Quiche Lorraine for St. Joan of Arc

Today is the feast day of St. Joan of Arc. A very dear Saint to our family with our French heritage on both sides of our family tree and my personal patron saint. My middle name being Jean. I think it is very appropriate that her feast lands on today, since it is also Memorial Day for our soldiers here in the United States. St. Joan, as most I'm sure know, is the patroness of soldiers and military personnel. So, in remembrance of this most inspiring Saint, we had our family's version of Quiche Lorraine for lunch. St. Joan of Arc, also known as St. Jeanne d'Arc, was born in the Lorraine region in Domremy, France in the year 1412.  And so, though I do not know if she ever ate Quiche Lorraine or any quiche for that matter, we are tying in the name of the dish with the part of France she came from. It of course helps that our entire family loves quiche (yes, even the children!), so it really wasn't much of a stretch for us. :)

~Quiche Lorraine~

Ingredients:

2 premade pie crusts

1 medium to large onion

3 cups diced ham

1/4 cup butter

Swiss cheese (2 8oz. pkg of sliced cheese)

8 eggs

3-4 cups milk or half and half

1/2 tsp. of nutmeg

Directions:

Saute diced ham and chopped onion in 1/4 cup butter till onion is transparent. While ham and onion saute, press pie crust into pie pan and dock the bottom with a fork.

Brush pie crust with a little melted butter.

Beat eggs, milk and nutmeg together in large bowl and set aside.

Layer cheese, covering the bottom of the pie crust. 

Add a layer of sautéed onions and ham covering the layer of cheese. Add another layer of cheese to cover the ham and onion. Pour egg mixture over all layers in pie dish.

Place in oven and bake for 45-55 minutes at 350 degrees or until center of pie is firm. The surface should be slightly browned.

Allow to cool for ten minutes and enjoy!

**This recipe makes 2 deep dish pie quiches**

Here is a little more history on this great Saint with a beautiful litany included.


St. Jeanne d'Arc, ora pro nobis!

The Good Shepherd's Garden Party :: Week Five

This past week we celebrated the fifth week of the Easter season with The Garden of the Good Shepherd: A Sticker Calendar to Count the Fifty Days of Easter and a Good Shepherd's Garden Party based on the theme "The Gardener Plants Paradise."

The Gardener Plants Paradise Menu Suggestions

Maple Leaf Cookies
Lemon Crème Flower Cookies
Fresh Fruit
Owl Cupcakes
Olives and/or Rosemary Olive Oil Crackers
Palm Tree Picks in Cheese Cubes
Lily Sandwiches

Decorating Ideas

Roses, Lilies and/or other Flowers
Palm Tree Decorations (Picks, Napkins, etc.)

Charlotte just posted pictures from their 5th Good Shepherd's Garden Party.  You can click on over to Waltzing Matilda to see all of her pictures, including these beautiful Roses and Lilies!

This year, even though the Owl Cupcakes are so cute, I ended up making a small Owl Cake.   My kids loved him!   You can see the rest of our pictures over at Shower of Roses.

Now it's your turn!  How did you and your family celebrate the fifth week of Easter?  We'd love to see pictures and hear about how you modified our Good Shepherd's Garden Party for your family, or incorporated any of our other ideas (whether you choose daily activities or just one party for the week) into your celebration.

To Participate:

1. Create a post about your Good Shepherd's Garden Party or activities for the fifth week of Easter.
2. Using the linky below, enter the exact link to your post.
3. Add a link your post, referring back to this post so that others can find the party as well!  (Please feel free to include the Good Shepherd's Garden Party Button if you'd like!)
4. Be sure to visit the links and see how everyone else has been celebrating!
5. The linky will be open until next Monday when we add a new one for Week 6.

*Be sure to take a look at all of the Week Six links from last year for all sorts of great ideas!

The Good Shepherd's Garden Party :: Week Four

Can you believe it has already been over four weeks since Easter?  The weeks are going by so fast!   We are still celebrating the 50 days of Easter with The Garden of the Good Shepherd, and our fourth Garden Party is based on the theme "The Wind and Sea Obey Him."

The Wind and Sea Obey Him Menu Suggestions

Apple or Banana Boats with Pretzel Masts

And Fruit Roll-Up Sails

Net Shaped Pretzels

Goldfish Crackers

Mini Pulled Barbecue Pork Sandwiches

Octopus Candy Cupcakes

“Sea” Water

Decorating Ideas

Pinwheels & Bubbles

Charlotte and I both made modifications to the menu again this week.   I just love the Leviathan Hot Dogs, Bun Boats, Pretzel Masts and Cheese Sails that she created for her family.  Click on over to her blog to see the rest of her pictures!

