It's the Pearl of Chicken Dinners

Lonapearl and Gene Korfhage brought friend Loraine Andree to the United Methodist Church creamed chicken dinner in Brownsdale, and marveled at the amount of salads, desserts and main course they got. 

Serving over 245 people this year, it seems the secret's out on the good food served here. It was a typical October night (October 27) as far as weather went, and the creamed chicken could be smelled three blocks away and easily from an open window in a car driving by. The fact that there was a line waiting for them to open made my mouth salivate even more.

Loraine Andree, left, and Lonapearl and Gene Korfhage had already
finished their meal, but they had time to talk about the great event.

"There's just too much to eat!" said Lonapearl. The three proceeded to share their breadth of knowledge on not only many delicious meals in the area, but who has the best lutefisk dinners. "We've been to as many as seven in one year, but there are so many to go to," Lonapearl shared. Loraine agreed. "You could go to these dinners all year round and never get a bad one." In that, so far as I have found, she is right.

They warned me that the Preston's Lutheran church lutefisk dinner the first Sunday of December was one to attend, saying their fruit soup and bread pudding was out of this world. Never had fruit soup, I might have to take them up on that!

Sue Amick coordinates all the volunteers, food, etc. and in addition to that is getting ready for their annual Halloween party for kids. "It's not so bad, everyone does their job and we have a good time," she said, which is validated by the smiles, fun jabs and knowledge of most who attend from the workers behind the counter. As the first people were in line and getting seated, Sue said a prayer over the meal - a first in any dinner I've gone to this year, lending an obvious thankfulness over food and friends.

"This year we almost ran out of food," said Jean Way, a volunteer helping out in desserts. "We were wondering what we were going to do if we did." Jean shared that this is her second year helping out at the dinner, but she and her husband just joined the church officially this year. "We sure liked the people here, so we decided why not (join)?"

Myrna Thompson, Sue's sister, has been involved for many years as well. She's one busy lady going table to table helping customers get seated, cleaning tables, chatting, helping out other volunteers, whatever it takes to pull off the yearly event. United Methodist does have one other large fundraiser in the spring, a Swiss Steak Dinner. If that's half as good as this one, put that one on your calendar!

Aronn Oakland lend a helping hand
for the dinner.

The church is 156 years old, making it one of the oldest in the area. This building is the second one, built in 1978. As most churches in the 19th century, they got their start holding services in sod homes and shanties of parishioners. From there they moved to the school house in the area and the first church was finished in 1891. The ladies aid formed in 1891 and have ever since been a vibrant spark to church life and activities since.

Money raised for the dinners goes to church needs, with a little spread out in other charities.

Current Pastor Sharon Goetzinger and husband, Vern, manned the ticket table. Pastor Sharon is in her second year at the Brownsdale parish. "Everyone involved does such a great job," she said. "It's hard not to want to help out in some way."

A beautiful Lord's Supper mural overlooked the meal room.

Aside from the warmth from the creamed chicken and biscuit it covered, there were so many choice salads your plate couldn't hold them all. Ladies of the church made at least 20 salads, so selecting which one to take made portions smaller or passing on some to take more of another. Then if that wasn't a difficult enough decision, the women made up 15 different pies or bars to choose from. This is the first dinner I have been to where banana creme and coconut creme pies were available - mostly because they need to be refrigerated until served. I had to pass up my favorite banana creme because of the raves I heard from others about the Better than Robert Redford Dessert. Fortunately, I took a piece and kept it until the end. They were right, or the cook was right.

Marcella Rockwell and Judith Pike took care
of bake sale proceeds.

"People always ask me at events where I work or at meals, 'are you going to make that dessert?', so it's hard not to," said Jean Way. She's made the dessert for over 30 years - the new generation probably doesn't even know who Robert Redford is! An added touch at the counter of food was the option of taking a pumpkin flavored muffin, cut in half with a cream spread, decorated festively on top with a pretzel sticking out the top. There was no end to the great food!

Within the first 15 minutes almost all 10 tables of eight were filled, but they had two other smaller rooms ready for backup. As I left, the line was longer and tables filled. And walking to my van my tummy was full and happy, but the temptation to go back in remained as that luscious aroma still filled the air outside.

Jean Way was a friendly face to those trying to
choose ONE dessert!

Recipes of the Day!

Jean Way's "Next Best Thing to Robert Redford Dessert" (and it is!)

1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 8 oz. cream cheese softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 8 oz. Cool Whip thawed
1 large pkg Instant banana pudding
1 8 large pkg. instant chocolate pudding
3 cups milk
1 Hershey bar grated

Mix together flour, butter, pecans for crust; press in 9 x 13 pan, bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Cool.

Mix cream cheese, sugar, 1/2 Cool Whip and spread over cooled crust.

Mix each pudding mix separately, using 1 1/2 cups of the milk in each mixture. Apply each pudding mix in two separately ayers. Spread remaining Cool Whip on top of them.

Sprinkle with the grated Hershey bar. Cool until ready to serve.

