Published: March 13, 2008 07:45 pm         

Scammon church known for food

I’m not one of those people who like to tell other people what to do, but I have some advice for the folks who run that Food Channel on TV.

Send a camera crew to Scammon, Kan., this Sunday. You think Rachael Ray knows how to cook? You think that hot, blonde Sandra Lee can cook? You think that Paula Deen knows her way around a kitchen? Well, no disrespect meant, but I’m sorry they’re all kitchen hacks. At least when compared with the cooks in and around Scammon. Particularly the cooks who attend St. Bridget’s Catholic Church in Scammon.

If you know much about Cherokee County, you know that a large segment of the county’s population is of Italian descent. You also probably know that many of those long-established families of Italian descent place a great deal of importance on food. I’m pretty sure that, over the years, marriages have been forged on — and at times ruined — by food.

Now, I’m not saying Cherokee County is the only Southeast Kansas county inhabited by great cooks. Crawford County isn’t too shabby in that regard. I’m just saying that the food in Cherokee County is pretty good.

That’s why anytime the good folks at St. Bridget’s Catholic Church in Scammon put on a food-related event, other folks take notice. It’s sort of like what happens when folks in New Orleans put on a music-related event.

As longtime St. Bridget’s Catholic Church member Steve Langerot once told me, “We’re a meet-and-eat parish.”

This Sunday, the good cooks of St. Bridget’s are offering their third annual St. Joseph’s Table celebration from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the church’s Faith and Family Center.

Saint Joseph’s Table celebrations have long been a staple in many Italian-Catholic homes and traditionally have served as a way to give thanks. It’s also a pretty good excuse to crank out the food.

As the name implies, Saint Joseph Table celebrations are held to honor the Catholic holy day of St. Joseph, which is on March 19. A St. Joseph table typically is decorated with flowers, candles and lace table cloths. On the table you will probably find a variety of fresh baked breads, platters of sweets, cakes, pastries and other treats.

So, on Sunday you can expect to find, and be able to purchase, baked goods fresh from the ovens of St. Bridget’s parishioners. Now if that was all that you would find at the parish hall on Sunday you might figure that still would be a pretty good deal. But remember, we’re talking St. Bridget’s here.

So, on Sunday, you will also be able to get on the outside of homemade spaghetti and meatballs (What? You were expecting egg fu yung?), lasagna, seafood shells, polenta with sauce, and stuffed cabbage. There will also be salads and desserts available.

The meal will cost $10 for adults and $5 for kids 12 and younger.

Oh, and if you’ve got a hankering for fish and seafood, you still have two Friday evenings left to drop by the St. Bridget’s Famous Fish Fry. Now in it’s ninth year, the fish fry got its name five or six years ago when the late, great KKOW radio legend Dan Willis dropped by Scammon one Friday during Lent, and announced he was looking for the “famous fish fry:.

The fish fry begins at 6 p.m. and features complete dinners that include catfish, cod, shrimp and New England clam chowder. The meals range in cost from $7 to $10.

If you do take in either the fish fry or the St. Joseph Table celebration, and run into a camera crew from the Food Channel, do me a favor.

Ask them what took them so long.



Mike Pound writes for The Joplin (Mo.) Globe.