The Ark and The Dove

Viva il Papa!

Just try to tell me this does not say "Pope yes."  This is one of the most blatant ones I've seen. 

(I also found out that I like their cajun chicken, so between that and the entertainment value of the name, I think I rate them higher than any other fried chicken place.)

Even gentiles prefer kosher Coke

I happen to know that some of my friends really like Coca-Cola, and some of the ones with more finely-attuned taste buds really lament the switchover from sugar to high fructose corn syrup.  According to this article, not just Orthodox Jews, but everyone wants the kosher Coke they make for Passover because it is made the old way, with sugar.

St. Joseph's Day culinary traditions

According to this chowhound site, zeppeli pastries on St. Joseph's day is an Italian tradition.  Apparently the pastries consist of deep-fried dough (like a donut hole) topped with honey, cinnamon, vanilla ice cream, and whipping cream.

Weird food

Doing some research for recipes to cook, I stumbled across this Chowhound post about weird recipes.  The comments section has some much better ones than the post itself.

For further intellectual (not sensual) food-related entertainment, here's satirical columnist James Lilek's web gallery of "Regrettable Recipes" from 1950s America.  Why would anyone want to put green olives in Dr. Pepper-based jell-o (or whatever that stuff is)? 

St. Patrick's Day festivities

Here's The Bad Catholic's Guide To Good Living's suggestion - I wish I had heard of this in time to prepare this; as it is, my friends will have to imagine it - a party lacking the perfection of having the property of existence.

Love that chicken from Pope Yes

There's a joke about KFC wanting to make a huge donation to the Church if the pope would only change the words of the Our Father to "give us this day our daily chicken."  In real life, though the restaurant is hoping the Pope will want to endorse the new fish dish they have rolled out for Lent. 

But when it comes to fast-food popery, KFC is the new kid on the block.  Popeyes Chicken is famous for having a logo that looks remarkably like it says "Pope Yes" (or used to, until very recently when they redid the lettering).  It has amused me to call it Pope Yes Chicken ever since since 2005, when I entertained this theory mostly based on how much it entertained me.  I have since learned that 1.) according to Wikipedia, they did at one point decide to have ads with Popeye The Sailor Man because of the similar name, which only confused people, as Popeye eats spinach (and on occasion oatmeal), but has never been known to like fried chicken and 2.) the official story is that the restaurant is for some reason named after the detective Popeye Doyle from The French Connection.

Right after Matt and I had a chuckle over how once you notice this you see it everywhere (especially around us, where there are several Popeyes with the old-style Pope yes sign), the Curt Jester posted on Pope Yes Chicken.

So, in the spirit of the season, here's your Pope Yes Chicken roundup:
Wikipedia: Popeyes    Daddy, why is there a restaurant called Pope Yes?   Not Just For Catholics Anymore   Pope Yes marketing idea   Pope Yes vs. The Incredible Hulk   Cacciaguida's take

As a final note, I think that as far as Lenten fare goes, KFC will not be able to compete with McDonalds: the McFishwich (or whatever it's called) is one of the more penitential foods I know.