Community Meals Guidelines |
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Common House Team
Revised 08/30/18
See Community Meals Agreement for more info.
Community Meals - Times
Unless otherwise announced, community dinners start at 6:30 and brunches start at 11:00. The first bell is usually rung about 10 minutes before the meal with the second being rung at mealtime. Please respect the cooks by coming on time.
Common Meals - Participation
Members are welcome to bring their own meal from home to eat at a common meal.
All members are strongly encouraged to participate in common meals. Anyone who eats more than one common meal per month must participate in common meal cooking and/or clean up.
The Community Meals Manager will announce a new cooking rotation every couple months. Anyone eating one or less common meals per month and therefore not participating in the new cooking rotation should inform the Community Meals Manager immediately so they can plan accordingly.
After hearing from members who won’t be participating, the Community Meals Manager prepares the sign up sheet and posts it in the common house. Adults sign up for two slots. Teens sign up for one.
A member may choose to sign up for two cooking slots on the same day, which means that they are the head cook and are expected to plan the menu, shop, do a lot of the cooking, and complete the Common Meal Reimbursement form — basically two people's worth of work.
A member may also choose to sign up for two cleaning slots on the same day, which means they are responsible for the entire clean up on their own.
Anyone who is required to participate in common meal work (eats common meals more than once per month), but who doesn’t sign up to cook or clean up will be assigned two spots.
Anyone not able to cook or clean up for the meal they’re signed up for is responsible for finding a replacement.
Common Meals - Cooking
Post your menu at least three days ahead of time on the What’s Cookin’ sheet on the CH bulletin board.
Put a yellow line through the date column on the meal sign up form when you go to get groceries.
Cooks are encouraged to meet members’ dietary needs (not merely preferences), but are not required to do so.
Collect any visitor meal money and put in envelope in the mailbox marked Visitors Common Meals Donations.
Correctly fill out Common Meal Reimbursement form and put in the cubby marked Common Meal Reimbursement Form. Make every effort to stay on budget, but if you do go over budget, you are not expected to personally cover the overage.
Common Meals - Cleaning
Follow the clean-up checklist posted near the main sink. The checklist includes:
Common Meals - Kids
A child younger than 3 does not need to pay for common meals.
When a child turns 3 they are expected to pay the kid price.
Kids younger than 13 should go through the buffet line with their parents or another adult that can help them.
When kids reach the age of 13, they pay the adult price and can go through the buffet line without an adult. They are expected to sign up for one cooking or cleaning slot per rotation.
Common Meals - Signing Up to Eat
If you want to pay for guests, you can sign them up in your meal count on the meal sign up form and their meals will be charged to you. For visitors that you will not be paying for, sign them up one one of the Visitors lines near the bottom of the sign up form.
If you want to change your meal sign up count after there’s already a yellow line through the date (meaning that the cooks have already gone grocery shopping), please check with the cooks that night to see if you can add on or be taken off.
If you sign up for a meal, but don’t eat the common meal, you will still be charged for the meal.
Community Meals - New Members and Guests
Because cooking for 40 or 50 people can be intimidating, old members are encouraged to invite new members to cook with them to learn how it’s done.
Old members are encouraged to make sure that new members and guests have someone to sit with.
Guests are introduced during the circle before the meal (including who they are, where they’re from, and why they are here).
Community Meals - Misc
Kids and adults are expected to be quiet and respectful during the circle time.
Kids and adults are to refrain from playing, roughhousing, or being too loud in the dining room during community meals.
A member who is signed up for a meal, but not able to attend and wishes to get a to-go plate should have a family member or friend get the plate for them rather than asking the cooks to do so. The cooks are busy enough.
Cooks get first dibs on leftovers. Then clean up people and then everyone else. If a cook takes home a lot of leftovers, they may reduce their meal reimbursement amount on the Common Meal Reimbursement form. (This is usually done when the meal is over budget because of cooking too much food.) Please do not leave any leftovers in the common house refrigerator.
