Blessed John Paul II Cookies

This past weekend, as we were watching the Royal Wedding and decorating Crown Cookies, we decided to try and make some cookies to save for Sunday, in honor of the beautification of Pope John Paul II.  This idea was inspired by the Pope Benedict Cookies we made last year.

While my older boys read their favorite books about Pope John Paul II, Karol from Poland: The Life of Pope John Paul II for Children and Lolek - The Boy Who Became Pope John Paul II, to their younger siblings.  I cut out and baked the cookies using our St. Nicholas Cookie Cutter, removing the Miter so we could add Pope John Paul II's White Zucchetto, and modifying the staff to resemble Pope John Paul II's Crozier .   I also created a template inspired by this coloring page.   You can download my template at Scribd.  

We also used our favorite sugar cookie recipe, decorating them with Cookie Icing and Sprinkles.  I thought that they turned out pretty cute, and my children loved them!

 Blessed John Paul II, pray for us! 

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German Pancake for the Pope

This post was written by past Catholic Cuisine contributor Amy.

Saturday, April 16th, is Pope Benedict XVI's birthday!  So in order to fully appreciate our German pontiff's special day we are going all German.  Other than Brats for dinner we are going to have a German pancake for breakfast!

I adapted this from a recipe I found at Food Network a gazillion years ago.  I, of course, double it too since there are so many of us.

German Pancake

• 4 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 Tablespoons maple syrup ( you can also use sugar, but since we have someone who gave up refined sugar for Lent this works!)
• 1 cup milk
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1 cup of unbleached all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons shortening
• Powdered sugar (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  Place cast iron skillet in oven while preheating.

In a saucepan or in the microwave warm milk with butter over medium heat till butter melts (or almost, don't let the milk boil!).  Whisk together eggs, salt, syrup, warm milk, melted butter and vanilla.  Sift flour over wet mixture and whisk till smooth.

Remove cast iron from oven and place shortening in pan.  Using a brush cover all the sides and bottom with the shortening as it melts.  Pour in batter and bake for about 12 minutes.

Lower the heat to 350 degrees F and continue to bake till nice and golden brown, about 10 to 15 more minutes.

There it is in the oven, poofing away

When you take out of the oven run a knife along the edge of skillet and serve immediately.

You can serve it with fresh fruit syrup, jam or jelly, or maple syrup.  If desired shift powered sugar over the top!

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Holy Father Bavarian Birthday Dessert

Bavarian Sponge Cake

This sponge cake combines the Feast of St. Bernadette of Lourdes and the birthday of our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, who was born in Bavaria.

Ingredients:

Bavarian Sponge Cake 

(Found in Grocery Produce Department)

Spread with Greek Honey Yogurt

Add fresh blueberries in honor of Our Lady and St. Bernadette, whose Feast is also celebrated on April 16th.

Garnish with whipped cream around the edges.

Birthday Blessings, Dear Holy Father!

Almighty and everlasting God, have mercy upon Thy servant, Benedict, our Supreme Pontiff, and direct him, according to Thy loving-kindness, in the way of eternal salvation; that, of thy gift, he may ever desire that which is pleasing unto thee and may accomplish it with all his might. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen (Roman Ritual).

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Pope Benedict's Coat of Arms Cupcakes

Early this afternoon, I was trying to think of an easy treat to make my children today in honor of our beloved Holy Father's birthday. At first I thought I'd make something along the lines of Margaret's "Popecakes," but then I thought how easy it would be just to print out his Coat of Arms and make cupcake picks!

Ideally I would have liked to bake either White or Red Velvet Cupcakes, but I was sticking to what I had in the cupboard, so Chocolate Fudge it was.

For the frosting I made a Cream Cheese frosting (1 pkg cream cheese, 1/4 cup softened butter, 1 cup of powdered sugar, and 1/2 tsp of vanilla) and added some yellow food coloring to make it "gold."

I used this image (re-sized to 1 3/4") and printed 12 per page leaving room to fold the paper over the toothpick and glue together. I then trimmed the edges.

They were very simple to make, and despite not having white or red cake mix, I thought they turned out pretty cute!

Happy Birthday, Holy Father!!

