Thanksgiving cooking with a NoCo lunch lady
Shannon Howard | Nov 25, 2009 | Comments 3
Mary Vitale (with her husband Paul) was the longtime cafeteria cook at St. Thomas More parish. Photo: Vitale Family Cookbook
Though my husband and I both attended Catholic grade school in North County, our experiences with cafeteria food were drastically different. At my school, Transfiguration, lunch was similar to eating at a gas station – Landshire sandwiches “cooked” by a heat lamp and served with the Hostess dessert of your choice. At Keith’s school, St. Thomas More in Bel-Ridge, lunch was more like a home-cooked feast.
Served fresh every day by a legion of volunteer moms, the cafeteria fare at STM included meatloaf, mashed potatoes, salads, pasta, and the infamous Weiner Winks – a gooey marriage of hot dogs and American cheese.
Most of the recipes were created by Mary Louise Vitale, whose work as the school’s cafeteria cook led to 29 years as a successful catering company owner. If you lived in the Normandy area and attended any school function/wedding/party between 1970 and 1999 (when St. Thomas More closed), chances are you ate and raved about Mary Vitale’s cooking.
Mary Vitale's Weiner Winks: so wrong they're right
It’s not fancy food by any means, but man is it good! So in honor of Thanksgiving and Mary Vitale herself (who’s still kicking…and cooking), here’s a classic lunch lady recipe for all to enjoy, courtesy of Mary Vitale Catering and the Vitale Family Cookbook:
Strawberry Jello Salad
two 6oz. boxes strawberry Jello
4 cups boiling water
20 oz. frozen strawberries
4-6 medium bananas, mashed with fork
1 cup chopped pecans
16 oz. sour cream
Dissolve the Jello in the boiling water. Stir in the strawberries and bananas. Pour HALF of the mixture into a 9×13 pan and chill in the refrigerator until firm. Add the pecans to the other half of the liquid Jello mixture; set aside. Spread the sour cream over the chilled Jello in the pan. Pour the remaining Jello mixture on top. Chill overnight. Serves 24.
Filed Under: Food & Drink
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I remember this photo. It appeared in the church/school directory when I attended STM. You didn’t mention what a kind soul Mrs. Vitale is — that’s what I remember even more than her cooking, and her cooking was amazing. To this day I remember the smells of lunch wafting through the classrooms.
Indeed, Linda. Thank you. My husband has the same warm memories of Mrs. Vitale. From what I’ve heard, she’s quite a gal.
I attended St. Thomas More from 1970-1978. I remember not only Mrs. Vitale, but Mrs. Hunn too. We were also able to purchase extra food after the main Lunch meal was served. I can still recall the robbins egg blue trays and bowls that the food was served on.