Cathedral Window Cookies

December 29th is the memorial of St. Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury.  He was martyred for the Catholic Faith in his cathedral on December 29, 1170.  You can read more about this holy saint here.

Our family celebrates a name-day in our home on this day, so I usually try and serve a little treat in his honor.  One year we made Sword and Miter Cookies, last year we made a Martyr's Crown Cake, and this year I had planned to make another Cathedral Cake using this pan, until I ran across the following recipe for Cathedral Cookies!

Cathedral Window Cookies

adapted from Taste of Home

Ingredients

• 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 3 cups pastel miniature marshmallows 
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional) 
• 1 cup flaked coconut

Directions

In a heavy saucepan, melt chocolate chips and butter over low heat, stirring occasionally. Stir a small amount into the egg, then return all to pan. Cook and stir over low heat for 2 minutes. Pour into a bowl; let cool for 15 minutes. Gently stir in marshmallows and nuts.

Chill for 30 minutes.

On a sheet of waxed paper, shape dough into a 1-1/2" diameter log.
Place coconut on another sheet of waxed paper. Gently roll log over
coconut to coat sides. Wrap up tightly, twisting ends to seal.Freeze for 4 hours or overnight.

Remove waxed paper. Cut into 1/4" slices. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Yield: about 5 dozen. (I cut mine a bit thicker and made about 3 dozen.) 

Note:  I just used what I had on hand and substituted 1 cup of white marshmallows, along with the 2 cups of pastel marshmallows that were in the cupboard.  For those that don't like coconut, you could also roll the log in chopped nuts to coat the sides as well!

Let us all rejoice in the Lord, celebrating a festival-day in honor of the blessed martyr Thomas: at whose martyrdom the angels rejoice, and give praise to the Son of God. 

St. Thomas Becket, Pray for us! 

"Drink you the love of St. John."

The following text was submitted by the editor of Advent and Christmas in a Catholic Home, Katherine Zehnder.  It is from the 1950's "Advent and Christmas in a Catholic Home" by Helen McLoughlin and includes a variation of the recipe that can be found in the archives.  Thank you Katherine! 

There is a beautiful Catholic custom for St. John's feast day - the blessing of wine. It is in honor of him remaining unharmed after drinking a poisoned cup of wine over which he made the Sign of the Cross. The father of the family can read Psalm 22 and then recite this prayer: " Lord Jesus Christ, Thou didst call Thyself the vine and Thy holy apostles the branches; and out of all those who love Thee, Thou didst desire to make a good vineyard. Bless this wine and pour into it the might of Thy benediction so that everyone who drinks or takes of it, may through the intercession of Thy beloved disciple the holy apostle and evangelist John, be freed from every disease or attack of illness and obtain health of body and soul. Who livest and reignest forever. Amen."

A toast to the love of St. John is then pledged by all the family. The father touches his glass of wine to his wife and says: "I drink to you the love of St. John" and she in turn touches the children's (watered down wine) goblets and says "drink you the love of St. John."

St. John's Wine

2 cups wine
2 whole cloves
2 pinches cinnamon
1 cardamon seed
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Boil the spices in the wine for about five minutes. Strain the wine. Serve hot.

Happy Feast of St. John!

Podkovy :: St. Stephen's Horseshoes

St. Stephen from Saints: Lives and Illuminations and Stephen's Feast

On December 26th we celebrate the feast of St. Stephen, the first Christmas Martyr!  In honor of St. Stephen's patronage over horses, special breads filled with chopped nuts and sugar and shaped in the form of horseshoes are traditionally baked on this day in Poland and other Slavic countries.  The following recipe for Podkovy (St. Stephen's Horseshoes) is adapted from Cooking with the Saints.

Podkovy (St. Stephen's Horseshoes)

Dough Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon dry yeast
• 1/2 cup milk, lukewarm
• 3 eggs, small
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons lemon rind, grated
• 1 cup butter
• 5 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup shortening

Filling Ingredients

• 1 /2 cups walnuts, finely chopped
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• grated rind of 1 orange
• grated rind of 1 lemon

Directions

Dissolve yeast in the lukewarm milk and let stand for 10 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs until light and fluffy.  Stir in the sour cream, yeast mixture, lemon juice and rind.

In another mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt.  Cut the cold butter into small pieces.  Using either a pastry blender, two knives, or your hands, work the butter and shortening into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse bread crumbs.

Add the flour mixture to the moist ingredients and beat well.  You may need to add more flour, just enough to make a fairly soft and non-sticky dough, depending on the size of the eggs.

