St. Joe German Supper

Growing up Catholic in little Mt. Hope, Kansas, there were 3 churches that my sisters, my mom, and I would rotate going to depending on whatever we had going on that weekend. Our main location that we’d go to was in Andale, called Saint Joseph Catholic Church. Our second most frequented church was in Colwich at Sacred Heart. I always liked when we’d go there because we’d usually go to the 5:30 mass on Saturday night and every now and then my mom would get us pizza from Gambino’s afterwards. Then the least frequented of our rotation was St. Joe, Ost. Saint Joseph Catholic Church in what is technically Ost, Kansas. My mom and her siblings actually went to grade school there. However, my family and others that I grew up with going to these different locations never called the churches by their actual names. They were just referred to as Andale, Colwich, and St. Joe. Each of these communities have their own festivities, traditions, and gatherings, but the one I always looked forward to the most was the German supper at St. Joe. Bierocks and German rope sausage are the main course, although I can do without the bierocks. Bierocks are German stuffed rolls filled ground beef, onions, and cabbage. I’m a big baby and just can’t stand the cabbage. On the other hand, even if the only thing they served was the German rope sausage, I’d still gladly wait in line for hours in a snowstorm in the middle of a tornado. I love it that much. And the weather was no peach this year as it was windy and cold and then went from rain to snow in a matter of a few hours. But this food is worth it.

Bierocks, rope sausage, mashed potatoes, brown gravy (my favorite), green beans, sauerkraut, baked apples, bread, and an array of desserts that I know I can’t even name all of them. The pie selection alone is a thing of beauty. You have all your favorites and then some. From your typical fruit pies in apple, cherry, peach, and blueberry to your different kinds of chocolate pies, in which they had plain chocolate (pictured below), chocolate cream, French silk, chocolate mousse, Oreo pie, and I’m sure I’m missing some. But they also had a delicious pecan pie (pictured below), rhubarb, peanut butter pie with chocolate chips, cheesecake (plain or with sauce), and I’m certain there were others I’m leaving off the list. I’m pretty sure I saw a lemon meringue, which is one of my all time favorites.

I was so excited for the main course and getting my hands on some German rope sausage, that I completely forgot to capture the moment, so there’s no photos of that. But believe me when I tell you that it’s delicious. Dipped in some yellow mustard with a little horseradish. That’s what dreams are made of. It’ll change your life. And if you don’t like mustard, just know that you’re wrong and I hate you. Just kidding. Kind of. Anybody who really knows me well knows that I have an unhealthy obsession with mustard (thank you grandma Kathy). Either way, even plain, this type of sausage is still top notch and one of my favorites, if not my absolute favorite.

So all in all, I highly recommend that you go out and give it a try next year. It’s for a great cause, in that it’s St. Joe’s main, if only, yearly fundraiser for the grade school. You can dine in or go through their take out drive through line. Parents and family members and members of the community donate their time and energy into putting on this event. They make all the Bierocks and all of the desserts and work to getting all sorts of items included for the silent auction. It’s a pretty incredible feat that gets the whole community involved. Whether you’re Catholic or not, religious at all, or whatever you believe in, the German supper at St. Joe is to the great benefit of all the kids that attend their grade school. It’s pretty impressive when you see the staggering amounts of people lined up all throughout the halls, outside, and wrapped around the building just to get in, support a great cause, eat some truly delicious food, and get together with the community and maybe people they hadn’t seen since the German supper the year before. I can tell you that I’m already looking forward to next year and my family and I will most definitely bring it up in plenty of conversations throughout the next year.

Pecan pie

Chocolate pie