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Pope John Paul II Feast

On May 18, 1920 Karol Wojtyla was born in Wadowice, Poland. Fifty-eight years later on October 16, 1978 he was elected the 264th Pope and took the name John Paul II. Pope John Paul II's pontificate was the second longest in history at twenty-seven years, second to Pius IX's thirty-one year reign. He was known as the pilgrim Pope visiting more than 100 countries and is generally acknowledged as the most well traveled world leader ever. Wherever our dearly loved Pope went his heart was in Poland. This jewel of Catholicism and culture has endured great hardship in the last century having been occupied by both Nazi's and Communists for most of the 20th Century. Through all of this unedurable persecution the faithful of Poland remained steadfastly Catholic and when their greatest son became the first Polish Pope they were well rewarded for their unwavering love of God. It is commonly believed that that event marked the fall of communism in Poland, a country at that time only held together by the Catholic Church. Today, as a tribute to our beloved John Paul the Great and the great people of Poland why not have a traditional Polish feast. We are blessed to live near a town with a large Polish community so I have access to several Polish deli's and grocery stores. That proximity to a Polish area isn't really necessary anymore. You can find excellent Polish sausage in most grocery stores and pierogies are readily available in most frozen food sections. However if you want to go traditional and do a nice meal from scratch it really isn't difficult. Polish food is hearty and easy to cook. It's also not for those overly concerned with their carb intake. However, you can always diet tomorrow, that's what Monday is for. Here is a traditional pierogi recipe

Potato and Cheese Filling
1		tablespoon grated onion
2		tablespoons butter
2		cups cold mashed potatoes
1		cup cottage cheese (or more)
		salt and pepper
Pierogi
2 1/2		cups flour
1/2		teaspoon salt
1		egg
2		teaspoons oil
3/4		cup warm water

	Potato and Cheese Filling: Cook the onion in butter until tender.
	Combine it with potatoes and cheese.
	Season to taste with salt and pepper.
	Vary the proportions and ingredients in this recipe to suit your taste.
	Mix the flour with the salt in a deep bowl.
	Add the egg, oil and water to make a medium soft dough.
	Knead on a floured board until the dough is smooth.
	Caution: Too much kneading will toughen the dough.
	Divide the dough into 2 parts.
	Cover and let stand for at least 10 minutes.
	Prepare the filling.
	The filling should be thick enough to hold its shape.
	Roll the dough quite thin on a floured board.
	Cut rounds with a large biscuit cutter, or the open end of a glass.
	Put the round in the palm of your hand.
	Place a spoonful of filling in it, fold over to form a half circle and press the edges together with the fingers.
	The edges should be free of filling.
	Be sure the edges are sealed well to prevent the filling from running out.
	Place the pierogi on a floured board or tea towel and then cover with another tea towel to prevent them from drying out.
	COOKING: Drop a few pierogies into a large quantity of rapidly boiling salted water.
	Do not attempt to cook too many at a time.
	Stir VERY gently with a wooden spoon to separate them and to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
	Continue boiling for 3-4 minutes.
	The cooling period will depend upon the size you made it, the thickness of the dough and the filling.
	Pierogies will be ready when they are puffed.
	Remove them with a perforated spoon or skimmer to a colander and drain thoroughly.
	Place in a deep dish, sprinkle generously with melted butter to prevent them from sticking.
	Cover and keep them hot until all are cooked.
	Serve in a large dish without piling or crowding them.
	Top with melted butter- chopped crisp bacon and/or chopped onions lightly browned in butter.
	REHEATING: One of the great things about pierogies, is that they can be made in large quantities, refrigerated, frozen and reheated without lost of quality.
	Many prefer reheated pierogies as compared to freshly boiled ones.
	To re-heat, you can: 1) pan fry pierogies in butter or bacon fat until they are light in color or, 2) heat the pierogies in the top of a double boiler or in the oven until they are hot and plump or, 3) deep fry them. Another great recipe which would make a nice lunch or light supper. Potatoes Baked with Egg and Cream

2 Tbsp melted butter 3 cups diced cooked potatoes 2 eggs beaten 1 cup sour cream 2 Tbsp of chopped chives salt and pepper to taste Pour the butter into the bottom of a baking dish. Cover the whole bottom of the dish. Add the potatoes to the dish. Mix the eggs and sour cream thoroughly and pour over the potatoes. Add the chives, salt and pepper. Bake in a 350 degree oven for one hour. Serve hot. This recipe doubles and triples nicely for a larger group as is it feeds 4-5 people. Another great dish that is easy to prepare is ... Golabki (Stuffed Cabbage)
Don't let the long ingredient list put you off, you probably have most of them in your pantry.

