Church's international buffet will feature dishes from 6 nationalities

October 18, 2014 at 12:06a.m.

BOARDMAN

Goulash, haluski, pirogi, lumpia, korv and lingon.

Those are just a few of the ethnic foods that will be featured at Bethel Lutheran Church’s International Buffet next Saturday.

“We consider ourselves a melting pot,” said Diana Weisner, co-chairwoman of the event, about the church’s congregation.

The church was founded 125 years ago by Swedish immigrants, but over the years the congregation has diversified, according to the ladies who cook for the event.

To celebrate and share the heritages of church members, Ruth Ragan, 77, of Poland, started the event in 2007.

Today, the event has expanded to include more nationalities and is open to the public.

“This year we’re adding the Philippines,” Weisner said.

The other nationalities that will be represented are German, Slovak, Swedish, Italian and American.

Helen LoSasso, 79, of Boardman, is in charge of the Italian foods, which will include sausage, stuffed shells and wedding soup.

For LoSasso, Italian cooking isn’t exactly in her blood — she’s Swedish and Norwegian.

“I never tasted spaghetti until I met my husband,” she said. “My mother-in-law taught me how to cook all kinds of Italian foods.”

The Italian sausage — more than 100 pounds of it, made from her mother-in-law’s recipe — was made right there at the church in preparation for the buffet.

The German selection will include goulash, red cabbage, potato salad and mashed potatoes.

Alice Hartig, 85, of Poland, is handling the German dishes, with some of the recipes coming from a Saxon cookbook she has.

Hartig said she doesn’t usually make German food. “We’re Italian-food lovers,” she said, laughing.

But, “I like to do things for the church. It’s a lot of fun to work with the other women,” she said.

For Ragan, making the Swedish dishes — Swedish meatballs, korv, kalv sylta, pickled beets, lingon, rice pudding and mashed potatoes — comes naturally.

“My mother made a lot of the Swedish things,” she said.

“You can’t get away from your heritage,” she said.

Weisner will be making kielbasa and sauerkraut, haluski, pirogies and bobalki for the Slovak options.

The Philippine dishes include spring rolls and stir fry, and the American dish is chicken and sausage gumbo.

There also will be an international dessert table.

“It’s nice because most of the time people aren’t going to make someone else’s nationality’s dishes. This way, they get to sample,” Weisner said.

Tickets will be on sale through Sunday, and can be purchased by calling the church at 330-758-5745. Adults are $15, children are $6 and children under 5 are free.

The proceeds from the event will go to local organizations such as Camp Frederick, the Beatitude House and the Rescue Mission.

Thrivent Financial is sponsoring the event by donating $1 for every $3 raised.