It’s that time of the year again, when our priests hang up their clerical robes and put on their aprons to cook their favorite foods on camera.
“Cooks with Collars” is the annual cooking competition that raises much-needed funds for parishes through the Diocese of Allentown.
But Cooks with Collars is a whole lot more than that:
- It’s a peek behind the scenes at dinner time in rectory kitchens.
- It’s a collection of often funny and always interesting videos showing priests away from the altar and at the counter and cutting board.
- It’s a treasure trove of how-to videos that home cooks can use to learn new dishes and put some pizzazz into their weekly menus.
- It’s a way to check in on and support your favorite priests, even if they’ve moved on to another assignment.
- It’s also a novel idea that over the years has put the Diocese of Allentown on the map, leading to coverage in local media and national Catholic media, and even spawning similar competitions in other dioceses.
- This year’s Cooks with Collars starts Tuesday, Sept. 1 and runs through Wednesday, Sept. 30.
Videos can be seen on a special website: www.CookswithCollars.com. The site is also where you can “vote” for your favorite priest’s culinary creation video by making a donation to his parish or ministry.
Priests will compete in a number of categories: Top Chef, for the highest number of dollars raised; Most Popular Chef, for the priest whose video got the most views; and Top Deanery Chef, for the top fundraiser in each deanery: Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton, and Schuylkill.
There’s also a special award this year to mark the Diocese of Allentown’s 65th anniversary. The Commemorative 65th Anniversary Award will honor the priest whose video attracted the most $65 donations for his parish.
Over the past five years, the Diocese’s priest cooking videos have had tens of thousands of online views; garnered donations from across the country; been featured in local newspapers and on local television; and led to news coverage in Crux, National Catholic Reporter, and EWTN.
At last count for this year’s cooking competition, 38 priests were hard at work in their kitchens across the five counties of the Diocese and preparing to submit their videos. Videos often include cameo appearances by other priests at a given parish, seminarians, parishioners, and consecrated religious.
The Cooks with Collars website (www.CookswithCollars.com) makes it easy to search for cooking videos by parish or priest. So bookmark the site and mark your calendars.
Cooks with Collars runs for the month of September only. Be sure to check the website early and often, and vote by making your tax-deductible donations.
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