Looking for some ideas for your Lenten menu?

Some cooks in suburban Washington can help you out:

Bighearted and proud of her Eastern European heritage, Daria Parrell is a woman who likes to count her blessings. Among them: her ability to cook for a crowd. At this time of year, that amounts to 60,000 dumplings, 300 gallons of soup and 700 pounds of cabbage.

The Fairfax County substitute teacher and clarinetist for the City of Fairfax Band does not whip that up by herself, of course. For more than two decades, she has led the team of 40 or so volunteers at her Annandale church who prepare and serve thousands of meals during six Fridays of Lenten dinners.

The reasonably priced meals raise money for the parish building fund and for kitchen upkeep. They are meatless, in observance of the penance described in the literature of the Eastern Catholic Church. The belief is that giving up certain foods in the weeks before Easter helps the faithful focus on prayer and avoid overstimulating the senses. In other words, a little deprivation makes the roasted lamb and Easter basket goodies taste that much sweeter.

However, there was no sign of suffering as Parrell surveyed the scene on a recent Friday in the hall of the Epiphany of Our Lord Byzantine Catholic Church. Quart-size containers of warm potato-and-cheese pirohis (pierogis) with onion sauce were packed for 4 p.m. takeout. Steam trays stood ready to receive hot foods from the kitchen, served from 5 to 7 p.m., a time that points parishioners toward the church’s weekly Lenten service. Tables with goods for sale — Slovak and Ukrainian crafts, religious items, holiday candy, packaged meats from northern “Pennslavinia” — flanked one side of the dining area, which seats 300. On the opposite side, a coffee setup beckoned with rows of thick cake slices, brownies and cookies on small plates.

“People look forward to Lent here,” Parrell says. “They feel a sense of belonging. Many who come remember their grandmothers, mothers or aunts who made this food.”

You can find more at the link. And they even have some recipes, too.

Meantime, you can also get into the spirit of the season by visiting YouTube, where you can drop by an old-fashioned parish fish fry in Minnesota, below. Bon appetite.