Bobby Flay and Mario Batali they aren't, but at least their hearts and spoons are in the right place.
St. Mark's Lutheran Church, 142 Market St., and Pine Street United Methodist Church, 441 Pine St. are holding the first city interfaith Iron Chef competition at 5 p.m. April 19 at St. Mark's Fellowship Hall at the church.
Proceeds from ticket sales will go toward the Family Promise program that will provide homeless families a place to eat and sleep while the parent and guardian tries to seek gainful employment and the family gets back on its feet, according to coordinator Bernadette Jones, a member of St. Mark's Lutheran Church.
"Lutherans have a reputation of cooking and eating well," said St. Mark's Pastor, the Rev. Kenneth Elkin, who joins Jackie Kinney and Jones in the face-off in the kitchen against Pine Street United Methodist Church Pastor the Rev. Aden Wertz, and his team of Cindy Person and Maureen McBride.
None of these culinary novices know what the "secret ingredient" will be, but all realize the vital purpose why they will stir sauces and add spices on the clock, Jones said.
More and more often, the homeless comprise not just the single destitute man seen on the streets and curbs of this region, Elkin said. Instead, they are women who leave a 14-year marriage, but must care for a teenager and an 8-month-old baby, or a low-income family that suffered a house fire and did not have enough money for insurance beforehand, or the family of four with a primary wage earner who loses a job to downsizing or a company closing.
Elkin said members of the churches involved in the cooking contest as well as several others from partnering churches, are going to serve as host congregations. That means three or four times a year, for a week at a time, the hosts are going to provide overnight lodging, meals and hospitality for the families in need, Elkin said.
Volunteers are needed to cook and serve the guest families meals and to play with the young children during the day.
"We continue to work on getting a facility to serve as the day center," Elkin said.
Each day, the guests will be brought to the day center, which is going to provide a homelike atmosphere from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Celebrity servers committed to the cause include city Mayor Gabriel J. Campana, Lycoming County Commissioners Ernie Larson and Jeff Wheeland, local businessman Trey Phillips, Loyalsock Township tax collector Dottie White and state Rep. Rick Mirabito, D-Williamsport.
"We're bringing people together for mutual enjoyment and community-building in friendly competition," Elkin said.
Guests of the dinner, who may be worried about eating the results of the novice chefs, won't go hungry. They first receive a meal of applesauce, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, roll and a chocolate dessert, Jones said.
Once the meal has been served, the cooking challenge begins.
The competition will be judged by Chef Michael Ditchfield and two others from LeJeune Chef at Pennsylvania College of Technology.
Gary Chrisman of Clear Channel radio will deliver a play-by-play commentary of the proceedings.
In order for all those in attendance to see the contest, First Contact Productions is going to project it onto a screen in Fellowship Hall. The event also is expected to be streamed live on the Internet at www.ustream.tv/stmarkschurch.
Bidding for limited number of seats, which opens at $15 and is estimated to end at 70 seats, continues until midnight April 12.
To bid, send e-mail requests to Family Promise at familypromiselycoming@hotmail.com. The teasurer is keeping a flow chart of bids and plans to notify bidders if their bids have been topped, at which time they can submit higher offers, Jones said.
For those without Internet access, the secondary means of contact is to reach a St. Mark's volunteer at 433-3453.
The original "Spoon of Doom" challenge was videotaped and may be viewed at: www.youtube.com/user/StMarksChurch.
