A fish fry and a pound cake

A fish fry and a pound cake

This year Lent, the period of fasting and prayer, is all in winter. Come springtime in March and it will be Easter. The dark of winter giving over to the light and warmth of spring. The dark of Lent giving over to the light and salvation of Easter.

Ash Wednesday came early this year -- the first week of February. And although Lent is about fasting, it seems as if Lent is about food as well. Shrove Tuesday (Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras), the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent, is our church's annual pancake feed. An ages old tradition of having pancakes on the day before the start of fasting. Using up ones stores of fats and eggs. It came early this year and on a dark and rainy night. Pancakes and sausages were the perfect comfort food for a cold February day.

Every Friday in Lent we look forward to the Catholic Church fish fry. There are three kinds of fish, French fries, coleslaw, green beans, macaroni and cheese. It's a feast actually and should be called the Catholic Church fish feast! But the most important thing of the Friday fish fry is the fellowship as we see friends of all denominations at Kennedy Gym enjoying each other's company and the wonderful food.

But it isn't just about the fish; it's also about the array of homemade desserts that are available each Friday.

The last Friday that we went, there was an awesome pound cake and upon asking, I found that it was brought by friend Margaret and so I called her up and asked her for the receipt. Not only did I get the receipt but I got a story as well. It's called Mrs. Callan's pound cake which came from Margaret's sister in Alabama. Mrs. Callan, it seems, had 13 children and so needed to make food in quantity and this receipt makes 3 loaves. As Margaret said, one to use now and two into the freezer. I must admit that I agree with her -- it is always good to have a pound cake in the freezer for unexpected company -- thinly sliced and served with coffee or tea or cut into cubes and used as a trifle for a quick dessert or as a gift for an ailing friend or a new neighbor.

Mrs. Callan worked in the kitchen of a country club in Alabama and that is where, Margaret said, the receipt originated. It's a good one and when I made it, I made two and for the third one, I added the grated peel of one orange and about a tablespoon of rosemary chopped before I poured it into the loaf pan. I adore orange rosemary pound cakes. We ate the orange rosemary one for dinner and I froze the other two. It's always nice to have pound cake in the freezer.

Dinner at Linderhof

Salad of Mixed Baby Greens

Linderhof Vinaigrette

Sarah's Lasagna

Garlic Bread

Mrs. Callan's Pound cake

Freshly Brewed Coffee

MRS. CALLAN'S POUNDCAKE

10 eggs

1 pound butter (at room temperature)

2 t. vanilla

4 cups flour

3 2/3 cup sugar

Cream the butter, add the sugar and mix until light and fluffy. Add flour, vanilla and eggs (one at a time) until well blended. Pour into three greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 325 about 1 1/2 hours. Be sure to test with knife making sure it comes out clean when poked in the middle.