I’m just typing this blog a few minutes before I have to give my last presentation at St. Matthew’s Catholic Church in Statesboro, GA.  Although the church was described to me as “way out there”, I have found it to be very “in the mix!”  The pastor, Fr. McKeown, a friend from my seminary days is leading a wonderful parish!  He is also the vocation director for the Diocese of Savannah, GA, so you know the man is busy!  Along with his assistant Jonathon, the pastor emeritus in residence, Fr. Smith, and the wonderful parishioners and staff of St. Matthews, I must say I was very, very impressed!  I’ll have a few photos that I’ll eventually have the web people publish.  These will actually be lots of fun to put on the web because it will be of big FOODIE experiences - such as a trip to a produce farm (Jamie Brannen) and an award winning rib and barbecue restaurant (The Rib Shack).  I’ll definitely keep y’all(hear that Suthr’n in me?) posted in upcoming blogs and blasts about this enthusiastic parish mission experience.  I just wanted to do a quick shout out and congratulate this parish for a vibrant faith life! 

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• 3 packages chopped frozen spinach or greens
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 Tbsp or 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 5 stalks of celery, chopped
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 5 potatoes or yams, chopped
• 2 Tbsp oil
• Salt (to taste)

Instructions

Boil spinach or greens until soft.  Strain and set aside.  Cook potatoes, or yams, and set aside.  Add oil to a frying pan.  Panfry onions, garlic, and celery for 10 minutes.  Add tomatoes and fry for an additional 5 minutes.  Add spinach, or greens, and salt.  Cook on medium for 10 minutes.  Add yams or potatoes and serve.

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Click Here to read last week’s email blast, “Fasting as Spiritual Food”

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Click Here to read last week’s email blast, “Prayer as Food”

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Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 3 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• Salt (to taste)
• 1 lb collard greens or spinach
• ¾ cup sesame seeds or unsalted peanuts
• garlic, crushed (to taste)
• vegetable broth (optional)

Instructions

In a large saucepan, cook the collard greens or spinach in boiling water until tender, and drain excess water. Vegetable broth may be added for flavor.  Set aside.  Toast the peanuts or sesame seeds in the oven at 300°F until browned.  Remove from the oven to cool, then add salt (optional), and finely chop or grind the nuts or seeds.

In a frying pan, sauté the onions and garlic in oil until slightly browned.  Add the tomatoes and cook until tender. Then add the peanuts or sesame seeds.  Continue cooking for about 5 minutes.  Season the cooked greens with the mixture of onion, garlic, tomato, and sesame seeds or peanuts.  Sauté ingredients together for a few minutes.  Serve over hot rice.

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What a weekend!  It started with a presentation for a group at Mary Mount University, followed up by a mini-retreat for the wives of Permanent Deacons in the Archdiocese of Baltimore with a final stop in New York City for a presentation, preaching, cooking demo and book signing.  Needless to say, it was a running kinda’ weekend!  All in all, it was also a lot of fun. 

New York’s parish, St. Paul the Apostle was the site for the NY trip. The event seemed to go quite well – especially with the cooking demo of different fruit glaze and sauce that I prepared.  What a great parish and community! 

I felt like mission was accomplished when (1) a man came to me with tears in his eyes to say thanks for encouraging him to spend time with his family – something that was close to his heart ever since his mother passed away (2) when a woman asked me to bottle these sauces and (3) when a young boy said the glaze was so good that he drank it!

So, for those who wanted to learn how to make the EASTER VERSION of the simple fruit glaze (i.e., not the sugar, lemon, mint glaze that can be found in the Recipes for Family Life Book) here it is:

Creamy Lemon Mint Fruit Topping

Ingredients: 1 stick of butter, 1/4 -1/2 cup of white flour (Hecker flour – the family company of the founder of the Paulist Fathers, Rev. Fr. Hecker), 1 teaspoon of lemon zest, the juice of one lemon, 2 tablespoons of fresh mint leaves finely minced, 1 cup of evaporated milk, 2 cups of sweetened condensed milk.

Instructions: melt butter in a saucepan.  Remove from heat and add four, mint and lemon zest and stir together to create a rich roux.  Add the evaporated milk and whisk thoroughly to avoid lumps.  Return to heat, low.  Add the condensed milk and continue to stir until creamy, thick and warm.  Add to the fruit (strawberries and blue berries work best) and serve the fruit slightly warmed by the cream! 

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