Here’s the recipe. You crack and scramble 1,080 eggs, flip 974 pancakes, make 8 gallons of oatmeal and then you’ve got breakfast.
Lunch could be 200 pounds of chicken tenders or 980 grilled cheese sandwiches. Of course, there’s a salad bar too, so that’s another 40 heads of lettuce, 60 cucumbers (our most popular vegetable), 50 green peppers, 40 carrots plus a case of kidney beans. And don’t forget the WB&J’s (Wow Butter and Jelly) – there’s 152 of them made at this meal alone.
Turkey dinner takes 22 birds, 120 pounds of mashed potatoes, 9 ovens filled with stuffing, and just two pans of peas (not too many pea fans here). Spaghetti requires 100 pounds of pasta along with 1,800 meatballs in Full Red Stanislaus Marinara (a restaurant brand), 126 loaves for garlic bread, and 150 heads of romaine for Caesar salad (the fan favorite).
And then you have to clean the dishes. And pots. Three times…every day.
Head Chef Junior is the maestro of the Skylemar kitchen orchestra, and definitely our camp MVP. There are 350 hungry people counting on him, and he truly delivers. Along with his staff of loyal assistant chefs and dedicated crew of 10, together they have over 140 years of Skylemar experience. As they say, practice makes perfect.
Talk about perfect. It’s kind of magical how he gets everything out, piping hot. For example, Junior makes 800 pieces of grilled chicken, and each is cooked to perfection. Not a single piece is the least bit dry. His secret weapon is called a “proofing cabinet”, which is a large holding box that’s 115 degrees with added humidity. For a meal served at 5:30, he starts grilling at 2pm. The pieces grilled early are not fully cooked, because they’ll be in the cabinet for several hours. It’s all about the timing.
A home version of a proofing cabinet could be a winner on Shark Tank. It’s much more practical than an air fryer. If you put a chicken dinner or lasagna in the box before taking your son to his soccer practice, by the time you got home it would be hot and ready... not the least bit dried out because of the moist air inside.
Each winter we get a few emails saying that a boy will only eat something the way it was made at camp. “How do you make it?" they ask. Just in case that becomes you, here are some tips, straight from the chef:
- Caesar Salad: Sprinkle chopped romaine heavily with garlic powder. Pour on Ken’s Pepper Parmesan dressing (never use bottled Caesar). Toss with parmesan cheese and homemade croutons. Best croutons are made from leftover grilled cheese sandwiches.
- Perfect rice is made in the oven, as opposed to the stovetop. Boil water and pour over rice in the standard ratio. Cover pan with foil and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. No stick and a much easier cleanup.
- How does he get the ground beef so fine for tacos? “Wash it” before it goes in the skillet. The extra water in the beef is what makes it crumble perfectly. Then drain as usual.
Oh, yes – one important piece of advice. Don’t ever run out. After all, they’re hungry!
