The WishDish Project
Favorite Dishes of the Homeless Community
Everyone Has A Favorite Dish
Ask anyone, anywhere, in any time period about their favorite meal,
and you find a smiling person expressing their opinion. We all know food is universal, but within that context a favorite dish is each persons expression
of individuality. Find out how we use the exchange of favorite recipes
to drive meaning and satisfaction to the Homeless Communities.
WishDish Locations
and Projects
Discovering the favorite dishes of the
Homeless Community
WiSHDISH Samples
Some of the communities favorite recipes and dishes
Mr. Kirt’s Dry-Rub Ribs
I met “Mr. Kirt” during the summer of 2020 while visiting Common Cathedral (Ecclesia Ministries, Inc.) on Newbury Street in Boston. CC serves the unhoused Boston community and had kindly offered to my gift of home cooked meals for the homeless. When I explained to Mr. Kirt who I was and what I was there to do, he seemed quite interested in having his own WISHDISH granted. He began to think deeply about his own favorite food memory. “Ribs!,” he exclaimed. “I’d love to have some ribs, I even have a recipe for my own unique dry-rub.”
Mr. John’s Corned Beef Reuben
I was quickly drawn “Mr. John’s” soft and gentle demeanor. After just a few moments of conversation, I could tell that Mr. John was not only kind, but also highly intelligent and well-versed. He once worked at a Jewish Golfing Country Club where he had become quite knowledgeable in Jewish culture and cuisine. As it turned out, he had developed a love of the classic Corned Beef Reuben. When I said I would make it for him and the other guests the very next week, he was ecstatic. I couldn’t wait to return with Mr. John’s favorite “SandWISH!”.
Mr. Gary’s Brussel Sprouts
I met “Mr. Gary” while bringing food into the church where Common Cathedral is housed. He had overheard me talking to another guest in the hallway and politely asked if I would make him his favorite dish, Brussel Sprouts. His greatest concern was the ingredients with which the Brussel Sprouts would be paired, not so much how they would be specifically cooked. I promised to bring them the following week and he reassured me he would be there to receive his dish. Indeed he was!
The WISHDISH TEAM
The best way to start to know the
team behind The WISHDISH Project
is to learn our favorite dishes.
Jean Gruber
Founder
Favorite Dish: Shrimp Etouffee
No question, this is the only answer to what recipe takes me “home”. It’s the smell on a hot summer day of a Roux cooking very ... no very ... slowly on the stove. My mama peeling raw gulf shrimp that she has made a special trip in our 1950’s Buick to the tiny fish store located under the Mississippi River bridge. Here is the recipe that was marked in my mama’s cookbook, marked with spilled flour and spots of brown roux.
Lori Pedrick
Partner
Favorite Dish: Nana’s Chicken Pot Pie
My earliest childhood food memories began at my maternal grandparents house. I remember one dish in particular that I always offered to help prepare: Chicken Pot Pie. In New Jersey we called it “Chicken Pot Pie,” others refer to it as “Chicken and Dumplin’s,” particularly up North. My Nana would lean in and gently whisper …“Lightly dust the counter with flour, place your ball of dough in the center, and always be sure to dust the rolling pin too! Now, slowly smooth out the dough pushing in one direction, then the other.” Once the dough was rolled out into a nice sheet, we’d slice it then drop into a boiling broth that was thickening on the stove. It is truly a craveable dish, particularly in the winter months.
Sandy Rivlin
Partner
Favorite Dish: Fish and Chips
This is the recipe I ‘adapted’ and simplified many times, many times loved by adults and kids (ketchup instead of tartar sauce. While a transplant to New England from the Midwest, an all-time favorite dinner in our family is a variation on a Fish and Chips recipe. Traditionally made with cod, we also loved making it with trout. We usually served it with a green salad or slaw.
Contact
Miss Jeanie
info@thewishdishproject.com
(617) 834-5846
JEANIE GRUBER (aka “MISS JEANIE”)
CEO/Founder/Author/Caterer/Visionary
Miss Jeanie began catering small gatherings in the 1990s. She had a full-time psychotherapy career, a young family, and no intention of making a career change. Fast forward to the present day: Miss Jeanies Catering and Events Co, the business Gruber began, is entering its forth decade as a one-of-a-kind food business. As the founder of The WISHDISH Project, Miss Jeanie takes her catering style to a whole other level. She blends her love of cooking with her love of conversation and connection.
A Louisiana native, she possesses that enviable ability to make anyone feel at ease with her southern warmth and graceful charm. A successful psychotherapist in the early days, Jeanie also loved to entertain. One day when a close friend asked if she’d cater a party, Jeanie answered with a resounding,“Yes!” This love of food, friends and fun soon translated into a successful catering company unlike any other in the Boston area. Twenty years later, this self-taught cook is still turning ordinary events into extraordinary affairs – bringing her wisdom and whimsical style to all her projects, including her work with The WISHDISH Project.