Gut Bombs For Jesus

I have lived in Cleveland for 9 years, and until last night I had never been to a fish fry. I know! In my own defense, I have always wanted to go, but the ex refused to go with me, citing the fact that I don't like fish. I was sure that they must have sides, no? French fries, salad, coleslaw, spaghetti? One can cetainly make dinner of that. Truthfully, I think he was ashamed of his own sacrilegious self. However, I am unchurched and going to hell in many peoples' eyes, being a 2nd generation Bad Catholic, but I love supporting the church. Had we had more than CYO basketball and alter boys back home, I bet I'd be a good Catholic. At least a chuch-going one.

I went down to Saint Mel's and sat for the dinner. It was fabulous. First, Saint Mel! Dinners top out at $6.50. You get a choice of baked or fried fish, mac n' cheese, or pierogies along with 2 sides (applesauce, coleslaw, french fries, cabbage & noodles, or a pierogi) and a piece of bread and butter. I had the wonderfully cheesy mac n' cheese, the best pierogi ever, all crispy on the outside and oozy cheese and potato within, and very bad cabbage and noodles. Eat in also gets free soda and dessert, which was raspberry sherbert. The only drawback was that it was a bit heavy on the tum-tum, if you know what I mean. St. Mel's has a very nice church hall that they must use for weddings and such, since it has its own bar.

We did not have fish frys back in NJ, despite growing up in an area so heavily Italian and Irish Catholic that I was surprised to learn in my mid-teens that there really are Protestants in the world. This is because of a bunch of cultural reasons. Mostly it's due to: 1) It was pretty rural for most of my childhood, and just suburban sprawl now. There's lots of commuting for jobs upstate and in the city. So, lessening church ties and no time in the evening for going and hanging out at the fish fry. 2) Large amounts of Italians, who don't need a special occasion to go out for fish, can make spaghetti with tomato sauce, and Neopolitan style pizza (thin, crispy crust that really only holds cheese. My favorite. It is so hard to get decent pizza out here). So really no market for the fish fry back home. They should really get into the business though.