Franciscan Sister Wins Food Netwoks Chopped Contest Seeks to Bring Attention to Issue of Hunger

3:41 AM in Aqua, attention, bring, chopped, contest, food, franciscan, hunger, issue, netwoks, of, seeks, sister, to, wins

"Perhaps being on national TV and winning this competition will bring some attention to the issue of hunger and to the reality that Gods love is so strong and so big, he can take this little nun from Chicago who never went to culinary school to compete. ... Literally nothing is impossible with God." -Franciscan Sister Alicia Torres

Sister Alicia Torres, 30, is one of the new generation of Catholic nuns. She has her own Twitter account and she appeared on the Food Networks reality cooking show Chopped--and won!

Sister Alicia, who lives and works at the Mission of Our Lady of  the Angels on the west side of Chicago, was one of four chefs cooking with the typical makings of a conventional Thanksgiving dinner—turkey, green beans, potatoes and cranberries—on the special volunteer edition of the show.

In the appetizer segment of the contest, Torres transformed leftovers into Mexican-style quesadillas.For the entree, Sister Alicia made a Mediterranean-style dish with curry turkey, a sweet potato cranberry hash and a dipping sauce with goat cheese and green beans.

Here is what she wrote on Twitter on the day of the contest.

Chopped = major blessing + joy! Im still cooking .. for Gods glory and my friends on the West Side! Thanks @FoodNetwork! #Chopped

— Sr. Alicia Torres (@NunRun) November 12, 2015

Sister Alicia is a member of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist, which serve the Mission of Our Lady of the Angels, located in Humboldt Park, one of the poorest neighborhoods in Chicago. "With the economic crisis, families and seniors in the area do not have the necessary resources for sufficient heat and nutritious meals," the mission said on its website. 

The mission  distributes food and clothing to residents of Humboldt Park on Tuesday mornings. The first Saturday of the month, the mission also serves as a model of how to efficiently run a mobile food pantry. The mobile pantry provides food and clothing for approximately 300 families.

Sister Alicias victory brought a prize of $10,000 for Our Lady of the Angels. More importantly, it provided her the opportunity to shine the spotlight on hunger and poverty on the west side of Chicago and in many places in the U.S. "Perhaps being on national TV and winning this competition will bring some attention to the issue of hunger and to the reality that Gods love is so strong and so big, he can take this little nun from Chicago who never went to culinary school to compete. ... Literally nothing is impossible with God," Sister Alica said in an interview with The Chicago Tribune.

And here is a video from an interview with Sister Alicia on WGN television in Chicago.



Siser Alicia was featured in the film Light of Love in 2013, a movie by the Imagine Sisters Movement, in which she discusses her religious calling.

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Sister Joan Brown to Present Summary of Paris Climate Talks

5:30 PM in Aqua, brown, climate, joan, of, paris, present, sister, summary, talks, to

Rev. Sally Bingham, Susan Stephenson, Sister Joan Brown

Transition ABQ and New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light 

invite you to 

Forward from Paris"The Participation of Civil Society and Faith Communities in Combating Climate Change" 

Wednesday, Jan. 13, 6:30 pm

First Unitarian Church, 3701 Carlisle Blvd. NE (map)

The featured presenter is Sister Joan Brown, an official observer for Franciscans International and Interfaith Power and Light (IPL) at the UN Climate Conference in Paris (COP21) in December. At the request of the U.S. State Department, Sister Joan put together a presentation for the COP21 conference, along with Interfaith Power & Light founder Rev. Sally Bingham and Susan Stephenson, executive director of IPLs Regeneration Project . IPL delivered an 11-foot scroll with signatures of people who support the Paris Pledge.

Sister Joan will discuss the role of the religious community and civil society before and during the conference. She will also offer details on the actual negotiations for this historical agreement. More importantly, she will tell us how we in Albuquerque can engage in the important work ahead.

Agenda for Jan. 13 Meeting:
6:30 Cider & Cookies & Conversation
7:00 Presentation by Joan Brown
7:45 Q & A
8:05 Actions & Pledges
8:20 Community Announcements
8:30 Closing

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