Friday, September 30, 2011

Recipes for October ~ Month Dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary


"The month of October each year is dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary. This is primarily due to the fact that the liturgical feast of Our Lady of the Rosary is celebrated annually on October 7th. It was instituted to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary in gratitude for the protection that she gives the Church in answer to the praying of the Rosary by the faithful." ~ Catholic Net

A great way to celebrate the month is to make a commitment to pray the rosary daily, but here are a few more ideas for celebrating the feast days in October, from the archives!


October 1, Feast of St. Therese of Lisieux (New):


October 2, Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels (New, Trad.):


October 3, Feast of St. Therese of Lisieux (Trad.):
(See October 1st)


October 4, Feast of St. Francis of Assisi (New, Trad.):


October 5, Feast of St. Faustina Kowalska (New/some places):


October 7, Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary (New, Trad.):



October 7, Feast of St. Mark (Trad.):


October 11, Feast of Blessed Pope John XXIII (New):


October 12, Feast of Our Lady of the Pillar:


October 13, The Miracle of the Sun in Fatima:

October 16, Feast of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (New):


October 17, Feast of St. Ignatius of Antioch (New):


October 20, St. Paul of the Cross (New):


October 21, St. Kateri (New):


October 22, Feast of Blessed John Paul II (New):
 


October 24, Feast of St. Raphael the Archangel (Trad.):


October 25, St. Crispin (Historical):


Last Sunday of October, Feast of Christ the King (Trad.):
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Posted by Jessica Gordon on Friday, September 30, 2011 2 comments
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Fiori Rosé


Last year, on the feast of St. Therese and inspired by Charlotte's post for Penne Rosé, we made Fiori Rosé for dinner!   It was quick and easy, and the perfect dinner after a day spent in town.    

I didn't get as far as trying her actual recipe, and ended up just mixing two jars of sauce - one alfredo and one marinara - and serving it over "Fiori" pasta noodles. They nearly jumped off the shelf at me when I was looking for the sauces! How perfect are they for the feast of St. Therese?!

My children loved it and are requesting the same this year.  Whether you will be celebrating her feast on October 1st (her new feast day) or October 3rd (her traditional feast), I hope you all have a very blessed day!


St. Therese, flower of Carmel, Pray for us! 
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Posted by Jessica Gordon on Friday, September 30, 2011 1 comments
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Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Gluten-Free Feasting for the Angels

This post is written by Catholic Cuisine Contributor, Sarah Mackenzie from Amongst Lovely Things. 

 Thursday is Michaelmas Day, the Feast of the Archangels! I like to celebrate feast days in simple ways that our whole family can enjoy, and that means making everything gluten-free.

Last year, our family began the tradition of apple picking on Michaelmas Day. Apples are often associated with Michaelmas, and this year, I wanted an easy way to enjoy the fruits of our labor. This pregnant Mama isn't much up to canning this year!

Gluten-free apple dip is an easy, tasty snack.


Gluten Free Apple Dip

Mix together a block of softened cream cheese, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 1 tablespoon vanilla. Serve with fresh, sweet sliced apples (we used honeycrisp, and they were perfect!)

Want something more, for dessert perhaps? Nothing tastes quite so heavenly as Angel Food Cake, and just because you're gluten-free doesn't mean you can't indulge! I like Gluten Free Mommy's recipe best. Try topping your cake with fluffy white clouds of whip cream. Blackberries would make the perfect topping (and give you a great opportunity to tell your children the old story of how Satan landed on blackberry brambles when St. Michael kicked him out of Heaven!).

Hmmm... what happened to that other piece of cake? That baby-on-the-way... always getting into the goodies early! Such a naughty little thing! :)
Happy feasting!

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle!
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Posted by Unknown on Tuesday, September 27, 2011 7 comments
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Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Our Lady of Sorrows AND The Exaltation of The Holy Cross


I always get so nervous to post something here on Catholic Cuisine,
I'm in the presence of such holy and creative women and
I think things like "Will I get in trouble for posting 2 feast days in 1 post?"
I hope not.
Today for Our Lady of Sorrows, we plan to bake some brownies.
 I got the idea of putting pretzels in the heart shape cake from Barbara.


