24 Days of Ornaments: Dec the 11th

Isn't he a happy fellow?

Twenty five years ago, give or take one or two, the women of the church decided to have a Christmas bazaar. This Cowboy Santa was one of a set of 6 ornaments we cut and sewed together. There were two different angels, a snowman, a more traditional Santa, and a 'NOEL.' I can't remember what we sold them for, nor if we copied or designed them ourselves, something I'm not capable of, but there was a real artist in the group.

I remember these ornaments, however, not for the artistry involved nor the labor, but for the camaraderie we had as we worked on a group project, donating time, effort and materials. In the end, we received far more in return.

Fried fish surprise

The article in yesterday's paper was from Pennsylvania. It seems the state has health codes which made homemade pies and cakes and other sundry items served at church suppers verboten unless baked in an inspected kitchen, such as the church's. The current dust-up has come when a Catholic church was cited during its weekly Lenten fish fries. Off the tables went the homemade goodies and a few store-bought ones appeared, but let's face, it wasn't the same.

To add insult to injury, the church down the block was carrying on as before. Rumor has it there's a bill in the state legislature to counteract this for charities, but that isn't helping the current Lenten fund-raising for the parish.

Well, I can see where this line of thinking might catch on and could very well spoil many a church fund-raiser. Will be watching it.

But what really caught my attention wasn't the above. In the article I read (and the above link is similar but not exactly it), It was this: When talking about how much fish they buy to fry, they weren't talking catfish, the swimmer-du-jour in the South. Oh, no, it was cod and haddock.

Really? I mean, I know the North considers some of our menu choices to be suspect (catfish as bottom feeders and black-eyed peas as cow fodder), but a fish fry without catfish? With, instead, that staple of the Luby's cafeteria line, cod?

I wonder if they serve hush puppies with that.