Lent Week #3: St. Paul the Apostle.

I want to take a moment to give some advice to anyone planning a Fish Fry, or any other charity fundraiser that serves food and potentially serves it to people who are unfamiliar with your venue and or your system. Please be generous in your signage!

We have visited several Fish Fry’s both this year and last that had poor signage. On more than one occasion we searched around large multi building facilities trying to find where the Fish Fry is located. We have also wandered through buildings searching for the dining area. You can follow your nose, but this sometimes leads you out back where they are frying the fish.

Finally, your Menu should be readily available both at the table you pay, and at the place you get your food.

This Friday on the third week of Lent Z and I, and our wayward Catholic friend Beth, went to St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Westerville. Thom and Fe were away on spring break, so this week it was just the girls. I brought up the suggestions about signage because of our visit here, but St. Paul’s is not the first Church where we have experienced this.

We arrived at their huge complex on State Street that contains what looks likes two Churches and a school. Despite the lack of signage on the outside of the buildings we were able to spot the school cafeteria from the outside and people mingling around. This was our clue and we ventured in.

We were in luck. Our dinners were $7 for adults and $4 for children 12 and under. Bargain hunters note: this was the lowest price so far this year.

After we paid ,we received our color coded tickets and a small orange traffic cone. We found a place at one of the tables and put the cone on our table. After just a few minutes of waiting a nice man from the Knights of Columbus came around and took our order.

The adults had the option of fried fish, baked fish, or macaroni and cheese for our entree and French fries, scalloped potatoes, or macaroni and cheese as side dish. There was optional coleslaw or apple sauce, and white roll or wheat. Drinks were also included and were served yourself.

This is another situation where they could have printed out menus and either posted them on the wall or had them on the table. It would have made it much easier of us and for our “waiter”. The only difference between our menu and Z’s was that she was not able to order baked fish.

Also if you were paying close attention you may have noticed you are able to order macaroni and cheese with a side dish of macaroni and cheese!

We all ordered fried fish and let me first say that it was both hot and yummy. My side dish was scalloped potatoes and coleslaw, Z had the macaroni and cheese and apple sauce and Beth had the scalloped potatoes and coleslaw.

I apologize that we didn’t order the French fries. I will tell you that they looked good and if the fish was any example their fried food was very good. The scalloped potatoes were tasty and Z gave the macaroni and cheese a thumbs up.

Z’s best quote of the evening was that our rolls tasted like communion bread. The amazing thing is that she was right, at least compared to our church.

Desserts were an extra dollar and once again homemade. Z had “dirt” in a cup which made her very happy and I had a nice piece of cake.

Our little group enjoyed our evening and our only complaint would be the poor information sharing. Again, something to keep in mind if you are planning your own fish fry.

Let us know if you have a great Fish Fry to wow us with!

5th Week of Lent: St. Andrew's- Upper Arlington

I’ve mentioned that I grew up Lutheran.  I was always amazed by the big Catholic Church down the street in my home town.  I’m pretty sure we never went to any fish fries there.

There are lots of ways that churches can fundraise and feed the people. I know that my current church, Clinton Heights Lutheran, has a pasta dinner on Shrove Tuesday and a Pancake breakfast in the summer.  I have also seen signs for pasta dinners in front of the Methodist church on Broadway.

Lutherans are famous for is a good potluck supper, just ask Garrison Keillor. I am not suggesting that other churches can’t pull off good pot luck; I am just going by what I know.

 I have memories of heaving tables of food.  I grew up in communities with lots of Eastern Europeans.  So, there were not only deviled eggs,  myriad Jello salads, and green bean casserole, but cabbage rolls and goulash.

 I am pretty sure I have at one point or another tried every form of Jello and enjoyed most of them. Yes, I know that it isn’t vegetarian, so it is all a memory, but a fond one. I think the only one I didn’t like was carrots and raisins. But then I have never liked raisins.

I also remember these as wonderful feasts with lots of fellowship and children running around having fun. The only downfall being that my Father always insisted we go through the line together and as the minister he went through last.  That’s a sure way to miss out on the deviled eggs.

When we have visited the various Catholic Churches over the weeks I have seen this feeling of community there, too. It is good to see.  I think it is something that we should look for in our lives whenever we can.  It may be at church or school or your sports team, but it is good to sit down for a meal together, enjoy each other’s company and watch the children play.

This week we ventured over to Upper Arlington to St. Andrew’s on McCoy Rd. We were lured by the promises of salad.  It sounded a little healthier than your average fried fish fare.

