Fix-It and Forget-It Pink Cookbook (6 page)

Probably the biggest thing now is that I want to make a difference. After I did my first Avon Walk, I realized that I had experienced one of the most empowering weekends of my life.

For two days, absolutely everyone—regardless of our differences—was all together as one positive community. I had never had an experience like that before.

In the year of my second Walk, I realized that I would have to do the Walk alone, and I wasn't sure I could do that. So I posted a message on the Avon message board, asking if there were any other solo walkers. Thirty-five of us found each other—and we each found walking partners.

We formed Solo Strutters, and I became team leader. None of the members had walking partners. And of course we couldn't train together because we were from all over the country.

I am now 54 walks later. That sense of community is still vitally important to me.

“Now we have a Solo Strutters team in all of the Avon Walk cities. We give people who are walking alone a ‘Walk family' within the Walk. We're a mixture of newbies and veterans. The veterans take care of the new ones. Everyone needs a little help getting over the fear of doing the first Walk, just like breast cancer requires getting over fear.”

SUGGESTIONS FROM BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS:

Make a specific offer of help to the person with breast cancer. A general offer, such as, “Just let me know how I can help,” will likely not result in a request.

1. Line up friends or family members to accompany the patient to each of her chemo or radiation treatments.
   
   • Prior to each session, send an email to the patient, telling her who will pick her up that day, wait with her, and return her to her home.
     
   • Orient those accompanying the patient about what to expect: the approximate length of the treatment, the response of the patient to the treatment (it will likely make her sleepy, so don't feel pressure to entertain or talk constantly), her needs (create as relaxed and comforting an atmosphere as you can.)
     
2. If you're a breast cancer survivor, offer to suggest a list of questions she may want to ask her doctors. Be sensitive and diplomatic, of course, but because of your own experience, you may know of areas needing discussion of which her family or other friends are unaware.
   
3. Volunteer to go along to doctor appointments and keep notes for the patient. All of the medical terminology and options to consider can be nearly overwhelming for a patient who is alone. And it can help to have someone to talk to afterwards as she tries to digest all of the information.
   
4. Coordinate a schedule for providing meals to the patient.
   
   • Be sure to check with the patient first, asking for any dietary restrictions and food preferences, as well as the best time of day to deliver the food, the appropriate quantity, and whether the food should be brought hot or cold.
     
   • Ask if she likes meals brought daily, or every other day, or less frequently. (Too much food can be almost as overwhelming as too little.)
     
   • Urge those who supply meals to use containers that do not need to be returned, thus relieving the patient of a possible burden.
     
   • Volunteer to take a meal once a week or once a month.
     
5. Pick up the patient's grocery list, or offer her a shared grocery list app that you can both access. Then go get her groceries. Ask if she'd like you to put them away when you deliver them.
   
6. Ask if you may do her laundry.
   
7. Ask if you may take her kids for an afternoon or evening.
   
8. Ask if you may clean her bathrooms. She ­probably won't ask anyone to do this, but she'll find it hard to refuse your genuine offer.
   
9. Be ready to talk about your life if the patient asks you.
   

A Word of Explanation:

While for ease of reading we have referred to the patient as “she” throughout the section, it is important to remember that men are also breast cancer patients and survivors, and each of these tips apply to men as well.

Craig Shniderman: Meal Provider, and Avon Walker

Craig Shniderman is Executive Director of Food & Friends, which prepares 1.3 million meals each year and delivers them to persons with breast cancer and with HIV/AIDS in Washington D.C. and neighboring counties in Maryland and Virginia.

Makes 2 dozen cookies

Prep Time: 20 minutes • Baking Time: 8-10 minutes for each baking sheet

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened

2 cups granulated sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

4 cups flour

2 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

2 tsp. red food coloring

1. Preheat oven to 325°.
   
2. Cream butter and sugar until well blended.
   
3. Stir in eggs and vanilla. Mix until well blended.
   
4. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl.
   
5. Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients until fully incorporated.
   
6. Stir in food coloring until well blended.
   
7. Drop by heaping teaspoonsful onto parchment-paper-covered baking sheet.
   
8. Bake 8-10 minutes.
   

“Our staff at Food
&
Friends makes between 5,000-6,000 of these cookies for the Avon Walk in Washington, D.C. Chef Devine developed the recipe especially for this event, and we give them to all of the walkers and staff during those days.”

Serves 6-8 • Prep Time: 30 minutes • Cooking/Braising Time: 2½-3 hours

3 lbs. boneless beef chuck, cut into 2” pieces

salt to taste

pepper to taste

flour

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1” pieces

2 celery ribs, cut into 1” pieces

1 medium onion, peeled and diced

½ lb. white button mushrooms, de-stemmed and quartered

3 garlic cloves, chopped

2 Tbsp. tomato paste

2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

2 cups dry red wine

2 small bay leaves

1 thyme sprig

1½ cups beef broth

1½ cups water

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Place rack in middle of oven.
   
2. Mix salt, pepper, and flour in large bowl. Stir in meat until each piece is well covered.
   
3. Heat oil in a 4- to 6-qt. Dutch oven, or other heavy pot that is oven-safe. Brown meat without crowding the pot. Do in 2 or 3 batches so beef browns and doesn't simply steam.
   
4. As meat browns, remove to platter. Tent with foil.
   
5. When all meat is browned, add carrots, celery, onion, mushrooms, and garlic to pot. Reduce heat to medium. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are also well browned, about 10 minutes.
   
6. Add tomato paste to vegetables. Continue stirring an additional 2 minutes.
   
7. Add vinegar and cook 2 more minutes.
   
8. Stir in wine, bay leaves, and thyme. Boil until liquid is reduced by about ²⁄³, about 10 minutes.
   
9. Add broth and water to pot, along with browned beef and any juices from platter. Stir. Over medium heat, bring to a simmer.
   
10. Cover and braise in 350° oven until meat is very tender, about 2-2½ hours.
    
11. At Food & Friends, we serve this over egg noodles with a side of broccoli. It's also good with roasted or mashed potatoes and your favorite crusty bread.
    

“This recipe for Beef Burgundy is a long-standing favorite of our Food
&
Friends' clients. It is hearty and satisfying, providing lots of protein and veggies. It is all about technique when making beef stew, so allow plenty of time for braising. Thanks to Executive Chef Mark Locraft of Food
&
Friends for developing this recipe.”

MEAL PROVIDER, AND AVON WALKER

Our client services at Food & Friends work closely with a breast ­cancer patient's caregivers to make sure that the food we're preparing fits the patient's overall treatment program. And we consider the patient's food preferences, too.

Most of the women we serve have children, but they may be single moms. So we provide food for their families, too. We try to understand people within their own particular settings. First and foremost, we want clients to know they are not alone, that we're on their team.

Craig Shniderman (center) receives Avon Foundation's check for Food & Friends at the Closing Ceremony of the Washington D.C. Walk.

I am now a 9-time Walker in the Washington D.C. Walk. I walk one day (of the multiple-day walk) in drag. My drag name is Miss Ivanna Beat Breast Cancer.

At some point it crossed my mind that I could support and encourage the ­participants by becoming part of the entertainment. Humor is a useful intervention for stress, fatigue, and big life challenges.

One day I was standing next to a couple who looked a little amused and frightened by my costume. I introduced myself and Food & Friends, and the woman's
eyes filled with tears. “You're taking care of my daughter,” she said. It was a magical moment. I thought, this is sublime.