You need turkey, the things to make stuffing, vegetables to cook, spices and herbs for seasoning, cranberries and, of course, pie filling.

What makes the community dinner menu different?

Mass quantities.

The meal is prepared by the Culinary Arts students at Iowa Central Community College under the guidance of Program Director Chef Michael Hirst.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Chef Michael Hirst, program director for the Culinary Arts program at Iowa Central Community College uncovers several trays of cooked turkey thighs Wednesday afternoon. His students will spend the day cutting up the birds and preparing other foods for the annual Community Thanksgiving dinner at Fort Dodge Ford.

“Lets talk turkey,” he said. “We cooked seventy-five 25-pound birds.”

In the past, they had to cook the birds in shifts.

In their new classroom and kitchen facility, they have room to do them all at once. They cut the birds up before cooking. The carcasses are used for making 100 gallons of turkey stock, the breasts and thighs become the “turkey.”

“We cook the breasts and legs in our beautiful huge walk-in bakery oven,” he said.

The traditional green bean casserole requires quite a bit.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Iowa Central Community College Culinary Arts student Rodney Walters, of Rockwell City, works on carving up turkey thighs for the annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner at Fort Dodge Ford.

“We have 216 pounds of green beans,” he said. “Sixty pounds of bacon — which we dice up really small — and 60 pounds of fresh mushrooms that are diced and sauteed.”

That’s it for the green beans.

“Not a can of chicken soup anywhere,” he said.

Brussels sprouts are also part of the menu, 125 pounds of them. While many don’t like this much-maligned food, including some of the students, they’re more likely despair at the Brussels sprouts prep process.

“They might turn their nose up at cleaning that many Brussels sprouts,” he said. “They underestimate the monotony. We turn it into a game to see who can do 5 pounds the fastest.”

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Iowa Central Community College culinary arts student Tatum Willer fills several large pans with water Wednesday morning to blanche some of the hundreds of pounds of vegetables that will be served at the annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner at Fort Dodge Ford.

They’re going to be in for a shock when it’s time to peel potatoes.

“On a normal day in the cafeteria they might do 8 to 10 pounds,” he said. “Today they’re going to be peeling 400 pounds.”

But wait. There’s more.

“One hundred and fifty pounds of peas, carrots — 100 pounds, peel and dice 100 pounds of yellow onions,” he said.

Then there’s the 160 pounds of ground sausage meat to make the traditional English stuffing. That takes 50 pounds of the onions and some sage.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Iowa Central Community College Culinary Arts student Devin Stuhr, of Massena, pulls a cart full of turkey thighs and vegetables out of the walk in cooler Wednesday morning.

“A tree of sage,” he said.

A little garlic goes in it too.

“Twenty-five pounds of peeled and chopped garlic,” he said.

Then the students have to roll the mixed meat into balls, place them on trays and cook them.

So far, none of the students has gotten creative and recreated the infamous Mr. Bean skit where he gets his head stuck inside a turkey.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Chef Michael Hirst checks on a 15 gallon pot of turkey stock Wednesday morning in the Iowa Central Community College Culinary Arts program kitchens.

“Not yet,” Hirst said.

Did we mention the other stuffing?

“Two hundred loaves of bread for the dressing,” he said. “About 75 pounds of celery, 50 pounds of onions, 20 pounds of garlic and half of that 100 gallons of turkey stock. The rest is used for making gravy.”

For those who wonder how much space 200 loaves of bread broken up for stuffing looks like, well, it fills up three clear plastic bags. The big ones.

The cranberry sauce — made fresh and free of can rings — 140 pounds.

The baking students will have plenty to do as well.

“They’ve made 1,600 portions of pie, whipped up the butter pipes and 1,700 bread rolls will be baked today,” he said.

All that food is needed to feed all those who either attend in person at the dealership or get a meal delivered. Last year, Hirst said, they fed about 750 at the dealership and delivered 800 meals.

They expect that this year, at least.

“We expect the same, if not more,” he said. “It has gone up every year.”

Culinary Arts student Rodney Walters, of Rockwell City, started his morning with a cutting board and a seemingly endless supply of turkey thighs.

“Your hands get pretty sore as the day goes on,” he said.

He’s been busy.

“I diced onions for about five hours and cleaned turkeys for what seemed like days.” he said.

He won’t actually be enjoying the finished meal.

“It’s funny,” he said. “You’re hungry as you prep and cook. At the end of the day, you’re too tired. The best meal for a chef is a bag of popcorn or a bowl of cereal. You don’t have to prep it.”

Hirst said the prepping, cooking, transporting, setting up, serving and cleaning up such a large meal gives the students valuable experience: It’s a sort of reality check of what they will likely encounter once in the work force.

Student Devin Stuhr, of Massena, agrees.

“Yeah,” he said. “It’s a reality check. This is the most we’ve made so far for one event.”

Student Tatum Willer, of Sheridan, was getting ready to blanch some vegetables Wednesday morning.

Her first task was to fill five large pots with water and get them boiling.

“I steamed all the vegetables. I seared a bunch of turkey. I deconstructed turkey. I made some sausage balls and I peeled carrots,” she said.

Are her fingers sore.

A number of local businesses and groups have contributed to the event, including Community Orchard, Friendship Haven, Hy-Vee, Candies and More, Great Western Dining Service, Lynch Farms, Aramark, Noon Sertoma, Becker Florist, Great Western Bank and musician Tracy Ernst.

The Community Thanksgiving at Fort Dodge Ford Toyota showroom starts at 11:30 a.m. and runs until 1:30 p.m.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Chef Michael Hirst pulls out some of the trays holding sliced sauteed mushrooms from the cooler at Iowa Central Community College.