We also plan to do 7 almonds, which represent 7 tears. (tear shaped nut) Picture 5 kiddos putting these nuts under their eyes to pretend they are tears....The coloring sheet is from Mathilda.



The Blessed Virgin told St Bridget of the seven graces given to all who honor her daily by saying seven Hail Mary's and meditating on her tears and dolors.


Here are the seven graces:
  1. I will grant peace to their families.
  2. They will be enlightened about the divine mysteries.
  3. I will console them in their pains and I will accompany them in their work.
  4. I will give them as much as they ask for as long as it does not oppose the adorable will of my divine Son or the sanctification of their souls.
  5. I will defend them in their spiritual battles with the infernal enemy and I will protect them at every instant of their lives.
  6. I will visibly help them at the moment of their death, they will see the face of their Mother.
  7. I have obtained (This Grace) from my divine Son, that those who propagate this devotion to my tears and dolors, will be taken directly from this earthly life to eternal happiness since all their sins will be forgiven and my Son and I will be their eternal consolation and joy.
Seven Sorrows
  1. The prophecy of Simeon.
  2. The flight into Egypt.
  3. The loss of the Child Jesus in the temple.
  4. The meeting of Jesus and Mary on the Way of the Cross.
  5. The Crucifixion.
  6. The taking down of the Body of Christ from the Cross.
  7. The burial of Jesus.
Yesterday we celebrated the Feast of the Exaltation of the  Holy Cross, or the Triumphant Cross
by making a cross cake.  This year, I didn't make a poke cake, (since not everyone likes wet cake) but decided to make a regular white cake and  then I set aside some of the batter and added red food coloring gel, enough to make it a good red, then added it to the top of the cake batter in the pan.  I had no idea how it would turn out, and, well, it didn't turn out as good as I thought it would, I should have poked it down with the end of a wooden spoon or something. (make a mental note of that Jamie, for next year)

 (next year, remember at this point to poke the batter down)
 My kitchen helper...especially when there are bowls to be licked!
 We made the pudding frosting:
1 pkg any flavor pudding (we used chocolate fudge)
1 cup milk
1 small container of cool whip
The heart and glow things are Starburst rolled out and cut into shape.
 I did like the vibrant colors the red batter made, this would work for the 
Feast of Divine Mercy too....or Christmas, add a little green...
(See?  Should have poked that red batter down)
We also enjoyed the Tomato Basil Mozzarella Salad.
I used grape tomatoes and added cucumbers and 
cut up the Mozzarella into bite size pieces.
(the cucumbers were from Christine's garden!)
It was delicious!
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Posted by Jamie Jo on Wednesday, September 14, 2011 7 comments
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Tuesday, September 13, 2011

The Flowers of Wreath III Cupcakes


"Little Flowers Girls' Club® is a Catholic program for girls ages 5 and up based on learning Catholic virtues through the lives of Catholic saints, Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Developed by a Catholic mom of nine, Rachel Watkins, and based on Fr. Lasance's Catholic Girls' Guide, the Club strives to bring the Catholic faith alive and inspire the girls to become authentic Catholic women..." Read more here.

For the past three years I have been leading a Little Flowers Girls' Club, a  for my girls and some of their friends.  It has been such a rewarding experience and my girls have absolutley loved being Little Flowers.

In addition to the suggestions in the Leader's Manuals, I started creating a series of Notebook Pages to go along with each virtue/saint, and also have really enjoyed coming up with snacks (or "Catholic Cuisine!") that  tied in the Saint and/or Flower for each meeting.

This past year, for Wreath III, I ended up sticking with a flower theme, and was able to come up with a cupcake for each of the 9 meetings.   Sometimes I would have all the supplies ready for the girls to decorate their own cupcakes (which the girls loved) and other times I had the cupcakes pre-decorated.  I've posted about them in my individual posts about each meeting, but I thought I would consolidate them all into one post as well, to share with you all here.  Now to finish up my plans for this coming year, including "Saintly Symbols Cupcakes for Wreath IV" before our first meeting later this month!

