Recipe challenge earns $500 for Our Lady’s Kitchen ministry

The winners have been announced for a recipe challenge that encouraged Mainers to put their cooking skills to the test while helping parish food ministries in the process.

The rules of the St. Hildegard Food Pantry Recipe Challenge were simple: all were welcome to submit a recipe for any dish or meal that can be prepared and cooked using just one pot, and all ingredients had to be available at a community food pantry on a regular basis. Entries came in from all over Maine.

“This year’s competition was particularly strong,” said Bill Wood of Catholic Charities Maine. “We had several great recipes, including three from parish priests! That made the judging very challenging.”

The final round of judging was done by patrons of two Catholic-sponsored soup kitchens, St. Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen in Portland and St. Bernard Soup Kitchen in Rockland.

“Only nine votes separated the first and second place winners,” said Wood.

First place went to Annette Tardy of Caribou who entered her “Chicken Spaghetti Casserole” recipe, while Constance Craven of Corinna took home second place with “Dinner in a Dish.”

As a result, $1,000 will be donated to the St. Louis Food Pantry in Limestone in Annette’s name.

In addition, $500 will be donated to the Our Lady’s Kitchen ministry at St. Anne Parish in Dexter thanks to Constance. Our Lady’s Kitchen provides a free meal every Sunday at noon to all who come to the parish center.

An electronic version of all of the recipes submitted will be made available for parish food pantries and soup kitchens to use for those they serve.

Fittingly, the announcement of the winners came during the week of the Feast Day of St. Hildegard (Sept. 17), who is known for developing a nutritional philosophy centered on the healing properties of food.

“Let’s hope that this year’s winning recipe will remain as popular as St. Hildegard’s recipe for spice biscuits, known as ‘Cookies of Joy,’” said Wood. “She first used that recipe in 1157 and it’s still popular today!”

The mission of Parish Social Ministry is to provide leadership, guidance, Catholic social teaching education, and training to empower parishioners to compassionately serve people of all faiths living in their communities. From Kittery to Madawaska, the size and scope of the program continues to grow one successful initiative at a time through youth camps, case managers at soup kitchens, community fairs promoting strong family life, an educational series for seniors, and hundreds of other initiatives.
For more information about Parish Social Ministry, call 523-1161 or visit www.ccmaine.org/parish-social-ministry.