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VOLUME 14, NUMBER 4
THANKSGIVING, 1967
DURHAM, NO
All This to Cook the Turkey
The Dietetics Team, (left to right), front row: Lillian
Crabtree - Office Accountant, Mildred Rigsbee - Senior
Supervisor, Carrie Johnson - Ordering Supervisor, Hat
tie Dark - Head Cook, Hattie Jones - Baker, Ruby Reid
- Charting. Back row: Ruth Lecina - Dietetic Intern,
Jessie Smith - Patient Food Service, Junious Century -
Storage & Receiving, Charles Cameron - Main Kitchen
Dish Room, Blossle Barnes - Staff Cafeteria, Mary Lou
Pate - Asst, Director.
As Thanksgiving, 1967, rolls around, the Dietetics
Department of Duke Medical Center is busily prepar
ing for the big event. You guessed it...turkey and
all the fixin's will be the main item of the day.
Throughout the entire hospital - from the little
child patient to the sophisticated grownup - people
will be giving thanks as they enjoy this extra spe
cial meal. However, very few of these happy eaters
stop to think of the number of man-hours it takes to
bring this food before them. 246 people make up the
Dietetics Department, and all work together to prepare
dinner for over 1,000 people.
local suppliers and arrange for the order; the pri
mary objective is always quality before price. Tills
is especially true when dealing with hungry patients
with a desire for a "homecooked meal". When the or
ders start to arrive the Storage and Receiving per
sonnel are kept busy. The bundles must be handled
with "tender loving care" and stored in just the right
way at the proper temperature until the cooks are
ready to begin preparation.
The day before Thanksgiving, Old Tom gets thawed
and cleaned by some of the cooks, while others pre
pare fresh cranberry sauce. At 5:00 a.m. Thanks
giving morn, while the rest of the hospital is still
quiet, things are buzzing in the kitchen. Old Tom
is popped into the oven, oops, twelve ovens; the dres
sing is set to bake in six other ovens. Everyone in
the kitchen is busy preparing the extra special menu
items. 50 pumpkin pies, made at 3:00 a.m. by our
bakers, have Just come out of the oven, the candied
sweet potatoes are browning, and the cranberry sauce
is divided into servings.
The deadline of 10^00 a.m. is fast approaching as
the food is portioned out into pans for seven kitchens
and the cafeteria. At last our meal is on its way to
the Thanksgiving table. Each kitchen has picked up
its food cart; each item is served on an individual
tray in a conveyer belt assembly area, then each tray
is checked by a food service supervisor and a dieti
tian to see that it corresponds to a diet ppescrip-
tion; four trays out of ten must be modified in some
way. Finally, Old Tom and the fixin's are delivered
to our hungry patrons. Turkey, oyster dressing, can
died sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, fresh rolls,
pumpkin pie and a tray favor made by the dietitic in
terns...The preceeding has been brought to you for
your enjoyment by the Department of Dietetics.
Several days before,a special Thanksgiving menu
is written by the dietitian. She is concerned with
how things look and taste. She must also use her
knowledge of nutritive value and human body functions
in sickness and health so that the menu fills any
dietary prescription. Some patients may not be able
to eat their turkey in the usual form; Old Tom may be
cut up, chopped, blended, or even made into baby food!
After the menu has been written for everyone, the or
dering process begins. First, the food service super
visor estimates from past records and her experience
how many servings will be needed of each item. Then,
every ingredient in every recipe must be ordered.
The shopping list for the meal: 900 lbs. turkey, 120
qts. of pumpkin, 20 qts. whipping cream, 2 lbs. pump
kin pie spice...etc. (Unfortunately, we aren't elig
ible for Green Stamps!) Office personnel contact
A way to say thanks
This issue of INTERCOM is devoted to saying "thanks" -
to the many people behind the scenes who help keep
this medical center going. It is a known fact that
people who are the "front-runners", the "newsmakers"
or the "spokesmen" of our medical center rely heavily
upon the hundreds of other people who daily devote
their time and energies to the smooth functioning of
the Internal machinery of this amazing, compassionate
institution dedicated to health services, health train-
ยป and health research. If we did not have the peo
ple behind the scenes, this institution could not ex
ist, Just as the same would be true if we did not have
the "newsmakers" and the "spokesmen". It is good to
be thankful for each other. -Chaplain Altken