light and flaky pie crust, or a delicate French pastry, usually strikes terror into the hearts of some of the toughest combat veterans. They're tough alright, which may explain why they're so apprehensive over failing over turning out a tough pie dough (or, worse, a fallen souffle).
Yet time and time again we've seen nervous beginners tentatively cutting cold butter into flour for the first time, only to finish the journey by presenting wonderful pies and other delicacies with a triumphant "I made that by myself and it tastes really, really good! Quite pretty on a plate, too!"
Of course baking is just one vehicle that Valhalla regularly uses to help build confidence as veterans transition back into the civilian world, but it's nonetheless a powerful tool that demonstrates the importance of having a reliable, spacious, and ultimately expensive wall oven. Donors take note: the new oven project was worth every penny of your hard earned dollars and generosity, and we thank you for helping to make it happen.
purpose of scavenging the extra shelves.
The cooling and storage shelving components of Valhalla oven project required a total of three 48" wide x 72" tall commercial-grade shelving units since extra shelves were needed, whereas each unit comes with only five 18" deep shelves. We therefore used all 15 wire shelves for just two units instead of the usual three.
The first set of wire shelves is used primarily for storage. Placing essentials out in the open instead of hiding them inside cabinets makes it easy for a new Valhallan to see what's available.
We're particularly happy with the shelf reserved for lids that go with the pots and pans hanging above. Pots and pans can easily be hung up but not their lids, which almost always end up getting lost in a jumbled cabinet. This common problem was solved by spacing two wire shelves just 4" apart, making a very narrow space reserved for lids.
The plywood shelf liner in the pots and pans section is used as an extra counter space. At some point in the future an electrical outlet will be installed so that the sous vide water oven and/or crock pots can be plugged in for slow cooking projects right on the mini-counter shelf.
Finally, the plywood liner is very lightweight and therefore easily removed, thus converting that entire shelf into a cooling rack suitable for oversized roasts and meals baked in the Dutch oven.
The most important and practical benefit of setting up a commercial-grade wire shelving unit around a wall oven is the ability to swiftly transfer hot baked goods from the oven directly onto the cooling racks below -- without having to take a single step.
The cooling rack above the rolling pin shelf can accommodate two gigantic 16" by 22" baking sheets holding dozens of cookies baked at once or an entire row of casserole dishes. Loaded bundt pans, towering pies, and multiple muffin tins all fit neatly and out of the way as they cool.
After cooling the completed goodies or meals are moved to the serving shelf above (i.e., immediately below the oven door), where people dish out whatever they want -- buffet-style.
And there is still a great deal of space available for storing baking equipment, oversized pots, and other essentials. The kitchen is used by many different Valhalla participants who don't always know where things belong, so each shelf has a series of labels showing where to find whatever item is needed (and where to put each item back after cleaning).
Gordon Calder visited the Valhalla Project several times with the Warlords Motorcycle Club, which raised a large chunk of the funds for this new oven project. We didn't know him well, although he was clearly a strong supporter of our programs for veterans. A really friendly man who we looked forward to getting to know better over time. But then time suddenly ran out. Tank was killed in an accident on June 10th.
His tragic death serves to remind us yet again that every donor to the Valhalla Project is just as special as the veterans who participate in our programs. Valhallans are thankful for every nickle and dime that makes this nonprofit venture possible, and we were very lucky to meet Tank in person since the majority of our donors are strangers to us. Generous people who wish to help typically hit the "donate" button on this website or send items from the critical needs list without any further contact with us. Tank reminds us that the individuals carrying out these anonymous acts of kindness and support for our veterans are demonstrating the kind of benevolence that keeps our entire society -- all of America -- afloat.
Tank will be remembered with every casserole, batch of cookies, homemade apple pie, and other baked goods that pops out of the oven.