The HMMT will host Fellowship Night on Sunday, March 9^th at 5:30 p.m. (Lenten Service begins at 6:30 p.m.)  It’s customary for the host to provide the entrée item for Fellowship dinners. Being Lent, and Holy Week (Palm Sunday), I thing we should keep the fare simple.  Harry suggested serving a casserole.  After giving it some thought, I recommend we serve: 

1.     Tuna noodle casserole (classic, vegetable, Mom’s, whatever) provided by HMMT – please double your favorite recipe.  There may be as many as 60 hungry mouths to feed!

2.     Roll

3.     Beverage:  water, tea, coffee, juice, V-8, etc

4.     Pretzels – Why?  Ask Emeril… 

..Another dietary contribution of this season is, ironically, a popular bar food. A dough, omitting the forbidden eggs and butter, and instead consisting of only flour, salt and water was created, then shaped into two arms crossed in prayer. In Latin, the breads were called bracellae meaning little arms, which turned into the German word brezel, a forerunner of our word "pretzel." In fact, the oldest known picture of a pretzel is in the Vatican library in a manuscript from the fifth century.

Throughout Middle and Eastern Europe, pretzels were eaten during Lent, were distributed to the poor, and children would wear them suspended from palm bushes on Palm Sunday. It wasn't until this century that they were no longer confined to Lenten time and became a staple year round.  (Source:  http://www.emerils.com/cooking/archives/000665.html)

We can also provide or ask the congregation to bring: 

5.     Vegetable sides:  beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, corn, green beans, etc.

6.     Salads:  fruit (Snicker salad - Kim) tossed green, spinach, etc.

but…

NO DESSERT  I know its radical, but think about it…many people give up sweets during Lent; we can all do without dessert this once, but we’ll have to inform the membership of our sacrifice.