buttons in a store?

Well, how about an accordion? During coffee and cookie time after Mass the other morning the topic of accordions came up and Dennis Feist asked: how does a person know what buttons to play? There are so many of them. There can be anywhere from twelve to 120 buttons in the left hand on an accordion.

Chuck Gust, an avid accordion player, and Sister Elaine, a player, too, began to explain that it really is not hard at all. One gets used to what buttons to play in the left hand to harmonize with the keys on the right hand accordion piano keyboard. Not over night, of course. Over time one does not even have to think about this because it comes so spontaneously.

An accordion is a musical instrument that uses pleated bellows and a bank of metal reeds to create sound. Most designs feature two keyboards with buttons or keys located on either side of the bellows. The musician expands and compresses the bellows while playing the melody of a song on the right hand keyboard and, at the same time, playing the bass chords on the left side to musically coordinate the song.

Now the buttons on the left side of the squeeze box as some call it, or wrinkle machine as my dear Dutch Uncle Jake called it, are arranged in chord progression as many songs are written, at least the old time waltzes, polkas, schottisches, two steps. Often a song will, for example, begin in the left hand with the C chord, then the F chord, followed by the G7th chord. Or, maybe begin with F, then Bb, and C7th. The left hand accordion buttons are already arranged in that pattern. Then, a row of buttons has C major, C minor, C seventh, C diminished. Again, already arranged in that pattern. We’ve got it made!

So, whether it’s an accordion with 12, 80, 120 bass buttons, just coordinate the keys and the buttons to enjoy a harmonized musical delight.

Submitted by Sr. Elaine Marie Roggenbuck