Fearless Food Guardians Stop Little Old Lady Poisoners

ROCHESTER, Pa. -- On the first Friday of Lent, an elderly female parishioner of St. Cecilia Catholic Church began unwrapping pies at the church. That's when the trouble started.

A state inspector, there for an annual checkup on the church's kitchen, spied the desserts. After it was determined that the pies were home-baked, the inspector decreed they couldn't be sold.

And then a bunch of 80 year olds, fired by the spirit of their Philadelphia forefathers, strung him up on the nearest tree to strike a blow for liberty against the nanny state. I wish.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1239320 ... email.html

Homemade cakes, pies and cookies are a big draw to community and church suppers. Just last weekend, I had this lovely rhubarb cream meringue pie at a church supper in Kingston, IL. I was advised the lady in the royal purple sweater is locally famous for this pie.



Yes, it was indeed wonderful.

Kingston United Methodist Church
115 W First St.
Kingston, IL. 60145
815 784-2010

Oh this brought back memories, Cathy. That is the exact pie my grandmother was famous for. Rhubarb meringue.
I planted some rhubarb last year in the garden but haven't been out to take a peek to see if its coming up.

hope that was made in a licensed kitchen!

I'll second Cathy2's review of the pie in Kingston...I had one too! Nice photo Cathy!

On the other hand, they might have been serving the pies with elderberry wine:

https://www.dpchallenge.com/image.php?IMAGE_ID=688698

Mike G wrote:

A state inspector, there for an annual checkup on the church's kitchen, spied the desserts. After it was determined that the pies were home-baked, the inspector decreed they couldn't be sold.

As a bona-fide federal bureaucrat, I'm all in favor of picky regulations (they pay the mortgage). But the only plausible reply to this one, I think, is: "Sheesh!"

From the DCFS website:

The day care center shall maintain written documentation of the following:

1) That a person certified in food service sanitation is on site to manage the preparation and/or service of food, including the service of catered food. This requirement does not apply if the center serves no food, or serves only prepackaged prepared snacks. Refer to the Illinois Department of Public Health, Food Service Sanitation Code (77 Ill. Adm. Code 750)

Essentially, the upshot of this is that you not only can't serve homemade treats at a preschool or day care center, you also can't serve fruit or vegetables (unless they're in little cello packs.)

And you can't make an activity like making bread or making soup part of daycare.

It's never too early to teach children that food is something alien that has to come from a big corporation, and certainly not something they can do for themselves.

Hi,

This is no isolated incident, nor is it confined to Pennsylvania nor to health inspectors.

A local St. Joseph's Dinner once was a community potluck with dishes of Italian, Mexican and other ethnicities. You brought a dish and a $5 contribution that went to feed the poor. The last year of the potluck, a health inspector arrived to make sure cold food was cold and hot food was hot. The very next year, it was rather bland catered meal with the fee raised. I made some inquiries to find they couldn't do the potluck largely due to the cost of liability insurance. An event conducted by a caterer rides on the caterer's insurance, if someone falls ill. It was cheaper to have a caterer than a potluck due to insurance.

Just bring a homemade item to school event, your donation may be turned away if it wasn't individually wrapped, no ingredient list and not a commercial product.

(I wrote this before leaving at 8:30 AM today ... sorry for any theme repetition)

Regards,