Upcoming From Thy Bounty Fair: Angels, September 29

This is a very late reminder that the next installment of the From Thy Bounty Fair will be September 29. The theme is angels, since September 29 celebrates the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, and three days later on October 2nd we celebrate the feast of the Guardian Angels.

Submissions are encouraged and welcome from bloggers and non-bloggers. Please submit links to posts, pictures or ideas to me by Sunday evening, so I can post them on the feast of the Archangels. All ideas, small or great are welcome!

Looking for inspiration?

My first stop is Catholic Culture for September 29 and October 2nd.

September 29 was originally dedicated only to St. Michael the Archangel, and called Michaelmas. This was a harvest or thanksgiving feast, so there are many recipes and traditions attached to this day from many cultures. There are various foods, some based on culture or region and some based on legend or folklore, which are linked with the feast day and could be included in a celebration.

Bannock is a traditional bread eaten in the Celtic countries. Ernst Schuegraf, in Cooking With the Saints has this to say:

On the Islands of Scotland, St. Michael is a very popular saint, and it is an ancient tradition to eat St. Michael's bannock on his feast day. On that day, everyone in the household, family member or visitor, must eat a piece of this large cake baked on a griddle.

According to an old folk tale, blackberries were supposed to have been harvested and used up by this date, too, since it is told to children that when Satan was kicked out of Heaven, he landed in a bramble patch -- and returns each year to curse and spit on the fruits of the plant he landed on, rendering them inedible thereafter. So a dish or drink with blackberries would be fitting.

Goose is another traditional food served on the feast. Foods that are harvested around this time like apples are a nice touch and commonly included as well.

In The Catholic Home, Meredith Gould mentions that carrots play a prominent role in Scotland on this feast. As Raphael is the patron of eyesight, carrot dishes could be included.

There are numerous dishes that use angel somewhere in the title, all very fitting to include in either feast day celebration:

-angel food cake
-angel hair pasta

It would be fun to incorporate foods that remind us of angels -- light, fluffy evoking a sense of clouds or heavenly domain:

-whipped cream topped desserts
-cream puffs
--marshmallows
--meringue

Cakes are always a staple of feast day celebration, and angel feasts included. Angel food which has been mentioned is a fitting cake for either feast day. I'm particularly fond of the idea of serving Devil's Food Cake on the Feast of the Archangels with a figure of St. Michael perched on top. Include the cocktail plastic swords so that all who partake can pierce the cake, joining in St. Michael's victory over the Devil. The angel food can be saved for the Memorial of the Guardian Angels.

Incorporating symbols of angels is another direction to take. The artistic rendering of angels as winged messengers and defenders is unique to anything else in the Christian tradition.
Anything angel looking (or angel shaped) or with wings is a fun addition to the culinary table of this these feasts.

-chicken wings
-angel shaped cakes
-angel shaped cookies (Christmas cookie recipes often include angel shapes for ideas)

Examples:
Polish angel wing cookies (Chrusciki)

Angel Wing Cookies

Other types of symbols specific to the archangels:

Archangel Michael ("Who is like to God") -- sword and shield with symbol of the Trinity; armour; lance and shield; scales; millstone; piercing dragon or devil; banner charged with a dove;

Archangel Gabriel ("power of God") -- Fleur-de-lis; scepter and lily; MR or AM shield; lantern; mirror; olive branch; scroll with words Ave Maria Gratia Plena or Hail Mary Full of Grace; Resurrection trumpet.

Archangel Raphael ("God heals") -- staff, pouch, and fish; staff and gourd. Pin It