St. Teresa's "Ethnic Picnic Sunday" is relatively new (4 years now, I think), but has a devoted following; the criteria is this: show your heritage and celebrate it with FOOD! As Catholics, we are a multi-cultural and diverse family of believers, and this our day to share the love!
1 Corinthians & also Romans. Love me some St. Paul! (If I were a boy, Paul would be my confirmation name; he speaks right to my heart ♥)
Ok, hang on, this next pic is graphic...
Our Filipino friends brought lechon (roast pig!) I was in awe, but we'll get to that in a bit.
A Spanish-speaking-only parishioner brought this lovely arroz con leche (this is the "after" photo); she was trying to get me to help her set up the pans, but this lil chick no hablo español. Luckily, Jesus Rodriguez stopped in and was able to help me get the gist of it! (btw, it was fabulous!)
Yeah, I tried these, too. Fantastic! Sweet and so flavorful! (I remembered them from last year ;)
Honest-to-goodness tabouleh. Yep, it was awesome, too!
Sr. Kathleen & Sr. Hilda made Irish scones. I had one half with butter, and the other half with jam!
REAL Polish perogie(s)! We made sure Fr. Chris & Fr. Gabriel had at least one on their plate! Sadly, I did not partake of these beauties. I was gettin' full!
Actual Swedish meatballs? Yep, and they smelled heavenly :)
Sandy Carbone's Cuban chicken and yellow rice. I squeezed in a few bites after the rest settled! Burp. It was SO worth it! (can ya tell I lean toward the starches?!)
This was a cold saurkraut salad that looked yummy. (I'm thinkin' natural gas was plentiful yesterday...)
Plantains! Mmmm, mmmm!
Close your eyes, here come the graphic images...
The guest of honor!
The gentleman who stuffed and roasted/cooked him lived in Orlando, and had him cooking since 4 am; succulent Pygmalion arrived hot and smelling fabulous!
These fellas knew what they were doing; they had him chopped and served in minutes flat! The meat was gingery, moist and delicious. I can see why this is the Phillipines' signature dish!
(And I was told the green stuff in the pan was a sweet, rice dish)
This. Was. To. Die. For. Pancit, which is the term for noodles, in Filipino cuisine. Everything about it was delicious, including the red, sweet slivers of "ham" (that's what they told me it was, and I'm stickin' to it)
Thirty minutes after the first hungry picnic-ers arrived, there was still a line of folks waiting to get in!
Tables filled with friends and food!
Love the flags ♥
I love Fr. Gabriel's smile in this one; Fr. Chris was making sure I got the St. T student's Polish flag in the picture!
This is the 'Fr. Chris smile' that we love! God bless Polska!
I watched the flag presentation at the beginning of Mass for the first time yesterday, and could honestly feel the pride from each representative as they carried the flag of their family's heritage.
The lights had already been turned off when I took this picture, but the beautiful symbolism still shined.
And Dia Éire!
