Church Dinners Are Part Of Rural Culture
LINDA WILLIAMS
Bedford Co. Correspondent
NEW BALTIMORE (Bedford)
Church dinners have long been
a part of rural Americana.
Country churches, notorious
for their excellent cooks, have
raised funds using food for every
thing from new church pews to
help for disasters.
When the Lenten season ar
rives at the Catholic church in
the small covered bridge village
of New Baltimore, it is also “fish
fry” and “pancake breakfast”
time.
“We started having fish frys
the first Friday of every month
about 13 years ago,” says Joan
McGteevy, a high school teacher
who has been helping since their
origin.
“Then, we decided to have
them just for Lent,” she says.
“They’ve always been a success
but a challenge. We never know
how many people will show.
Sometimes it is 300, sometimes
600 or more. This year, our larg
est crowd was 680 and we aver
aged about 400.”
“We are at the mercy of the
weather. Lent comes at a time
when the weather is a guessing
game in Pennsylvania and espe
cially in this mountainous town.
With Lent being early in 2002, a
lot of prayers were said. It
worked as every Friday evening
produced good weather,”
McGreevy said.
The menu includes baked and
fried fish, shrimp, scallops, baked
potatoes with broccoli and cheese
sauce, green beans, stewed toma
toes, and haluski.
Canned items, produce, and
fish are all ordered from a local
wholesaler.
Meiv*- • from '' this 250-family
church, fry the fish and take care
of the dish washing. The ladies
prepare Die remainder of the
meal and use their own special
recipes for the haluski and
stewed tomatoes. A salad bar in
the middle of the large banquet
hall, which also serves as a gath
ering place for the community,
includes homemade broccoli
salad, cole slaw, pickled eggs,
homemade bread, apple butter
and a variety of fresh fruits and
puddings.
It’s an all-you-can eat event for
$8 with a lesser price for children
and those under four admitted
free. Children love the shrimp.
Carolyn Leonard, another
faithful dinner worker, said, “We
have the same problems as many
other churches. A lot of our help
It’s Not Easy To Take A Fish’s Temperature
COLUMBUS, Ohio
“We’re trying to eat more fish,
but I’m never certain when it’s
done and it often gets too dry.
Can you help?”
The short, easy answer is
this: According to the Food and
Drug Administration’s 1997
Food Code, most seafood is
cooked thoroughly when it
reaches an internal tempera
ture of 145 degrees Fahrenheit
for 15 seconds.
Unfortunately, even with an
instant meat thermometer, it’s
very difficult to take an inter
nal temperature of most types
of fish. You slip the thermome
ter in, the fish flakes apart, the
internal temperature is sudden
ly the external temperature,
and it’s nearly impossible to get
an accurate reading.
There is good news, though.
Luckily, visual cues are usually
is getting up in years and just
can’t do it anymore. Thankfully,
we have the men who are willing
to help. Young people are great
at serving. If a child is 10 or 11
years old, he can work with the
supervision of a parent. From 12
to 16, they can work with any
adult,”
Approximately 28 to 30 help
with each of the dinners.
With the success of the fish
fries, the New Baltimore congre
gation added Pancake Breakfasts
to their fund raising event. These
are held three Sundays during
Lent from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m.
“There is a whole different
crew for each of our events,” ex
plains Carolyn Leonard. “Those
who work at the fish dinners are
not the same qs those who do the
pancake brealaasts.”
There is an even different crew
who does the spring and fall din
ners. These dinners consist of tur
key, waffles, homemade noodles,
com, cole slaw, and home baked
cakes.
July 4th is still another fund
raising time for the New Balti
more Catholics. A local farmer
offers his field equipped with
electricity. There are game boot
hs, cake walks, and lots of good
summer time food. “It’s a real
old fashioned July 4th event,”
says McGreevy.
“We have competition in some
neighboring towns and cities with
all of our events, but we still seem
to be able to attract a crowd. It
has been an excellent way to raise
money for the church.”
great ways to tell if your fish is
cooked. Try this: Slip the point
of a sharp knife into the flesh
and pull aside. When fish is
cooked thoroughly, it will be
opaque and flake easily, and
juices will be milky white. If the
fish is still undercooked, it wifi
have clear, watery juices and
will resist flaking.
When do you start testing it?
Experts say that for each inch
of thickness (at its thickest
part), bake the fillet or fish
steak for 10 minutes in a 450
degree oven. That means if the
fish is a half-inch thick, bake it
for 5 minutes at 450 degrees.
