Community Cafe

The Community Cafe, located at the First United Methodist Church of Hyattsville, serves more than 12,000 hot, nutritious lunches each year at no cost to homeless and low-income individuals and families. The Cafe, open Monday through Friday (except Thursdays), feeds a daily average of 60 persons, offers mental health, legal and employment services as well as personalized information and referral in a safe and supportive environment.

A dedicated network of volunteers from over 40 congregations, businesses and civic organizations prepare and serve each meal and provide the smiles and friendly greetings that give our program participants the hope to carry on. Hyattsville Mennonite Church takes a turn once every two months and provides a meal of sandwiches, soup, salad, fruit, dessert and drink.

Hyattsville Mennonite's famous vegetable beef soup for Community Cafe

2 lbs. stewing beef 4 qt. water 5 peppercorns 1 bay leaf 3 whole cloves Salt and pepper to taste 1 C chopped onions

1 C celery, sliced 1 C carrots, slided 1 C potatoes, diced 1 can green beans, undrained 1 can niblets corn, undrained 2 cans stewed tomatoes, undrained

In a large soup kettle, brown beef, then add water and spices. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for about 2 hours. Remove the beef and cut meat from bones. Strain the broth, skim off fat and return the broth to kettle. Add chopped meat, onions, celery, carrots and potatoes to the broth. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add the canned vegetables and simmer an additional 30 minutes or until all vegetables are tender. Before serving, remove the peppercorns, bay leaf and whole cloves.

24-hour lettuce salad

1 head lettuce 1 small onion, chopped 1 green pepper, chopped 1 (10 oz.) package frozen peas

1 C cheddar cheese, shredded 2 C mayonnaise Milk Bacon, fried and crumbled (optional)

Break up lettuce into bite-sized pieces and place in bottom of 9 x 13-inch container. Add in layers over lettuce: onion, green pepper and peas. Mix enough milk with the mayonnaise to make it easy to spread. Spread the mayonnaise mixture over the salad. Be sure to cover the entire surface. Cover and refrigerate overnight or at least 6 hours. Before serving, sprinkle cheese and bacon pieces (optional) over top.