FRIARDOM

A FRIAR'S TALE

We were saying goodbye to Fr. Clement Jarnot at St. Francis of Assisi Church, across the street from St. Francis High School. Fr. Romulus, stationed at Fr. Baker Basilica in lackawanny was there and, knowing that his genetic make-up included angling, I said, "Let's go fishin'!" "OK," he said, "let me check my schedule and I'll get back to you." Friday was OK and so we met at the foot of Ferry Street, just about were Rich got rich and not far from the Peace Bridge at the mouth of Erie.

Quite a number of hopefuls had their lines in. But...not much was happening. One retired gent offered a yellow perch he had caught. And so it went past noon with no luck. "Well," Romulus said, "I think I've had it for this place; lets go out onto the breakwall walk past the Peace Bridge to the mouth of the Niagara." We went. Quite a walk. After attempting here and there, there was a shout from Romulus who was well up the walk. I grabbed my pole and gear and hurried up to see what the excitement was about.

Thar it be! a brown trout, nine pounds and twenty six inches long. Fr. Romulus lugged the great giant back to the parking lot. We took some pictures. A young man siad he had just got his fishing license six days ago and looked like he was going to enjoy fising. "You inspired me," he said. We wished him luck in his future angling endeavors

To the right is pictured the giant. It was truly a trout to tout.

Romulus offered to give me the "great fish." It was very friarly of him. O course, I accepted and brought it home. After gutting and preparing the giant fillets, I prepared a fish dinner since it was friday. I found a trout recipe that fed my fancy and had a great meal thanks to Romulus.

The recipe called for a mixture of one cup sour cream, one cup parmesan cheese, a tablespoon of minced onion, a tablespoon of lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, a a sprinkling of paprika over the fish just before putting into a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until the fish flakes easily with a fork.

The trout was moist and tender.

There is still half of the great fish in the freezer!

Thus ends a friar's tale

Bon appetite