Myrna's (Thompson) Raspberry Salad

3 small pkg. raspberry jello
3 cups of hot water
1/2 quart of vanilla ice cream
whole raspberries

Mix the jello with the three cups of hot water until dissolved. Add the vanilla ice cream and mix; add the whole raspberries.  Pour into bowl and cool until ready to serve.

UPCOMING DINNERS/SUPPERS: 
(And there are more where these come from)

Sat. Nov 3 - Our Savior's Lutheran Church, Lyle, Roast Beef dinner, 4-7
     Annual Chili/Soup Supper, Grace United Methodist, Millville, 4:30-7:30
     Scandian Grove Lutheran Church, St. Peter, Lutefisk/Meatball Supper, 11-1, 4-8

Sun. Nov. 4 - Roast Beef Dinner, Kasson Community Church, 11-1
     Hamball Dinner, Zion Lutheran Church, Buffalo Lake, 11-1
     All Saints Dinner, Holden Lutheran Church, Kenyon, 3:30-7:30
     Roast Beef dinner, Harmony United Methodist Church, 4:30-7:30
     St. Mary's of Geneva, Soup and Pie Supper, 4:40-7
     First Presbyterian Church, Winnebago, Swiss Steak Dinner, 10:30-1
     Windsor Pork Chop, St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Rose Creek, 4:30-7

Tues. Nov. 6 - Turkey Dinner, Vernon Center Grace United Methodist Church, all day

Wed. Nov. 7 - Little Cedar Lutheran Church, Adams, Lutefisk/Meatball Supper, 11-1, 5-
               7:30
     Faith Lutheran Harvest Supper, featuring Scandanavian pastries, 5-7:30, Dodge Center

Sun. Nov. 11  - Emmons Lutheran Church Lutefisk Supper, 11-6:30

 Dessert first - heck yeah!

All I'm sayin' is I liked the idea of getting your dessert first at the Hegre Lutheran Church Meatball Supper.

Lyla Patterson has her great granddaughters
Isabelle and Julia helping her out.

A beautiful countryside drive from anywhere to this quiet respite was just part of the experience. Not only did I meet long-lost friends, but got to revisit a place that really got me started in writing about church cuisine. The church is located just off Hwy. 56 six miles south of Kenyon or halfway between there and West Concord. Until this spring, they have had several years of not only meatball dinners, but a scrumptious salad luncheon in April.

Because of hectic schedules and the possibility the church may combine with a West Concord church, the salad luncheon fell by the wayside. But this meatball dinner brings in over 300 people, tasting the incredible food, and experiencing fall decorated tables. Mother Nature helped out as well, with perfect temperatures in the 70s and a touch of color showing in the trees.

Lyla Patterson, in all her 86 years, still enjoys scooping out whip cream onto whatever of the pies you choose when you jump to the front of the line: pumpkin, cherry, blueberry, peach, low sugar apple and regular apple, all homemade and looking and tasting like they were straight from the oven. "I've been going to this church all my life and remember helping out at church dinners since I was seven," she said, with a hearty smile. It's that infectious smile and knowledge of many of the visitors that makes such a homey atmosphere. Her two great-granddaughters, Isabelle and Julia are just part of the five generations of her family still helping out at the church, making it indeed a family affair.

The meatballs were joined on my plate by mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberries, coleslaw, buttered buns and coffee, milk or ice water. It was all you can eat, but one plateful was enough for most people!

Prior to entering the church, I came across Pastor Richard Hegal and his wife, Norma. That was a delightful start to the occasion. Although officially retired, Pastor Hegal has been helping out the Lutheran diocese for the past four years. He hails from Blooming Prairie, where he was minister for over 20 years. His wife, Norma, was my office manager at the Blooming Prairie Times in the mid 1990s, so it was a wonderful opportunity to catch up with them.

Right after he ate, Pastor Hegal took for the kitchen, where he eagerly dug in to helping serve, wash dishes - whatever it took. It was obvious the volunteers enjoyed his leadership and great demeanor.

Hungry visitors trickled in for the first half hour, but as the night went on the line got longer. The concern was the early harvest might hurt numbers, but that didn't hamper the gracious workers. They gladly filled 50 takeout orders for those who chose to take the meal home.

"It's been hard for some of these churches to keep their dinners going because of state restrictions," said Norma, who is no stranger to such goings-on. Blooming Prairie has one of the biggest lutefisk dinners in the area, coming up in a week. "They all do such good jobs and enjoy doing it, it's too bad the state had to stick their nose in it."

For those of you not aware, it was right here in Goodhue County that two Wanamingo ladies took the 'hotdish' rule to task. This is from the Zumbrota News-Record newspaper:

"Kathy Theel and Pat Irrthum decided that enough is enough when they saw traditional church dinners in Goodhue County under attack. These dinner ware a big revenue source and are very popular with local people. In some instances, churches like Vang Lutheran have busloads of people from the Twin Cities attending their annual lutefisk supper, and this brings in much needed revenue.

