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Helping the Hungry

By Tom Slattery

On Saturday, July 14 over 80 people including about 20 under 16 years of age turned out at Conwell-Egan High School in Lower Bucks County to pack dinners as part of the Hibernian Hunger Project (www.hibernianhungerproject.org), a proggram established and supported by the Ancient Order of Hibernians.

In a 3 ½ hour session over 6,000 dinner trays were filled, covered, labeled, packed and loaded into a refrigerated truck donated by the Teamsters. These were then sent to the lockers of Aid for Friends for distribution to those in need.

I have noticed over the past two or three years, that these “packing sessions” in Philadelphia and Bucks Counties are drawing more and more youngsters. It is very rewarding to see these kids working along with not only their parents, but also their grandparents. They are learning the pleasures derived from helping those less fortunate, as well as getting a “taste” of their heritage. In addition to earning the respect of their elders, they are also learning that volunteer work and learning can be fun. At Saturday’s session, the Bucks County spokesman called a “timeout” to tell the kids about those unfortunates who would be the benefactors of their work.

The “work force” included two politicians, who were not there for photo ops, but who put in a days work. Congressman Pat Murphy worked one of the packing tables, while Bucks County Commissioner Jim Cawley was out in the kitchen cleaning trays.

The final lesson the kids learned was “clean up after”. Yes, it was impressive to watch the “cleanup operation, which restored the Conwell-Egan cafeteria to its pristine state.

Congratulations to Bucks County AOH Division 1, the Teamsters, and all the volunteers who spent a summer Saturday helping those less fortunate.

July 12, 2007 by
News

Hot Fun at the AOH Festival in Mont Clare

Reilly Ann and Poppy

Reilly Ann and Poppy

The first person I ran into at the Ancient Order of Hibernians Irish Festival along in St. Michael Park in Mont Clare was an old friend, Verne Leedom, former pipe major for Irish Thunder Pipes and Drums.

Possibly the very next person I ran into was Verne’s granddaughter Reilly Ann.

Not long after that, I bumped into Sean Leedom, Verne’s son, near the horseshoe pits.

I was beginning to think that everybody at the festival on Saturday was a member of the Leedom family.

Not true, though. A hundred or so sun-shy Celts hunkered down in the shade of the picnic pavilion or browsed for Irish jewelry, hats, bumper stickers and other Hibernian tchochkes in the vendors’ tents. Most of the festival-goers, it turned out, actually belonged to other families.

That was the coolest part of an otherwise sweltering day—that so many families turned out for a day along the banks of the Schuylkill, just across the river from Phoenixville. From where I sat—at a picnic table, munching a sausage-and-pepper sandwich on a crusty Conshohocken roll and sipping an ice-cold Coke—it looked like they were having a great time.

Earlier in the day, Irish Thunder Pipes and Drums had performed, and Oliver McElhone as well. By the time I arrived, at mid-afternoon, Fisher and Maher were tearing up the place with a performance of Irish traditional music that was as hot as the day.

Emma Hanson Not long after they left the stage, Burning Bridget Cleary—two fiddlers and a guitarist from the Lehigh Valley—jacked up the energy level even more. (They’d confessed to having consumed large cups of iced coffee before arriving on the Festival grounds. But I heard them at the Valley Forge Scottish-Irish Festival in February. If that performance was any indication, coffee has nothing to do with it. They chug along just fine on their own inexhaustible energy source.)

A little later on, a bevy of Coyle school dancers also entertained the crowd with some high stepping to match their spirits.

For those who weren’t up for high-octane Irish music or dance, there was plenty of lazy summertime slacking off to do. The horseshoe pit, for example, was a pretty popular destination. So were the picnic tables nestled among a nearby stand of trees, where people nursed icy beers and quietly chatted.

Irish weather? No. But still, a great start to the summer for Philadelphia’s Irish.

June 5, 2007 by
News

AOHers In a Stew

Ann Marie Parkinson and Kathy Higgins of LAOH Div. 1 (Center City) served up some of the tastiest stew during the cook-off at Finnigan's Wake.

Ann Marie Parkinson and Kathy Higgins of LAOH Div. 1 (Center City) served up some of the tastiest stew during the cook-off at Finnigan's Wake.

There was something about Josh Landau’s beef stew. Something different, something fragrant and herbal … something wonderful.

Of all the stews at the Ancient Order of Hibernians’ Annual Stew Cook-Off, held last night at Finnigan’s Wake, Landau’s stood out. So I asked him what he put in his beef stew that made it so tasty.

Landau, the garde manger (sous-chef) at Colleen’s at 22nd and the Parkway, wasn’t giving away many secrets about his stew. (Neither was anyone else.) But for the benefit of gastronomic idiots like me, Landau was perfectly willing to share just one secret.