Knead dough briefly. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

While the dough is chilling prepare the filling.  Chop the nuts finely.  (We used walnuts, but hazelnuts or almonds would work great too!) Combine the brown sugar, egg, vanilla and rinds, then stir in the nuts.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to about 1/8 inch thickness and cut into 4x6 inch rectangles.

Brush the rectangles with some melted butte (I actually skipped this step) and spread a thin layer of filling in the middle.  Starting on the long side, roll each rectangle and form into the shape of a horseshoe.  (Note: As you can see in my pictures above, the filling did ooze out of some of the horseshoes in my first batch.  On the following batches, I made sure the dough was pinched together to prevent this from happening again.)

Place on a lightly greased baking sheet.  Bake at 375˚F for about 15 minutes or until the horseshoes are nicely browned.

Dust with powdered sugar or glaze with a mixture of lemon juice and powdered sugar if desired.

St. Stephen, Pray for us! 

His name shall be called Jesus

Spectacular Nativity Cookie Mold and Silent Night Table Runner (also available here)

Come, sweet Lord Jesus, 

Into the hearts and lives of all our dearest

Priests, Religious, families and friends.

Wishing you all a Blessed and Joyful Christmas! 

An Advent Apron Giveaway...

... which is also appropriate to wear during Christmastime!

Catholic Embroidery has generously offered to give one of their lovely "Venite Adoremus" aprons to a visitor here at Catholic Cuisine! 

The "Venite Adoremus" Apron pictured above would make a great Christmas gift paired with the Starlight Cookies Jar Mix!  Or you could even put together a gift basket with your favorite apron, a Catholic themed cookbook (such as Cooking with the Saints, A Continual Feast, or Grace Before Meals!), some fun and religious candy molds or cookie cutters, and line the basket with a gorgeous "Silent Night" lace Placemat/Doily, Table Runner (also available from Catholic Embroidery here), or Table Topper.  There are so many options to create lovely Catholic gifts for those who love to create "Catholic Cuisine!"

This apron, and many more, can be purchased here at Catholic Cuisine (Catholic Cuisine will receive a percentage of any of the aprons purchased from this page), or they can be purchased directly from Catholic Embroidery! To enter the giveaway please use the Rafflecopter box below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

White Chocolate Cream Cake for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception

O God, who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin

prepared a worthy dwelling for your Son,

grant, we pray,

that, as you preserved her from every stain

by virtue of the Death of your Son, which you foresaw,

so, through her intercession,

we, too, may be cleansed and admitted to your presence.

 White Chocolate Cream Cake

Cake:

3 oz. squares white chocolate, chopped
2 1/4 C. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 C. white sugar
2 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 2/3 C. heavy cream
3 eggs
1 tsp. almond extract

Frosting:
3 oz. white chocolate, chopped
3 1/2 C. confectioner's sugar
1/4 C. butter, softened
4 Tbl. water
1/2 tsp. almond extract

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour two 8 or 9 inch round pans. For the cake, melt white chocolate, set aside to cool to lukewarm. In a small bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt; set aside. In a large chilled bowl, whip heavy cream until stiff peaks form; set aside.
In a large bowl, beat eggs for about 5 minutes until light lemon colored. Beat in 1 tsp. almond flavoring and melted white chocolate. Fold in whipped cream. Fold in flour mixture, about 1/2 a cup at a time. Divide batter into prepared pans. Bake in over for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick comes clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes then turn out onto wire rack and cool completely.

For Frosting: In a large bowl, beat 3 oz. of white chocolate over low heat or in microwave, stirring occasionally, until melted; cool to lukewarm. Combine on medium speed, white chocolate, confectioners sugar, butter, water and 1/2 tsp. almond extract. Beat until smooth and of spreading consistency.

On the Feast of St. Catherine of Alexandria

Catherine of Alexandria from Lives and Legends of Saints

A simple Spice Cake baked in a Heart Shaped Pan and Dusted with Powdered Sugar... 

You can read more about the tradition of "Heart Cakes" on the feast of St. Catherine in the archives.

St. Catherine of Alexandria, Pray for Us!

A Simple and Sweet Treat for the Feast of St. Cecilia

St. Cecilia, whose feast is celebrated on November 22, was named the patroness of music because “While the profane music of her wedding was heard, Cecilia was singing in her heart a hymn of love for Jesus, her true spouse.” She is often represented in art with an organ or organ pipes in her hands. In honor of her feast you can easily create “St. Cecilia’s Heavenly Music Candy Bar” using Kit Kats!

