Fishes and Loaves

One of my favorite biblical stories has always been the feeding of the 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fishes (or 4000 with 7 loaves and fishes, depending upon which version you're reading). Imagine stretching a meal that far, and having leftovers to boot!

I wonder what they did with the leftovers?

I suffer from the opposite problem. I am feeding the few with a multitude of food, and ending up with baskets and bowls of leftovers. I've experienced this phenomenon more than a few times in the last month. It started with the luncheon at the temple when I made far too much chicken salad and had to think of 50 ways to disguise the leftovers to feed to my family.

A few days later, I was signed up to bring a fruit tray and a dessert to the high school "Mr Skyview" contest (which Angie and I attended as pointless, but entertained chaperons) in order to earn travel dollars for Megan's California trip. Both dishes were completely devoured, but when I got home I realized I had forgotten the strawberries for the fruit tray. More leftovers.
Fortunately the rhubarb growing in my backyard had just hit its stride.

and I combined a few rhubarb stalks with the leftover strawberries to make
a strawberry rhubarb pie with oatmeal crumb topping.

Luckily Stan was ok with that.

Next was the food for the "feed and flirt" at the singles ward. We invite all of the graduating senior girls in the stake to come to the Sunday singles meeting and stay for the dinner. Every member of my presidency had to be out of town, and after spending an unsuccessful hour on the phone looking for help, I hunkered down and cooked sloppy joes for a crowd--twenty-five pounds of hamburger mixed with the appropriate ingredients in four crock pots.

We went through 100 buns, but only two of the four crock pots of sloppy joe meat. Yeesh. That's a lot of sloppy joe leftovers to slip my family.

The bishopric was delighted when I suggested they keep the leftovers for their upcoming activity.

Lastly, our ward fed the missionaries at zone conference today. We were told to prepare for 60, only 46 showed up. Thankfully I had no part in the planning and purchasing of food. I just made the assignment and came to help dice fruit, arrange meat and cheese trays, and wash dishes.

But I discovered that my Relief Society president has the same problem I do.

The menu was sub sandwiches, fruit salad, chips, and root beer floats.

The 46 missionaries ate every bit of meat and cheese, and all 80 buns

but left behind 2 king-sized bowls of the fruit salad, mostly untouched.

I could say "Fortunately, our ward is feeding a crowd after a funeral tomorrow. We now have a fruit salad ready to go", but "fortunately" and "funeral" should not be used in the same sentence.

I am confident this is a worldwide problem in the church. So my question for the day: wouldn't it be an amazing modern-day miracle if we could all stop overcooking for a crowd?