(Thanks to Mark Hernandez for pointing me to this site)
Here’s a link to a website about the “Grace Before Meals” movement, started by Fr. Leo Patalinghug, a Filipino-American Catholic priest raised in Baltimore who is also a first-class martial artist and cook. His skills have led to a book and even his own TV show.
Snippets from his bio follows:
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“…Born in the Philippines and raised in the Baltimore area, Fr. Leo actually developed his love for cooking while attending the seminary at the North American College in Rome. There, he became friendly with several Italian restaurant owners and would often invite them back to the student kitchen to trade cooking secrets. They would teach him about rigatoni and lasagna; he would show them how to make hamburgers and ribs. Today, he is a skilled cook who still enjoys learning how to make new dishes, and loves the process of preparing a meal, as much as he does sharing it with a table full of friends.
Fr. Leo was ordained in 1999 and served as a parish priest for five years at St. John’s Church in Westminster, Maryland. He was often invited to his parishioners’ homes for dinner. To their surprise, he would turn the table and cook for them, using these opportunities to build friendships and engage in relaxed conversations in the kitchen. Those memorable and unstructured times spent making a meal together provided the inspiration for Fr. Leo’s first book, Grace Before Meals: Recipes for Family Life.
Currently, he is a member of the faculty at Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary where he directs the Pastoral Field Education Program for future priests…”
“…Along with cooking, Fr. Leo’s hobbies include writing, singing and jogging. He especially enjoys traveling, viewing it as an opportunity to broaden his multilingual talents. He holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and has won a national competition in Arniz, a form of full-contact stick fighting….”
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Edit: …now that I look at it, the past 3 posts have been about food.
I guess I’m watching Food Network way too much nowadays.