St. Cecilia’s Heavenly Music Candy Bar

Supplies:

• Serving Tray
• 4 White KitKat Candy Bars
• 6 Snack Size Twin Packs of KitKats - Regular or Dark Chocolate

 

Unwrap the KitKats and aassemble the candy on a serving dish to resemble an organ keyboard.  Enjoy!

Let the deep organ swell the lay
In honor of this festive day.
Let the harmonious choirs proclaim
Cecilia’s ever blessed name.

Let the harmonious choirs proclaim
Cecilia’s ever blessed name.

Cecilia with a two-fold crown,
Adorned in heaven we pray look down,
Upon thy fervent children here
And harken to their humble prayer.

Let the harmonious choirs proclaim
Cecilia’s ever blessed name.

St. Cecilia, special patroness and advocate of all singers, musicians, authors, and students, pray for us!

Cinnamon Toast St. Martin Snacks

I came up with this idea this morning not intending to blog it but my kids really liked it, so I'm sharing it with you. The story of St. Martin of Tours is that when he was a soldier, he came upon a beggar outside of the city gates who was in need of clothing and warmth. St. Martin, having nothing else to offer, took off his beautiful cloak and cut it in two giving half to the beggar to keep him warm. Later that night, St. Martin had a dream that the beggar man was really Jesus and he was commending St. Martin for his generosity to the angels in Heaven. In honor of that story, I made these cinnamon toast treats to look like gates and cloaks. My oldest daughter commented though that if you turn the gate upside down, it resembles a horseshoe, which is also one of St. Martin's symbols. Either way, it is simple to make.

First, make some cinnamon toast. We like to toast the bread in the toaster, butter it and then sprinkle on the cinnamon sugar.

Then, I used the bottom edge of my cheese grater to cut out a rounded shape to look like a cloak. You could use just a knife though and cut out the shape by hand. 

Now you have a gate and a cloak.

Just serve it up, let the big kids cut the cloak in half themselves or score it for the little ones to tear in half and tell them the story of this most generous saint.

St. Martin of Tours, pray for us!

St. Martin Cookies for Martinmas

After seeing the beautiful and amazing All-Saints Themed Cookies shared by Lynne last month I decided to order a cookie mold and see if I would be able to make them as well... Looking through all the links she shared I had a hard time deciding which mold(s) to order!  Since we have plans to celebrate Martinmas with friends this year I ended up choosing the St. Martin mold (as well as a St. Nicholas and a Christmas mold which I hope to use to create Christmas gifts for some of our friends and godchildren next month)! 

The St. Martin Mold: A wondeful, dimensional, German depiction of the famous episode when Martin cut his cloak in two, giving half to a shivering beggar. St. Martin became a patron saint of France. Actual Size: 3.5 x 5.25 inches.

I used my new favorite sugar cookie recipe along with some awesome "rolling sticks" from a friend of mine. (Thank you Erica!)

Cut-Out Sugar Cookie Dough 

Mix the following:

• 3/4 c. butter
• 1 c. sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Combine the following dry ingredients and combine with the wet (or add part of the flour and then the salt and powder followed by the rest of the flour):

• 2 1/3 c. flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking powder

Chill until hard. Roll out on floured surface to 3/8" inch thick. Cut out shapes. Bake at 350 degrees for 11 minutes (for 3 inch cookies) or 9 minutes (for 1 1/2 in cookies) OR until bottoms of cookies are barely browning.  

Note: I used the mold as a guide for cutting out the St. Martin cookies and baked them for approx. 15 minutes. 

After the cookies had been baked and cooled I started creating the fondant tops.

Next time I plan to make our own marshmallow fondant, but this time I kept it simple using a package of pastel yellow pre-made fondant.  

Rolling the fondant to the recommended ¼ inch thickness I was able to decorate nine large cookies with the St. Martin design.  

I followed Lynne's directions and it was just as easy as it sounded:  Lightly dust your mold with powdered sugar. Press the rolled out fondant into the mold starting from the center of the mold and working your way to the edges. Be sure to press the fondant into all of the deep areas of the design, you can feel the indentations as you press down on the fondant. Starting from the edge carefully peal the fondant from the mold. Trim the edges of the design then ‘glue’ the fondant to the cookie by brushing the top of the cookie with light corn syrup.

These cookies were so much fun to make and I can't wait to share them with all the children tomorrow after we read about St. Martin and decorate lanterns! 

Happy Martinmas! 

All Souls Prayer Parfait

I know that most of our families have had an overload of treats this time of year!  However, just in case you might be looking for a quick dessert to fill tummies after your All Souls Day prayers, here's an easy idea for you…All Souls Prayer Parfaits!  

You could use a variety of things but this is what we used...

