Classy Dumpster Diving

One of our good friends told us about a commercial kitchen that was getting demoed.  They were planning to just throw away lots of great kitchen equipment, so he invited us to take a peak at it in case we wanted some of it.  The kitchen had not been in use for about five years, but everything was in really great shape.  It just needed a little elbow grease to get it looking good.  We paid a nominal fee for a full trailer load of kitchen equipment.

The project manager wanted us to get the items out of his building as quickly as possible because demo was scheduled to begin.  We called in the troops to help us load up two vans, a truck and trailer full of kitchen goodies.  It was a true test of love for my husband to come and help.  I scheduled it for a Sunday afternoon which meant he gave up his beloved Chiefs to come and help.  Here he is removing the legs off of the convection oven.  Doesn’t it look like he is having fun?  Much better than sitting in his easy chair cheering on his favorite team.

I even had my three kids in on the help crew.  They hauled down mixing bowls, dish tubs, shelving racks, and more to our trucks waiting down below on the ground level.  This kitchen was on the second floor of a building, so everything had to come down through the elevator.  Even Rick, our family friend who told us about this equipment, showed up to help.  Turns out, he’s a Chiefs fan, too.  Look!  He’s doing back bends he’s so happy to help!

Here’s also a family friend, Miles (in the hat).  You guessed it.  Another Chiefs fan.  I guess I picked a bad day to work.  I can’t thank these guys enough for all of their help!  To take away the sting.  The Chiefs won their game, so it was a good day and I didn’t screw up their mojo by having all their fans move dirty kitchen stuff.

Once all of the moving was done, we headed back to the golf course to start the, a-hem, dirty work.

Mom and her sidekick, Julie, got to work cleaning all of these appliances and utensils.  We have lot of big plans for over the winter in making room for all of this stuff!  Mom could barely sleep on Sunday night because she was so excited to get to work on Monday morning to start going through all of the goodies.

We got several carts.  They needed a pedicure, so the legs were put in a soap mixture to break away some of their grease and grim.   I was working in my office and I could hear lots of giggling from the kitchen.  The cart pedicure had these two ladies in fits of laughter.   Mom and Julie used lots of steel wool to shine up all the stainless steel pieces.

They worked and scrubbed on every single piece that made its way into the clubhouse.

It was a huge job.  After about a week of long hours, the kitchen was starting to look pretty good.  No more disaster zone!  Since we remodeled the kitchen several years ago, Mom has been working on a six foot banquet table as her counter top space.  Thanks to this kitchen find, she’s now sporting a fancy new stainless steel table!

Mom is very good at making due with things we can afford.  She has been able to cook for hundreds of people using some makeshift equipment.  I’m so happy that we could get her fixed up, so she could be a real “professional.”  I can only imagine the great things she is going to churn out of her kitchen now.  Just look at all of those cookie sheets and bread rack!
Who else is excited for mom to start baking cookies, almond bars and bread?