Add five minutes if you’re
cooking the fish in foil or in
sauce. If the fish is frozen, dou
ble the cooking time. Then
check for those visual cues.
One warning: If you ever
smell an ammonia-type odor
from fish or any type of pro
Youth and adults work side by side on the serving line.
Here are two versions to make
Haluski for those eager to try it.
2 pounds sauerkraut, prefera
ble the kind that is refriger
ated
6 large potatoes
1 pound bacon
2 eggs
Flour as needed
Salt and pepper
Brown sauerkraut in butter,
slowly. (You may optionally add
sliced onion to this). Set aside.
Boil 3 potatoes, cool, peel and
cube. Set aside.
Grate 3 uncooked potatoes.
Add 2 eggs, salt and pepper. Add
enough flour to make mixture
very thick.
Bring large pot water to boil.
Put potato/flour mixture on
large dinner plate. With a small
teaspoon, dip in boiling water
and section small pieces of mix
ture from plate and drop into
water, stirring occasionally. Dip
spoon in water frequently to keep
from sticking. Boil until crum
plings rise to top. (This only
takes a few minutes.) Drain.
Fry bacon and cumble. Reserve
drippings.
Mix in large bowl: cubed pota
toes; sauerkraut; crumplings;
bacon and drippings. Add lots of
freshly ground pepper to the final
product.
tein throw it out. It’s a sign
that bacteria have started to
break down the amino acids in
the protein, releasing the
“amine” part of these protein
building blocks. Amine is a de
rivative of ammonia, and smell
ing it is a clear sign of spoilage.
By the way, good for you for
incorporating more fish into
your diet. Fish is a great source
of omega-3 fatty acids, which
are associated with reduced
rates of cancer and heart dis
ease. Finned fish relatively high
in omega-3 fatty acids include
mackerel, herring, salm
on, tuna, sturgeon, anchovy
and whitefish.
Chow Line is a service of
The Ohio State University.
Send questions to Chow Line,
do Martha Filipic, 2021 Coffey
Road, Columbus, OH
43210-1044, or
filipic.3@osu.edu.
HALUSKI
A bountiful salad bar is included in the supper.
Serving line at the New Baltimore church fish fry.
Don’t Be Scammed
HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.)
A free video intended to help
educate consumers about how to
avoid becoming victimized by
predatory and abusive lending
practices is available from Rep.
Thomas E. Armstrong (R-98).
The Pennsylvania Bankers As
sociation (PBA) produced the
18-minute long video, entitled
“Don’t Be Scammed.” It includes
a short introduction by Pennsyl
vania Bankers Association Chair
man William P. Hayes and Secre
tary of Banking James B.
Kauffman Jr.
The video was released as part
of a consumer education and out
reach campaign designed to help
end predatory lending practices
and home sales tactics that often
target the poor, elderly and mi
norities.
The practice of charging high
risk borrowers exorbitant fees on
top of high interest rates became
prevalent during the economic
HALUSKI FOR 50
15 pounds cabbage
5 pounds onions
3 to 6 cups butter
4 pounds extra-broad egg noo
dles
Salt
Celery salt
Garlic powder
In a large electric roaster set on
175 degrees F., melt 4 sticks but
ter.
Coarsely chop cabbage and on
ions and pack into roaster. Roast
for 2 hours, stirring every 30 min
utes.
Continue roasing and prepare
noodles according package direc
tions.
Add stick of butter, salt, celery
salt, and garlic powder to taste to
each bag of noodles.
It takes about 1 to Vh hours to
prepare and add all of the noo
dles.
Continue roasing for 1 addi
tional hour.
Requires 6 hours (2 hours
prep, 4 hours cooking) until
ready to serve.
boom of the late 1990 s as more
borrowers with flawed credit
found willing lenders.
Consumer advocate groups say
the practice, which also includes
charging unnecessary insurance,
is reaching epidemic proportions,
particularly in urban areas where
lower-income consumers are ex
ploited.
The House passed a bill last
year that toughened the penalties
for predatory lending violations,
and is now considering legislation
that would enhance enforcement
by placing the state Attorney
General, or a designee, on the
State Board of Certified Real Es
tate Appraisers.
The video is available at Arm
strong’s district offices on a first
come, first-served basis. To order
your copy, call (717) 684-5525 or
(717) 367-5525, or visit the offices
at 430 Locust Street, Columbia or
222 South Market Street, Eliza
bethtown.