Rose Cake and Punch for St. Therese

The Feast of St. Therese is coming up!!! It is celebrated on October 1st on the New Calendar, and on October 3rd on the Traditional Calendar.

This year, for the feast of St. Therese, I am planning on making the Rose Petal Coconut Cake suggested in My Nameday, Come for Dessert, and serving it with a Rosy Punch, suggested in The Cook's Blessings, for my hubby and I, with a non-alcoholic version for my children.


ROSE PETAL COCONUT CAKE

Empty one package of instant white cake mix into a bowl. Prepare as directed on package.

Pour batter into two round eight-inch layer pans, 1-1/2 inches deep and lined on the bottom with paper. Bake in a moderate oven, 350 degrees F., 20 to 25 minutes. Cool cakes.

Spread seven-minute frosting (You can find this recipe here Seven-Minute Frosting, or make/buy a frosting of your choice.) between layers and on top and sides of cake. Sprinkle lightly-tinted pink coconut on the sides of the cake while the frosting is still soft. Decorate the top of the cake with a full-blown red rose made of crystallized rose petals, with an icing rose, or even an artificial one.

To tint coconut, place 1 teaspoon of milk or water in a bowl. Add a drop or two of red vegetable coloring (or yellow if you wish to make a yellow rose cake) and mix well. Add 1-1/2 cups of coconut and toss with a fork until coconut is lightly tinted throughout. (You may prefer to put coconut into a jar with a tight cover and shake it vigorously.)




ROSY PUNCH

• 1 can frozen Hawaiian Punch concentrate
• 1 can frozen lemonade concentrate
• 1 quart Tea Concentrate (To make: Pour 1 quart cold water over 1/4 cup loose tea or 12 teabags, and let stand until of desired strength. Remove teabags.)
• 1 bottle rose wine
• 1 bottle Sparkling Burgundy, chilled

Combine first 4 ingredients. Chill until ready to serve; pour over ice in punch bowl. Add Sparkling Burgundy. Serve at once. Makes about 26 punch cup servings.

(For my children, I will be replacing the Rose Wine & Sparkling Burgundy with White Grape Raspberry Juice and 7-up.)

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Feasting for the Assumption

August 15 marks the Solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady into heaven, a holyday of obligation. In the Eastern churches it is called the Dormition, or sleeping of our Lady.

I had lots of ideas for this day, but my planning time was usurped by family matters and upcoming events. I don't have pictures to share for these recipes, but you can use your imagination.

The most notable tradition on this day is the Blessing of Fruits and Herbs, although in some areas the blessing includes wheat and specifically, grapes. This is a first-fruits feast, a feast reminding us of the Old Testament offering to God the best of their beginning of the harvest.

The Directory on Popular Piety explains the significance of this feast and the custom of blessing herbs:

In the Germanic countries, the custom of blessing herbs is associated with 15 August. This custom, received into the Rituale Romanum, represents a clear example of the genuine evangelization of pre-Christian rites and beliefs: one must turn to God, through whose word "the earth produced vegetation: plants bearing seeds in their several kinds, and trees bearing fruit with their seed inside in their several kinds" (Gen 1, 12) in order to obtain what was formerly obtained by magic rites; to stem the damages deriving from poisonous herbs, and benefit from the efficacy of curative herbs.

This ancient use came to be associated with the Blessed Virgin Mary, in part because of the biblical images applied to her such as vine, lavender, cypress and lily, partly from seeing her in terms of a sweet smelling flower because of her virtue, and most of all because of Isaiah 11, 1, and his reference to the "shoot springing from the side of Jesse", which would bear the blessed fruit of Jesus.

So for this feast, I'm incorporating fruits and herbs in my dishes. I like to make this Assumpta Salad with our fresh tomatoes, technically a fruit, with lots of herbs. This recipe is by Brother Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette from his Twelve Months of Monastery Salads. I love this cookbook, particularly in the summer.

Assumpta Salad

"This enticing salad is always served as an appetizer. It is one of our favorites for the feast of Our Lady, and we especially like it on the Feast of the Assumption on August 15, when garden tomatoes are at their best."

Salad
8 medium-size ripe tomatoes, sliced
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 cup pitted black olives, drained
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 cup cubed feta cheese (I omit because of food allergies)

Vinaigrette
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
5 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Whisk the vinaigrette ingredients together until thickened. Let stand for about 1 hour before using to steep the garlic. For the salad, arrange tomato slices on 6 to 8 salad plates. Sprinkle the onion and olives among them. Sprinkle the herbs evenly, then add the cheese cubes in the middle of each dish. Whisk vinaigrette just before serving and drizzle evenly over each plate. Serve immediately.

I love to grow herbs -- they are actually a lazy gardener's (or busy mama's dream), as they are so low maintenance. I am going to make a bouquet of some of our herbs (and flowers) and have a family blessing, and then incorporate some of our harvest of fruits and herbs into food and crafts.

One plant we have and enjoy is lavender, known as Mary's Drying Plant (rosemary has a similar title). One doesn't normally think of eating lavender, but the flower is edible. I thought a sugared lavender flower and lavender cookies would be an easy treat to make.

This recipe can be found in Herbs for Weddings & Other Celebrations by Bertha P. Reppert (first printed as A Bride's Herbal).

Lavender Sticks

12 stalks fresh lavender flowers
1 egg white, beat until frothy
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Cut just the flowers from the stalks. Dip the sprigs in beaten egg white. In a separate bowl then roll or dust on granulated sugar. Air-dry on waxed paper. Makes 1 dozen edible flowers.

I found several versions of Lavender Cookies in cookbooks, including Susan Branch's The Summer Book and the Internet, such as this recipe.

The variances are many, but generally I'm finding either shortbread, sugar, or butter cookie dough as the base for the recipes, then add lavender. Some call for dried flowers, other fresh. I think I would prefer using fresh flowers, rather than crunchier dried ones. For my son I was going to use an allergy free sugar cookie mix for my son and add some fresh lavender flowers. Having the cookies and edible flower bites would make a lovely dessert display, also perfect nibbling food for tea.

Or I may take an even simpler route, make a dessert (with icing) and decorate with flowers and herbs. All in the spirit of honoring Our Lady!

Our Lady assumed into heaven, pray for us! Pin It

Lily Sandwiches

Lily Sandwiches for Our Lady

( from Catholic Traditions)

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 2-3 TBSP milk
• 20 slices fresh white bread
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp paprika
• green pepper
• carrot

Combine and work into a paste the cheese, cream, salt, and paprika.

Remove crusts from bread. Roll into cornucopia shape by bringing two straight edges together and letting them overlap slightly. Hold the edges together with a little bit of the cheese mixture, pressing gently. Roll and chill the bread "lilies" before filling.

After sandwiches are filled with the cream cheese mixture, insert a thin strip of carrot for a stamen. Cut bell pepper into leaf shapes and attach a leaf to each sandwich with additional cheese.

Chill sandwiches until time to serve.

Yield: 20 finger Sandwiches

The lily of the valley is a symbol for the Blessed Virgin Mary because of its pure white flowers, sweet smell and humble appearance. It symbolized Mary’s Immaculate Conception and represents the purity of both body and soul by which Mary found favor with God.

We made these sandwiches for our afternoon snack on the Feast of the Annunciation. Other than the peppers, they were a hit with my children.
I thought they were pretty yummy too! I posted the rest of what we did to celebrate on my other blog, Shower of Roses.

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