“It’s lamb,” he said. “There’s no beef in it.”

Oh.

But I don’t like lamb, do I?

Well, not until last night, anyway. Seems everyone else knew it was lamb, but my past experience with cooked sheep has been that it tastes more or less like a live sheep smells.

Ah, but I was in the hands of a master. And the judges—amazingly, they were able to tell the difference between a cow and a sheep—concurred with my amateur assessment and awarded Landau first prize.

Landau said he worked hard to tame the usual “gaminess” of the lamb in his stew. How? His lips are sealed. “A little bit of fresh rosemary and thyme,” he acknowledged, not very helpfully. “And garlic … what’s food without garlic?”

The recipe has been in his family, Landau said. (A family that includes the actor Martin Landau, Josh’s uncle.) “I just changed it a bit to suit my own palate,” he said.

The victory was especially grand for Landau, who was competing in the event for the first time. He’d also never made Irish stew before.

Taking second was another first-time contender, the team from the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians Div. 1 (Center City). Representing the division were Ann Marie Parkinson and Kathy Higgins. They had toyed going with a lamb-based recipe. The only other contender using that ingredient was Phil Bowdren of AOH Div. 51 (Fishtown). “We were thinking about it right up until this morning,” said Ann Marie, “but at the last moment, we changed our minds.”

The division had a little help from the Red Rooster Inn in Northeast Philadelphia. “It’s their recipe and mine that we mix together,” Ann Marie said. “I started with theirs, and then I added in some family secrets.”

Winner of third place was Paddy’s Well.

The event is one of the showcases fund-raisers of the Hibernian Hunger Project. Proceeds go to groups like “Aid for Friends”, which provides meals for those in need.

March 8, 2007 by
News

A Little Whiskey With Your Coffee?

Coffee, sugar, whiskey. Such a simple recipe, it’s a wonder no one thought of it sooner.

No, the Celts didn’t serve it to the invading Norsemen. Irish Coffee is of far more recent vintage: It was purportedly concocted in 1942 by Chef Joe Sheridan at the Foynes Airport in Ireland to assuage cranky passengers whose flight had to turn back because of bad weather. By all accounts, it worked.

And at the second annual Irish Coffee Competition sponsored by the AOH Notre Dame Division 1 last Thursday night in Swedesburg, there wasn’t a cranky person in the house. But it was clear that there is really no simple recipe for Irish Coffee. Yes, it always has coffee, and yes, it always has whiskey. But every chef and bartender and fire chief and guy named Murray has his or her own “secret ingredient” that makes each cup different. In fact, there may be more versions of Irish Coffee than Starbucks has menu items.

The winner of the AOH’s competition, for example, has the basics, plus Kahlua, Bailey’s Irish Cream, and crème de menthe, plus the now ubiquitous chocolate shavings and whipped cream. It’s the recipe of Kim Lonchar, assistant manager of the Bridgeport Rib House, who tested versions on her customers for the last two weeks before coming up with the winning combination. “I had everyone in the bar testing them last night,” says Lonchar who, with her compatriots, will be riding on a float in the AOH’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 10 in Conshohocken as their reward.

It was a tough competition. “The vote was really close,” said AOH president Pete Hand before he handed out the awards. And it must have been. The judges—the current and three former grand marshals of the parade—seemed to each have a different favorite among the six entries, which they sipped in a blind taste test.

Second place went to Guppy’s of Conshohocken for a recipe developed by Mick Higgins, a painting contractor (Galway Bay Painting of Plymouth Meeting) who is not only a friend of the owner but a former pub owner himself from Galway. “I’m also a good drinker and a part-time bartender,” he explained with a grin. He didn’t share his ingredients, but his version of Irish Coffee seemed to have a “it’ll put hair on your chest” ratio of strong coffee to good whiskey—and it drew judge Seamus Dougherty to the Guppy’s table to have a whole cup. “This was my favorite,” he said, oblivious to the “Got Milk” slash of whipped cream in his mustache.

Coming in third was Elks Lodge #714 of Bridgeport which served Irish brownies with their coffee, presented, appropriately, in shot glasses. Maureen Di Stefano explained what made the brownies Irish: “There’s Bailey’s in them!”

Though honorable mentions weren’t handed out, all of the other entries were honorably mentioned by someone. They included the Swedesburg Volunteer Fire Company (recipe from Chief Bernie Gutkowski), Spamps Restaurant of Conshohocken (recipe by bartender Dawn Peacock); and defending champs Chick’s of Bridgeport (recipe by bartender Tracey Looby and Amy Chiccarine).

You’ll be happy to know that we snagged two of the recipes for you, including one that made Irishphiladelphia.com very happy (but we won’t say which one, since we really liked them all).

March 5, 2007 by