Monthly Archives

October 2012

Seafood Throwdown

By | Blog, Events

seafood on plateEven though the temperature was a chilly 57 degrees, it was a flaming hot day at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington on Wednesday, October 24. Chefs from Fletcher Allen, Central Vermont Medical Center and Wake Robin, competed in the first annual “Seafood Throwdown” sponsored by the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance. The chefs came prepared to clean and prepare a mystery fish, and serve it to the judges, who would then declare the winner. There was fierce competition but in the end Wake Robin chefs Pasquale Amedore and John Gallaher presented a gorgeous plate to the judges. Poached Cod with spinach, tarragon, grape tomatoes and roasted potatoes.

The purpose of the event was to raipeople cookingse awareness about a new venture called Healthy Food in Health Care. HFHC is part of a larger initiative that is being adopted by health care organizations worldwide, called Health Care Without Harm. The focus of HCWH is on providing environmentally sustainable health care, including healthier, local foods, best practices for safe cleaning, and medical waste disposal, and using cleaner technologies. https://www.noharm.org/

Green Living

By | People of Wake Robin

garden with woman in itWake Robin is part of the Vermont Fresh Network. “We source as much local food as possible,” says Tim, chef. The resident Pyramids group – which advises the dining staff – enthusiastically supports this philosophy.

“We also contract with two local farmers. They set aside acreage for us; we tell them what our needs are, and they raise produce for our kitchens.”

Wake Robin residents designed and built three and a half miles of walking trails, and make Vermont maple syrup each spring in a sugarhouse built by local high school students. Residents compost, plant gardens, harvest honey from hives they brought to Wake Robin, and serve together on the Green Team. The Team, made up of residents, staff and Board, has developed a strategic energy plan. With input and active resident involvement, the Community reduced its electricity use 6.4% in the past year.

We’re a hands-on community. Meet the Sawdust Sisterhood.

By | Uncategorized

sawdust-sisterhood-lgIf you come to live at Wake Robin, the Sawdust Sisterhood can make you a bookshelf, a dining-room table, or a new leg for that treasured old couch. In our woodshop they’ve created mailboxes for the Burlington Land Trust, a farmstand for kids at Shelburne Farms, and over 100 projects for fellow residents here.

“I love wood — and I also like to create,” says Barbara, whose career took her around the world as a nurse battling polio. “And I don’t happen to knit!”

Others in the Sisterhood are: a retired classics professor and archeologist, a newspaper editor and educator, and a nurse with several master’s degrees. To each, making and fixing things is another way of doing good work in the world….and of making and keeping good friends.

“If you’re careful and precise, everything fits together,” says Ellen. “Which to me, is the most wonderful thing.”