Imagine being in a dream where there are too many crock pots full of divine dishes to count, where salads and side dishes stretch out into the horizon, where desserts are stacked so high a refuge from the elements can be created. But waitits not a dreamits the 2011 Dogfish Holiday Luncheon!

I can honestly say I have never seen so much food at Dogfish, at one time, that didnt involve or was provided by the Pub in Rehoboth. Where did all the delicious food come from? Co-workers of course!

crockpots

By the time Im done blogging, your mouth will water. Once the luncheon began at noon, we formed a line at the far right of the bar in the store area on December 19th. First up, seriously, the unending cascade of crock pots filled to their brims with tasty treats. Everything from homemade macaroni and cheese, meatballs, chicken chili, succotash, chowder, just to name a few, it went on and on. When the array of crock pots ended there were dishes which included tamales, fruit salad, penne pasta salad, shrimp salad, seven layer salad, mashed sweet potatoes, mashed garlic potatoes, pineapple stuffing, you name it, we had it! And that wasnt even counting three fully cooked spiral hams, eight turkey breasts, and trays of chicken. Did I mention the spinach and sausage dips??? There were a couple of us who noticed Sam eating off his own plate while in line. He admitted that if he didnt plan ahead, he wouldnt have enough room for all the things he wanted. Brilliant man!

So, if you went through the long food line, at your lunch and still managed to have room left and/or a sweet tooth - you had your choice of homemade candies, cookies, cakes, pies, cheesecakes, cupcakes, fudge and my all-time favorite - pretzel salad!! There literally was not enough time in one day to try everything spread out before us, the amount of food was unbelievable.

pretzel salad: Props to Mike Frank and his Lady for the Pretzel Salad!!

The second awesome thing I noticed about the day (the amount and deliciousness of the food was the first) was that it didnt matter where anyone sat when they had their plates. There was no pre-arranged seating and only a few tables. Everyone was so kind to eat and move on to make room for others - made my heart feel so good. Ended up, there was plenty of room for everyone to sit down and enjoy themselves. I love those days when we get to connect with those we dont often get to set down and break bread with!

Once everyone at the plant had a full belly (easy to tell because of all the moaning) we realized that we had so much food left over! In fact, we could have gotten together several more times that day for seconds and thirds, and STILL had leftovers!

But that was cool because we knew what to do. We boxed up eight case boxes full of food and George helped me deliver it to Casa San Francisco. Casa San Francisco opened in 1981 in Milton, originally as a crisis center for migrant farm workers and the poor in the community. Now, its mission is to restore the wellbeing of the homeless and those experiencing poverty in Sussex County, Delaware. The staff and residents at the shelter were overjoyed and excited at the food that came in. It felt so awesome to be able to provide not just a meal or two for someone who otherwise might not have one, but to provide such delicious home baked treats during the holidays when for some, there isnt much to look forward to.

One of the many things that weve learned from making Dogfish beer, if you put love in anything the results are bound to be phenomenal! I want to personally give props to all of the co-workers who took time out of their busy holiday schedule to prepare and bring in dishes that were enjoyed and appreciated by so many.

The 2012 Holiday Luncheon will be here before we know it and personally, I cant wait!