 

My first suggestion for St. Andrew’s would be:  better signage. It was easy enough to find the church but once we were in the parking lot it was difficult to decide what door to go through.

Once we found it, we discovered yet another twist on how to serve a fish fry! The ladies at the door take your initial order, baked or fried or kids pizza, fish or macaroni and cheese. You then proceed to the cashier to pay and get your dessert and drink tickets.

The meal is served in a buffet style and they have figured out how to do that and keep it hot. It is not all you can eat, but the portions are large and should be filling for most people.  T and F both had fried fish with fries, coleslaw and F had green beans. Z went for the kid’s macaroni and cheese, fries, applesauce and salad. I had the baked fish, baked potato, and green beans. Warm rolls added to the starch factor.

The fried fish was very good. The baked fish, while flavorful, was tough. I thought the baked potato was great and the fries were just the way I liked them, hot and salty.  The others thought they were too salty.  Z thought the macaroni and cheese tasted good, but was too runny. The coleslaw was creamy and tangy.  The servings were large.

 If you grew up liking the canned green beans your school served like I did, you will love their green beans, too. As for the salad I was disappointed; iceberg lettuce and dressing.

This was the second church that we noted having milk as a drink option with both chocolate and white. Also, the desserts were all homemade and with lots of variety. Drinks and dessert were included in our dinner price.

The prices are $8 for adults and $4 for kids so our whole family ate for $28.

We have one more Friday for our review. I have ideas for blogging our family diner breakfasts and other adventures with our adolescents.  I am looking for ideas for a name….any suggestions?

3rd Week of Lent: St Catherine's-Bexley/Columbus

In the interest of full disclosure, I was a Delta Zeta in college. T was a Delta Sigma Phi.  I am telling you this because this week I became curious about the Knights of Columbus.  So far we have visited two fish fries that were sponsored by the K of C. Interestingly, the Catholic friends that I asked were not really sure what the K of C did, so I thought I should check this out. First of all I went to the K of C website and while I did not read every page I did get the general idea.  I disclosed my greek-ness because to me it looks like the K of C is essentially a fraternity for Catholic men. Founded in 1882 in Connecticut as a fraternal benefit society, they are to strive for charity, unity and fraternity.  It seems that they are to take care of their community of families and the community around them.  Like many fraternities they have some pet charities. Two that the website highlighted were: Coats for Kids and the Global Wheelchair Mission.  Also, as an extension of their goal to take care of their community they offer health insurance.  I will say that I did find an issue or two that concerned the liberal side of me. Not surprisingly, for a Catholic organization the K of C website had a very pro-life bent. I know that this is part of the Catholic doctrine, though it would make me feel better if I thought my fish money was going to wheelchairs or coats than to pro-life rallies. Hmmm, something to think on. Of course, there are websites with conspiracy theories, but I’ll leave that one for Dan Brown. One thing I do know is that the K of C at St. Catherine’s makes really good homemade donuts.  I am taking that on the word of my friend N and her parents J and S. I figure who can I trust better on donut quality than one of my favorite eleven year old girls?

J, S, N and her brother E joined us at their parish St. Catherine’s, at 500 S. Gould Rd. on the East Side of Columbus, for our third Friday of Lent Fish Fry.  Proving that there are many ways to host a Fish Fry St. Catherine put their own twist on things. Like our first two F.F’s you were able to purchase an adult or child meal but at St. Catherine’s you could also purchase a family meal for $24. This covered a family of two adults and two children.  Another twist is that St. Catherine’s served their meal as an all you can eat buffet. Finally, they were the first we’ve seen  to offer baked fish as well as fried.  Both types of fish were tasty. I especially enjoyed the baked fish. It had great flavor and I liked the dill seasoning.  Also offered, were the standard fries, coleslaw, applesauce, and macaroni and cheese. Punch, water, and ice tea as well as a trip to the dessert table came with your meal and you have the option of soda for .50 cents and beer for $2. Overall the flavors were very good and most of our group thought that the creamy coleslaw was tasty. The girls liked the macaroni and cheese,  but thought the cheese sauce could have been creamier. The two boys, 13 and 14, seemed to pretty much gobble down everything on their plate without complaint. The one downfall to the meal  stems from the buffet style. Most of our food was not hot. I am sure that this stems from the fact that they are trying to have masses of food ready and out at the buffet table. Once they master getting it served hot I think that it will be an even better experience.  Overall our family had a great time with our friends and enjoyed our meal.

We are taking suggestions for this Friday. Let us know!