Meeting One :: Mary & Martha,  Eutrapelia, Dandelion

Dandelion Cupcakes
Our Complete Meeting for Eutrapelia

Pumpkin Cupcakes topped with Cream Cheese Frosting
 and decorated as Common Dandelions
Served with "Dandelion Yellow" Punch


Meeting Two :: Ruth & Naomi, Friendliness, Morning Glory

Morning Glory Cupcakes

Cupcakes decorated with white icing, Blue and Yellow Sparkle Decorating Gel, and yellow Skittles


Meeting Three :: St. Margaret of Scotland, Initiative, Black Eyed Susan

Black Eyed Susan Cupcakes

Orange Muffins topped with Cream Cheese Frosting, to be decorated by the Little Flowers with homemade Black Eyed Susan Chocolates (using this candy mold and candy melts) and the options of green mint meltaways, green color mist and/or green glitter gel.


Meeting Four :: St. Zita or Proverbs 31 Woman, Orderliness, Cranberry


To make these delicious cupcakes, I used a package of Yellow Cake Mix, replacing the water with Orange Juice and added 1 cup of frozen cranberries and 1 cup of white chocolate chips.  We topped them with some Cream Cheese Frosting, homemade Sugared Cranberries (Craisins would be a simple alternative), and served them with Sparkling Cranberry Juice.  


Meeting Five :: St. Felicity and Her Seven Sons, Self-Control, Amaryllis


I started with Pink Cupcakes, with the help of a Strawberry Cake Mix, topped with Frosting.  Using this Lily Mold I then topped the cupcakes with Pink (the color for this virtue) Amaryllis Flowers (the flower for this virtue) homemade with Pink and Yellow Candy Melts.  



Meeting Six :: St. Anne, Mother of the Blessed Mother, Responsibility, Mum


These cupcakes were inspired by a recipe in What's New, Cupcake?: Ingeniously Simple Designs for Every Occasion.   They would be great to make this coming weekend for Mother's Day, anytime this month for our Blessed Mother during her month of May, or in July for the feast of St. Anne.  You can find the directions in the archives!


Meeting Seven :: St. Bathildis, Patience, Lily of the Valley

Lily of the Valley Cupcakes
Chocolate Frosted Cupcakes, decorated with White Chocolate Chips and green frosting or Sparkle Gel.  


Meeting Eight :: Mary Mother of God, Cheerfulness, Blue Phlox

Blue Phlox Cupcakes
I wasn't sure how I was going to decorate the cupcakes this month. . . After looking at various images online of Blue Phlox Flowers I ended up making a little bit of blue frosting.  Using a round frosting tip, I put five drops (my kids said they looked like hershey kisses) on each cupcake, then, using the tip of a knife, I pulled the frosting drops towards the center, creating the flowers.   I am a total amateur at this sort of thing, but I thought they turned out nicely!

The Blue is for Our Blessed Mother and the Five Petals represent the five dimensions of Cheerfulness:  Marian, Courageous, Heroic, Consistent, and Contagious.


Meeting Nine :: St. Julie Billiart, Fortitude, Hyacinth

Pink Hyacinth Cupcakes
When I was looking for ideas, Charlotte mentioned that Pink Popcorn came to mind.  I thought that was a perfect idea, but since I didn't have all the ingredients I opted to make the pink hyacinths using some pink Smooth & Melty Petite Mints (I had purchased a few bags at 75% off in January from Hickory Farms and had one left) along with a little green frosting for the leaves.  I also sprayed the white base frosting with a little green, before adding the candies.  I thought they turned out cute, and they were very yummy despite the fact that my six year old pointed out that "the chocolate cake even looks like dirt!"



St. Therese, the Little Flower of Jesus, 
Pray for Us!
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Posted by Jessica Gordon on Tuesday, September 13, 2011 0 comments
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Monday, September 12, 2011

Mary's Holy Name

Mary's Holy Name Breakfast Bagels

Here is an easy way to honor Mary's Holy Name using blueberry bagels!
~And it's fairly healthy too~
Ingredients:
Blueberry bagels
Cream cheese
Dried or fresh blueberries
We chose blueberry bagels since blue is Mary's color.  
The white cream cheese represents her purity.
Dried blueberries were place on top of each bagel to spell Mary's Holy Name.
(We used "Mary's blue" plates for a little extra festivity:)
"There is not such powerful help in any name, nor is there any other name given to men, after that of Jesus, from which so much salvation is poured forth upon men from the name of Mary."
~Richard of St. Laurence~
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Posted by Tiffany on Monday, September 12, 2011 2 comments
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