By TIM HETZEL
April 10, 2006

Miss home cooked meals? Wish you could go out without hitting your wallet?

Well, every Tuesday night Campus Ministry offers home cooked meals absolutely free! These fellowship dinners have just started this semester, but have been a great success.

Every Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. students come and hang out at the Chi Rho house and enjoy some good food and good friends. The dinner is prepared by student volunteers who may cook anything they want. Campus ministry provides up to $30 to buy the food, but students can go above and beyond that amount if they choose by pitching in their own money.

All the food is cooked by the students, with a little help from the Campus Ministers here and there. Every student is invited to cook, regardless of their year or tastes.

Senior Brad Baker was a recent student cook at the fellowship dinner. “I enjoy the fact that it’s not mandatory,” says Brad, who made a variation of Mediterranean cuisine. He says that people who eat Mediterranean food live longer and healthier lives, and he wants to share that with others.

“I miss cooking,” says Gabby Le June, a freshman, who was recently excited to have the opportunity to cook crawfish etoffes and bring some of her Cajun culture here to the Abbey. Other recent dinners have been macaroni and cheese, enchiladas, baked ziti, and good old-fashioned hot dogs, along with Gabby’s crawfish.

Since students can prepare anything they want for the meal, the food sometimes contains family recipes and novelty items. Jen Mullis prepared three cheese macaroni, one of her family’s favorites when she prepared the meal. We’ve also had a king cake for Fat Tuesday, and St. Patrick’s Day themed cupcakes. All sorts of foods are appreciated, and at least a few of the students would like to see some international dishes served.

Before every meal there is a prayer and then Brad’s favorite part, a silly question, thought up by the student in charge of the meal. The questions sometimes have a theme. For instance, on Valentine’s Day the question was “what is your favorite chick flick?” The questions are just fun ways to get to know each other and have a little laugh. Of course, sometimes the questions bring out odd answers, like clear cauliflower (don’t ask), but that is what makes it fun.

In addition to prayer and the question, upcoming Campus Ministry events and Community Service opportunities are announced at the dinners. So the dinner is a great place to learn how to get involved and how to get your service hours in on time. The dinner is a “good way to get to know everyone,” says Gabby. We’ve had household members, Greeks, and various Abbey athletes come to the fellowship dinner, so it is a good way for people not involved in other Campus Ministry organizations to still be involved in it and meet new friends.

Groups are encouraged to sign up to cook, so if you and a friend or two love to cook, or perhaps you just want some food, come on over on Tuesday evening at 5:30 p.m. up through May 2nd.

See you there!