I don't think I've mentioned it here at Catholic Cuisine yet, but I, too, am expecting again and have been craving protein like crazy.   For our boats I opted to make some Deviled Egg Sail Boats, while restocking my fridge with a bowl of extra hard boiled eggs.   You can see the rest of our pictures over at Shower of Roses.

Now it's your turn!  How did you and your family celebrate the fourth week of Easter?  We'd love to see pictures and hear about how you modified our Good Shepherd's Garden Party for your family, or incorporated any of our other ideas (whether you choose daily activities or just one party for the week) into your celebration.

To Participate:

1. Create a post about your Good Shepherd's Garden Party or activities for the fourth week of Easter.
2. Using the linky below, enter the exact link to your post.
3. Add a link your post, referring back to this post so that others can find the party as well!  (Please feel free to include the Good Shepherd's Garden Party Button if you'd like!)
4. Be sure to visit the links and see how everyone else has been celebrating!
5. The linky will be open until next Monday when we add a new one for Week 4.

*Be sure to take a look at all of the Week Five links from last year for all sorts of great ideas!

A Marian Titles May Crowning Luncheon

Inspired by Charlotte's May Crowning Feast, I decided to host a Marian Titles May Crowning Luncheon following our May Little Flowers Meeting, which was based on Mary Mother of God and the virtue of Cheerfulness.   Each of the girls in our Little Flowers group selected one of the menu items to bring and I filled in the gaps.  We had one of our wonderful priests join us for the afternoon! He gave a talk to the girls on Our Lady and the virtue of Cheerfulness, taught them a Marian hymn, led a Marian procession, and then we all prayed the Litany of Loreto before enjoying our feast.   It was a lovely afternoon! 

~ Queen of Martyrs ~

One of the girls brought a Strawberry Boston Cream Cake, Charlotte's suggestion for Queen of Martyr's since her son pointed out that "The red is for the martyrs and the strawberries make it look like a crown."  It was a hit!

~ Holy Mary (Sancta Maria) ~ 

I picked up a couple packages of Marias cookies for Sancta Maria (Holy Mary) and served them with Nutella.  

~ Mystical Rose ~

I made these Strawberry Rose Cupcakes in honor of the Marian title Mystical Rose, saving the rest of the batter to make our Blue Phlox Cupcakes (the flower of the month for Little Flowers). 

I had a number of candy molds in my cupboard that tied in with some of the Marian Titles, so I couldn't resist making a few batches to add to our table   These Rose Candies were made with this mold and a mix of Red and White Candy Melts. 

~ Blue Phlox Cupcakes ~ 

Though not based on one of the titles of Mary, theses cupcakes were topped with Blue Phlox Flowers for our study of Our Lady and the virtue of Cheerfulness.  The Blue is for Mary and the five petals represent five dimensions of Cheerfulness:  Marian, Courageous, Heroic, Consistent, and Contagious.

~ Mother Most Pure ~ 

I made these Mother Most Pure Lily Lollipops made with this mold, though it doesn't look like I took a picture after adding the second batch...

I had a feeling that no one would sign up for our Lily Sandwiches and sure enough I was the one to make them.  They really aren't as difficult as they look. . . I ran out of time and only had 30 20 minutes to make them before the girls started arriving.   I was able to pull it off!  :)  I made a couple modifications to our regular recipe, flattening the bread with a rolling pin after cutting it out (which really helped!) and then inserting swizzle sticks for stems (inspired by Charlotte).  I am so glad I had a chance to make them and they didn't last long!

~ Morning Star ~

These Star Shaped Tea Sandwiches were made by my friend Kathleen and her daughter.

I also made a batch of Star Chocolates with this mold. 

~ Mirror of Justice ~

I happened to have a mirror from our old hutch, which came in handy for these Mirror of Justice Chicken Salad Sandwiches, brought by Amy's girls. 

~ Tower of Ivory, House of Gold ~ 

This was also inspired by Charlotte and also brought by Amy's girls. 

~ Health of the Sick ~

For this menu item, which was brought by Dee Dee, I opted for a Veggie Platter, though a plate of Apples would work nicely too!  

~ Vessel of Honor ~

Our punch bowl Vessel of Honor, was a wedding gift to my parents and passed on to us.   We used Charlotte's suggested recipe for Mary Blue Punch, mixing 7-up with a small box of blue gelatin (I wasn't able to find the unsweetened version) and topping it with vanilla ice cream clouds.  

