Cake and kolacky from the convent

By Mary Claire Gart
ASSISTANT EDITOR

Anyone hoping to buy baked goods at the annual Convent Crafts Fair in Bartlett on Nov. 11 better come early.

“We usually run out of bakery by 10:30,” said Sister of St. Joseph Mary Virgiose Ozog, chairperson of the fair. “The bakery is the drawing card.”

Sister of St. Joseph Amalia Chojnowski displays some of the homemade fruit preserved the sisters will sell at the annual Convent Craft Fair. CNW/Sandy Bertog

That’s why the kitchen crew at the congregational home of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis has been busy for weeks. Under the supervision of Sister Augustine Krueger, they’ve been mixing enough dough to make 500 dozen flaky kolacky, cakes, bread and cookies. All the pastry dough goes into their large walk-in freezer until it’s time to fire up the ovens and bake them fresh for the big sale.

The sisters have already bottled hundreds of jars of strawberry, grape, blueberry and apricot jam and apple butter. Some of the fresh fruit—as well as the zucchini for their chocolate nut bread—comes from their sister convent in Stevens Point, Wis., courtesy of local farmers.

But the food is just a part of the event. The Sisters of St. Joseph have also been fashioning holiday decorations, such as Christmas trees, tree skirts, wreaths and angels. There will be handmade greeting cards, ceramics, floral designs, afghans and items for infants and toddlers for sale.

Now in its 20th year, the Convent Crafts Fair is a major fund-raiser for the community retirement fund. Some 48 nuns live at Immaculata Congregational Home in Bartlett, including the infirm and retired sisters.

Then there are those who are as busy as ever though well past the retirement age, like Ozog, who has been a nun for 63 years. A former Chicagoan from St. Roman Parish, she is ready to welcome patrons from all over the archdiocese to the Convent Crafts Fair.

The event will be held at the convent, 801 W. Bartlett Road, Bartlett, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 11. For more information, call (630) 837-4061.

And for those who come too late for the bake sale, the sisters have graciously shared some of their recipes with us.