     Theel said, “The tradition of church dinners in rural areas is as important as Ufda,Ole and Sven, and everything else associated with Minnesota. It is important that we keep that tradition. Economically churches need that revenue.”

     The problem began when Goodhue County decided to discontinue its food inspection program for financial reasons and the State of Minnesota took over.

Theel said, “The first indication of a problem occurred at St. Paul’s Catholic Church dinner on March 16, 2010.

At that time, the state inspector proclaimed that the dinner had to be shut down. Upon hearing much objection, she agreed to allow the dinner to be held, but said there could be no more. And if there was, there could be up to a $10,000 fine per each event violation.

     Theel and Irrthum said her proclamation put the “fear of God” into the church’s pastor, and many of the church council members who met and declared there would definitely not be any more church dinners.

     Soon after, other area church members got scared and refused to advertise their church dinners for fear they too would be shut down if the inspector learned about their event.

Theel and Irrthum decided that Goodhue County’s tradition of holding church dinners wasn’t going to fall to the wayside without a fight. They wanted clarification of what the law said, as there were many rumors concerning the issue, and no one knew exactly what was being prohibited and why. One rumor was that churches needed to buy a $90 permit, which allowed them to hold three functions each year. (They later found out this wasn’t true). So they called a meeting with Wanamingo’s city administrator and the health department.

     Three health officials arrived and were shocked when they saw more than 100 people in attendance at the meeting.

     Theel and Pat Irrthum learned there that church dinners fall under the food stand law, and the problem comes when churches serve food that is cooked or baked in non-compliant church kitchens or off-site in homes and then invite the public to attend.

     In November 2010 they got the signatures of over 400 people asking that the state legislature exempt Goodhue County churches (on owned or leased property) from the food stand law. State Representative Steve Drazkowski agreed to sponsor the bill and Senator John Howe agreed to “run with it on the senate side.”

     On Tuesday, April 26, Theel and Irrthum went to a meeting at the Minnesota House of Representatives along with Wanamingo Mayor Ron Berg and City Administrator Mike Boulton. At that time, the plan was to also get the boy scouts and girl scouts exempted from the bill. Later, because of complications, they gave up on pursuing that goal.

     At the meeting, Representative Patty Fritz of Faribault told the Minnesota Health Department representatives to apologize to the women, or she would hold up the proceedings until they did so. Colleen Paulus, the head of the State Department of Health, did apologize, but both Theel and Irrthum said it did not appear to be sincere.

     On Thursday, April 28, the women testified with Senator Howe in front of the Minnesota Senate. They learned from    the senators that the intent had not been for church dinners to be part of the “hotdish rule.” The senators said they were aware the wording had initially been a problem, but believed it had been taken care of.

Senator Dave Senjem said, “We should secede from the United States if we have to eliminate church dinners. I can’t live without them and it shows (weight-wise)!” Another senator said he didn’t want all the little old ladies from Goodhue County calling and bothering them.

     Irrthum reminded him that those little old ladies make up a good part of his constituency, and if the senators wanted the women’s votes, they had better resolve the issue.

The new bill was unofficially dubbed the “Church Basement Ladies Bill.” In the senate it is Bill 477 and in the House, Bill 637.

     Theel said, “Pat and I, Senator Howe, and the Health Department people ironed out a lot of the language and everyone felt fairly comfortable that it will past the Senate.”

However, she noted that at 12:30 p.m. the day before, they had both received phone calls from Paulus stating that there was going to be another meeting about the issue in a half-hour. Paulus said they were aware the women wouldn’t be able to make it to the Capitol in time, but they shouldn’t worry because they knew the intentions of the Health Department were good and nothing big would be changed.

     Theel said, “We don’t know what they changed in the wording of the bill.” Irrthum added, “If they changed too much, we’ll be back.”

Theel explained, “It (the bill) will be thrown in with the omnibus bill. We won’t know if it passes until the legislature adjourns.”

The women said jokingly, “If it passes, we will celebrate. We’ll call all the area churches and they can feed us!”

That in a nutshell, helped all state church dinners stay open - that and having someone educated on the church staff at sanitation practices required by the state.

Long live the meatballs in Hegre - and all such Minnesota dinners!

UPCOMING DINNERS:

OCTOBER 6 -SOUP & PIE LUNCHEON, SANBORN UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, 10:30-1

OCTOBER 7 - FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH OF KARLSTAD FALL SUPPER, 4-7

OCTOBER 14 - ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH OF CROWN TURKEY DINNER, ST. FRANCIS; 11:30-2

OCTOBER 17 - FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BAKED POTATO SUPPER, PIPESTONE, 5-7

OCTOBER 28 - FISHCAKE DINNER, KNIFE RIVER LUTHERAN CHURCH 4-7

THERE ARE SO MANY DINNERS THESE DAYS - THESE LISTINGS ARE JUST A FEW THAT CAUGHT MY EYE. IF YOU KNOW OF OTHERS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!