Here is the document I created for the buffet signs.  I printed them out onto light blue card stock, adding a dark blue Fluer-di-lis quickly created with my Martha Stewart Fleur De Lis Punch.

O God, Who by the resurrection of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, hast vouchsafed to make glad the whole world, grant, we beseech Thee, that through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, His mother, we may attain the joys of eternal life, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Feast for Mary's Month of May!

Please welcome Kelly, from The Careless Catholic, who will be joining us as a contributor here at Catholic Cuisine!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Yesterday, we finally had our home May Crowning ceremony. This month has blessed us with so many additional celebrations that I was having a hard time figuring out when I could fit another one in. But we have always had a strong devotion to the Blessed Mother and I really wanted to make sure we fit our May Crowning celebration in this month. The entire month of May is dedicated to Our Lady, so I figured anytime this month would work. Honoring Our Lady with a May Crowning has been a tradition in our home for only the past few years. Our local parish used to have one, but unfortunately like so many other beautiful traditions in the Church, this practice has fallen away. So, we started having our own May Crowning ceremony at home. Our home ceremony, like most of our liturgical celebrations, consisted of prayer (Hail Holy Queen, Regina Caeli, Litany of Loretto, To the Blessed Mother and our family Rosary), hymns (Hail Holy Queen, Mary Queen of the May and Immaculate Mary), and food. Last year I tried to have a few special items to eat as part of the celebration, but this year I wanted to make it a bit more memorable for the children. After seeing all the wonderful ideas presented here at Catholic Cuisine by Jessica, Charlotte and Tiffany, I was inspired. I decided to do an entire day of feasting with a Marian themed menu! As much as I could, I incorporated the colors blue and white. Blue for Our Lady's Mantle and white for Our Lady's purity. I also used the crown as a symbol to honor the queenship of Mary and the May Crowning itself. Also, I tried to infuse beauty. Beauty in the table setting, the music playing in the background and the food as well. Btw, a side note on the music linked; this music is sublime, especially Saint-Saens' Ave Maria. It is SO good I actually cried hearing it the first time.

Our May Crowning Day Menu:

Breakfast::

~Mini Blueberry Parfaits~

(inspired by Lena)

&

~Homemade Blueberry Waffles~ 

(Topped with blueberry preserves and powdered sugar.)

Luncheon::

~Crown shaped Cream Cheese Tea Sandwiches~

(using Jessica's lily cream cheese filling)

~Turkey and Cucumber Roses~

(Inspired by Charlotte's meal, linked above in first paragraph.)

~Cauliflower Florets with Ranch Dipping Sauce~

~Blueberry Coffee Cake Slices~

(I didn't make this coffee cake. When we saw a package of these at the store we not only thought they looked yummy, we also thought they looked like crowns so we picked up a box. And of course being made with blueberries made it perfect!)

~Blue and White Crown Cupcakes~

(Thank you Jessica for introducing me to candy molding! It's so much fun!)

~Blue and White Candies~

(Hershey's Coconut Kisses & York Peppermint Pieces)

~Charlotte's Blue Punch~

(The kids LOVED this. Thank you, Miss Charlotte!)

Here are some more luncheon pictures:

(I decorated the table with a blue table covering with a plastic white lace one over top, a holy card of the Blessed Mother, my bluebirds, blue candles, our Pascal Candle we made with this kit, our Easter wreath that was the crown of thorns during Lent, and fresh lilies (a symbol of Our Lady) from the market.)

Dinner::

~Herbed Chicken Tortellini~

*pasta filled with chicken seasoned with rosemary (Our Lady's herb) in an alfredo sauce*

(A reality check: I did not make this from scratch. I did what any sensible overwhelmed mother of many does when planning a day long feast. I picked up two bags of Buitoni pasta and Bertolli Alfredo Sauce from the market.)

~Fleur-di-lis Rolls~

(I made these using refrigerated breadstick dough. I used two breadstick pieces for the middle, pinching them together, two pieces for the sides and one piece to wrap around the middle and then pressed together underneath. Three tubes of dough should make 7 large rolls.)

~Mixed Green Salad in Red Wine Vinegar & Olive Oil Dressing~

As you can see, I tried to keep dinner a little simpler than the luncheon earlier in the day. After dinner we sang our Marian hymns  prayed our prayers and then Dancer (the oldest daughter in our family) crowned the Our Lady of Fatima statue we have.  We ended our day with a family rosary before bed. It was a beautiful day and one that I hope the children will remember for years to come.

May God bless your Marian devotions!