Revised 08/30/18
See Community Meals Agreement for more info.
Community Meals - Times
Unless otherwise announced, community dinners start at 6:30 and brunches start at 11:00. The first bell is usually rung about 10 minutes before the meal with the second being rung at mealtime. Please respect the cooks by coming on time.
Common Meals - Participation
Members are welcome to bring their own meal from home to eat at a common meal.
All members are strongly encouraged to participate in common meals. Anyone who eats more than one common meal per month must participate in common meal cooking and/or clean up.
The Community Meals Manager will announce a new cooking rotation every couple months. Anyone eating one or less common meals per month and therefore not participating in the new cooking rotation should inform the Community Meals Manager immediately so they can plan accordingly.
After hearing from members who won’t be participating, the Community Meals Manager prepares the sign up sheet and posts it in the common house. Adults sign up for two slots. Teens sign up for one.
A member may choose to sign up for two cooking slots on the same day, which means that they are the head cook and are expected to plan the menu, shop, do a lot of the cooking, and complete the Common Meal Reimbursement form — basically two people's worth of work.
A member may also choose to sign up for two cleaning slots on the same day, which means they are responsible for the entire clean up on their own.
Anyone who is required to participate in common meal work (eats common meals more than once per month), but who doesn’t sign up to cook or clean up will be assigned two spots.
Anyone not able to cook or clean up for the meal they’re signed up for is responsible for finding a replacement.
Common Meals - Cooking
Post your menu at least three days ahead of time on the What’s Cookin’ sheet on the CH bulletin board.
Put a yellow line through the date column on the meal sign up form when you go to get groceries.
Cooks are encouraged to meet members’ dietary needs (not merely preferences), but are not required to do so.
Collect any visitor meal money and put in envelope in the mailbox marked Visitors Common Meals Donations.
Correctly fill out Common Meal Reimbursement form and put in the cubby marked Common Meal Reimbursement Form. Make every effort to stay on budget, but if you do go over budget, you are not expected to personally cover the overage.
Common Meals - Cleaning
Follow the clean-up checklist posted near the main sink. The checklist includes:
- sweeping the kitchen and the dining room
- wiping down tables
- taking out the garbage
Common Meals - Kids
A child younger than 3 does not need to pay for common meals.
When a child turns 3 they are expected to pay the kid price.
Kids younger than 13 should go through the buffet line with their parents or another adult that can help them.
When kids reach the age of 13, they pay the adult price and can go through the buffet line without an adult. They are expected to sign up for one cooking or cleaning slot per rotation.
Common Meals - Signing Up to Eat
If you want to pay for guests, you can sign them up in your meal count on the meal sign up form and their meals will be charged to you. For visitors that you will not be paying for, sign them up one one of the Visitors lines near the bottom of the sign up form.
If you want to change your meal sign up count after there’s already a yellow line through the date (meaning that the cooks have already gone grocery shopping), please check with the cooks that night to see if you can add on or be taken off.
If you sign up for a meal, but don’t eat the common meal, you will still be charged for the meal.
Community Meals - New Members and Guests
Because cooking for 40 or 50 people can be intimidating, old members are encouraged to invite new members to cook with them to learn how it’s done.
Old members are encouraged to make sure that new members and guests have someone to sit with.
Guests are introduced during the circle before the meal (including who they are, where they’re from, and why they are here).
Community Meals - Misc
Kids and adults are expected to be quiet and respectful during the circle time.
Kids and adults are to refrain from playing, roughhousing, or being too loud in the dining room during community meals.
A member who is signed up for a meal, but not able to attend and wishes to get a to-go plate should have a family member or friend get the plate for them rather than asking the cooks to do so. The cooks are busy enough.
Cooks get first dibs on leftovers. Then clean up people and then everyone else. If a cook takes home a lot of leftovers, they may reduce their meal reimbursement amount on the Common Meal Reimbursement form. (This is usually done when the meal is over budget because of cooking too much food.) Please do not leave any leftovers in the common house refrigerator.