Ingredients:

Clear plastic cups or glasses

Instant Jell-o vanilla pudding

Orange sprinkles

Crushed oreo cookies

Ghost Peeps

Opt: Whipped cream

*Toothpicks and tape to hold paper prayer sign*

We just cut out little slips of paper and taped them to the back of the toothpicks.  The toothpicks work great, sticking right into our little "souls":)

Easy Instructions:

Make Jell-o pudding according to box.

Layer pudding, sprinkles and crushed oreos.

*Note: We thought it would be cute to add whipped cream to the top but didn't have any on hand!*

God bless you for your generous prayers for All Souls!

The 2013 Saint-O-Lantern Link Up!

Have you carved a Saint-O-Lantern this year? 

 If so, we'd love to see it!

Inspiration and templates can be found in the archives.

The following carvings were submitted via email or Facebook:

Pope John Paul II - Submitted by Elizabeth Pullen

Pope Benedict XVI - Submitted by Elizabeth Pullen

Submitted by Peggy Sue, South Dakota

Submitted by Mark S. and inspired by the submission from the Ipps below

To Add Your Post:

1. Create a post about your Saint-O-Lanterns.
2. Using the Mr. Linky below, enter the exact link to your post.
3. Link your post back to this post.
4. Be sure to visit the links and check out everyone's Saint-O-Lanterns!
5. The linky will be open through November 6th.
6. If you would like to share a picture but do not have a blog, please email it to catholiccuisine[at]gmail[dot]com or post it on our Facebook Page.

Happy All Hallows' Eve!

All Saints Guessing Jars

I just shared this post over at Shower of Roses, but thought I would add it here as well for anyone who is still looking for All Saints' party game ideas!   

A few days ago I happened to run across the link to some Saint Themed Guessing Jars at Catholic Inspired.  I loved the idea and and was inspired to create a variation for our annual All Hallows' Eve / All Saints' Party which we will be hosting again this week!

I prefer to keep the games simple for the party we host at our home, focusing on mostly group games like our All Saints Scavenger Hunt, All Saints Bingo, and the All Saints Puzzle Races - leaving plenty of time for standing around the bonfire, roasting marshmallows, lots of great food and visiting with friends and family.  This game will be a perfect addition and something that everyone will be able to participate in, both the children and adults!  

When I was out grocery shopping this past weekend I picked up a few of the original suggestions, adapting and adding some of my own ideas as well.  I then created saint themed labels for each jar.



I decided to use my Wide Mouth Mason Jars with White Storage Lids. (I plan to dump the contents of each jar into a treat bag or ziplock for each of the winners.)

   

St. Thérèse of Lisieux :: I didn't have much luck finding candy roses, but I couldn't leave St. Therese out of the game, so I used my rose candy molds and red and pink candy melts to make my own! ;) 

 

Our Lady of Mount Caramel ::  I opted for individually wrapped Rolo's.  Not only are they filled with caramel, but they are wrapped in gold and look like little crowns, don't you think?  Regular caramels would work great too.

 

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton :: I thought the Cinnamon Schoolbook Cookies from Trader Joe's would be perfect for this dear saint who laid the foundation for what became the American parochial school system.  

  

Holy Souls :: One bag of Jetpuffed Ghostmallows will represent the "Holy Souls" in purgatory, for whom we must always remember to pray.

  

The Holy Trinity :: Miniature "3 Musketeers" candy bars represent our one and the same God in three Divine Persons - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.



St. Francis of Assisi :: I also picked up the box of Animal Crackers at Trader Joe's, though any brand would work just as well for St. Francis of Assisi, Patron of Animals.

 

St. Isidore :: Any sort of fruit or vegetable shaped candies would work for St. Isidore, the patron of farmers.  I choose candy pumpkins.  If we do this again next year I might go with candy corn!

 

St. Anthony :: Colored Goldfish will represent the legend of St. Anthony and the multitudes of fish that rose out of the water to listen to him preach.

  

St. Andrew :: Rainbow Fish were our pick for St. Andrew, the patron of fisherman.  

 

I also created labels for Mary's Starry Mantle (Anything start would work - Yogurt Stars from TJ's, Star Shaped Pretzels, or handmade Star Candies) and St. Nicholas (Costco has a large bag of Chocolate Coins that a friend is picking up - the extras can be saved for St. Nicholas Day which is coming up in just over a month!).

To keep each person's guesses secret I also created little sheets of paper for each contestant to write their name and guess, before folding it in half and dropping it into an empty jar with a matching label.

  Our children are so excited and can hardly wait to start guessing!  

Printable Guessing Jar Labels
Printable Guess Slips


Find more All Saints' Party Printables over at Shower of Roses!