The St. Malachy Fish Fry

Today, Marilyn and I closed out the Lenten Fish Fry Tour for 2014 by visiting St. Malachy Parish in Kennedy Township.  It was another great set up - HUGE fish sandwich, fried jumbo shrimp, all the sides.  Terrific.  The big attraction at St. Malachy's, we came to understand, is their home made pierogies.  Now, neither Marilyn or I are pierogi eaters, so that didn't appeal to us, but the the kitchen workers at St. Malachy's couldn't make them fast enough to satisfy the demand.

And speaking of those volunteer kitchen workers, we were greeted by none other than this guy slaving away in the St. Malachy kitchen.....

Yep, Southwest Airlines captain, Mr. Season Ticket Holder (Pirates and Penguins), star of the "Blackout Was Only the Beginning" Pirates commercial, and the Mayor of Section 20 himself, Tim Baker, doing his thing to help out his parish.  Well done, Tim, and we're glad we caught you there this evening.

In all we hit six Fish Fries this Lent, and four of them were ones that we had not attended in prior years: Good Samaritan, St. Killian, St. Bonaventure, and St. Malachy.  The two that we returned to were St. Suva (Serbian Club) and St. Alexis.  We also got to visit with friends Carole Kon, Patti Nelson, and the aforementioned Tim Baker at these events as well. 

Fish fries abound throughout the Diocese of Pittsburgh every Lent.  If you have never attended one then you are missing out on a chance to eat well at a reasonable price and support great causes.  Think about it come Lent in 2015.

The St. Bonaventure Fish Fry

Last night our Lenten adventures continued as we ventured to the "other side" of McKnight Road and visited the St. Bonaventure Parish Fish Fry in Shaler, PA.

The food was very good, and, on the plus side, clam chowder was on the menu!  The size of the fish on my sandwich was not as large as at some of the other places we've been, but it was more than adequate and was delicious.  Marilyn, as she often does, opted for the fried shrimp and gave them a thumbs up as well.

One thing that struck me last night, as it often does at these events, is that no two parishes conduct their fish fries in exactly the same way.  Each has a different system for placing the orders, seating you at your table, and serving you your dinner, but each different method works like clockwork, no matter where you are.

Last night, for example, St. Bonnie had people approach you while you were standing in line, they would take your order for you right then on a two part slip, which you would then give one part to the cashier and pay, and the other part to someone who would note your table on the slip and deliver the order to the kitchen.  Made it very fast moving.  St. Bonnie's also made excellent use of a prime source of their labor force: the kids from their school. We were especially impressed by two young ladies, probably 2nd or 3rd graders, very fancily dressed, who delivered the desserts.

No games of chance, although they were selling St. Bonnie Bobcats collapsible lawn chairs.  We passed on that.

About the only negative we could come up with was the parking.  Can't imagine what it must be like on Sunday mornings there.

The St. Killian's Fish Fry

Tonight's adventure in piscatorial parochial dining pleasure took us to St. Killian Parish in Mars/Adams/Cranberry.

The highlight of course was being greeted and seated by our good friend and fellow Caring Place volunteer, Patti Nelson.  How can you top that?

St. Killian's also offered us a first in our tour of Fish Fries: computerized ordering.  Yep, you gave your order and the guy punched it into a computer and gave you your order slip, which you then gave to a server after you were seated.  That's bringing 21st century efficiency to fish fries, is it not?  The food was standard fare - big piece of fried fish on a bun for your sandwich, two sides, plus a cup if tomato Florentine soup which was quit good.  Plus, drinks and dessert.  All for ten bucks.

St. Killian's school kids bussed your tables as you were finished, and that always adds a nice touch to such affairs.  

And there was a 50/50 raffle.  I am sure that we will be called shortly after 8:00 tonight to let us know that they drew one of our tickets.

The Good Samaritan Fish Fry

Our Lent 2014 Fish Fry tour got off to a rousing start when we traveled into Beaver County to sample the Fish Fry at Good Samaritan Church in Ambridge. We decided to go there after talking a few months back with parish member and former co-worker of Marilyn's at Mellon Bank, Carole Kon.  (When we realized last night just how far back that Mellon association was, well, needless to say, I'll just pass on putting the raw numbers down here.)  Turns out Carole is one of the major domos in putting this whole shebang together at Good Samaritan, so we figured it would be a good thing to turn up and sample this one.

It was a wise decision.

Ten bucks got be the Fish Sandwich Meal, which is a sandwich with two HUGE pieces of fried fish, two sides, drinks, and dessert.  Marilyn went with the "Francine Special" - a piece of fish, two shrimp, crab cake, two sides, drinks, and dessert, also for ten bucks.  ("Delicious", says Mrs Grandstander!) Service was impeccable (your drinks and desserts are delivered to your table), and quick.  

They even had polka music playing - softly, I might add - in the background if that floats your boat.  I'd have preferred the "60's on 6" being piped in from Sirius XM, but that's just me.

As long time readers know, I am a strong proponent of Games of Chance at Fish Fry Dinners.  Good Samaritan is running a "Chinese auction" raffle throughout Lent, so you buy tickets for that, but the drawings won't take place until Good Friday, so there is no instant gratification with this one. Where are the Instant Bingo strip tickets, and, even more so, where is the 50/50 Raffle? The absence of a 50/50 is the only thing that kept this Fish Fry from being a perfect 10.  Call it a 9.9!

If you have easy access to Ohio River Boulevard, the trip to Ambridge is a quick and easy one.  Well worth it on one of these upcoming Lenten Fridays.

P.S. - Carole also gave us the Big Sell on Good Samaritan's Parish Festival, which runs over Labor Day Weekend.  Parish Festivals - this could become a whole new field for Grandstander write-ups!

Fish Fry Fridays Are Back!

It's Friday. It's Lent.  You know what that means, right? Time to explore the wonderful world of Fish Fries, as presented by the various churches throughout the Diocese of Pittsburgh.

First on the menu, if you will, for us will be the Fish Fry at Good Samaritan Church in Ambridge.  We learned a few months back that an old work colleague of Marilyn's is a member of Good Samaritan and regularly works this Fish Fry, so we are happy to add it to the rotation for Lent 2014.

Key questions to answer: Do they serve clam chowder, and do that have a 50/50 raffle?

We look forward to trying a couple of new spots this year, as well as revisiting some past favorites.

The Grandstander will let you all know how it turns out.