1 1 cabbage, center core removed
3 lb ground meat (turkey, beef or pork)
2 cups cooked white rice
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup tomato paste
2 cans crushed tomatoes
11/2 cups vegetable stock
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon parsley
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup butter
4 carrots, sliced
16 ounces mushrooms, quartered
2 bay leaves

Parboil cabbage in a large pot, removing leafs as they fall off into the water and are tender.
Cook till all leaves are tender, but not ripping apart; usually 15.
Run under cold water and drain.
Cut the thick membrane off back of each leaf.
While cabbage is cooking saute onion in butter until lightly browned.
Put all the uncooked meat into a large mixing bowl add eggs.
Add the sauted onions.
Next add salt pepper, celery salt, parsley, nutmeg, and Worcestershire sauce along with the cooked rice.
Mix it all up thoroughly.
Lay out leaves and depending upon their size, place 2-3 tablespoons of meat mixture on the wider side. Roll leaf up and over meat, tuck in sides of leaf, and continue to roll to use all leaves and stuffing. Place rolls, seam down into a greased roasting pan. Layer carrots and mushrooms over cabbage.
Mix together the tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, water and brown sugar and pour evenly over all the rolls.
Season with salt and pepper to taste and add bay leaves.
Cover roaster and bake 325 degrees for 2- 2&1/2 hours.
Half way through baking check to make sure there's enough liquid; additional water can be added. To serve, spoon sauce over rolls. Serve with Mashed potatoes!

I leave you with my favorite Pope John Paul II quote.

"Have no fear of moving into the unknown. Simply step out fearlessly knowing that I am with you, therefore no harm can befall you; all is very, very well. Do this in complete faith and confidence."

Have a blessed day.

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Zucchetto Cakes

This dessert to celebrate our dear Holy Father's birthday was really a happy accident that I just had to share! I wanted to steal Margaret's idea but I didn't have a muffin pan so I used one similar to this one to bake our German chocolate mini cakes in. We filled them with an easy (not necessarily authentic) Bavarian cream and poured a can of vanilla frosting on top. We are saving them to have after our brats (thanks Amy Caroline!) Happy Birthday, Papa! Pin It

Popecakes

If your looking for a dessert to go with those Brats, don't miss Margaret's recipe for Popecakes!

It may be a bit late to make these today, especially for those of you on the East coast, but these would really be perfect anytime this week as we celebrate our dear Holy Father's visit to the United States! Pin It

Birthday Dinner for Papa Ben!

This post was written by past Catholic Cuisine contributor Amy. 

Now that you have had your French breakfast in honor of Saint Bernadette, what for dinner? Well today is our beloved Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI’s 81st birthday. In honor of our Papa’s birthday how about a German dinner?

I am not going to give you any fancy recipes, because I tend to stick to the experts when it comes to foreign cooking. We were blessed to live in Germany for a few years and I learned from my sojourn there all about the Brat.

Bratwurst is a wonderful German sausage. I highly recommend getting them from a proper German butcher, if you are lucky enough to have one locally. If not, you must go with whatever you can find at the supermarket.

Brats are not like hot dogs. You don’t just pop them in the microwave for thirty seconds and voila, you have a meal. Now, Brats require some love and attention.

You must first boil some water. If you want to go all out you will boil them in beer! If you really really want to go all out you get German beer. But in honor of our German Pope coming to America, I am using Bud. You can do a mix of beer and water, which is my recommendation. You want more water than beer.

Now put your water and beer on the stove in a large pot. When it starts to boil (quick, because you do not want to know what happens to beer when it boils for any length of time, it is not pretty) take it off the heat, pop your Brats in there and cover for 20 minutes.

While this is happening heat up your griddle, nice and hot. You can also do this on the stove, but I like the even heat of a griddle. You could also barbeque, but that is so American… and also you will more likely burst the skin and burn your beloved sausage.

Butter.

Butter is very important. Do not spray with Pam. This is not healthy eating, so don’t pretend it is. Butter your griddle, till it is nice and shiny. Place Brats on the griddle. Once browned turn and brown the other side at well. Make sure there is enough butter to make the browning nice and lovely.

Ahhhhh....

I would highly recommend serving these on homemade bread, but you can get some crusty rolls from the supermarket and serve your Brats on that.

Now, this is another matter of contention. Where I lived in Germany (northern Bavaria) all you put on your Brat was spicy mustard. That is it. When we returned to the states however some people threw a little shindig for us and made Brats and served them with sauerkraut too. Which is divine. If you have to have ketchup… well, just don’t. Shame on you for even suggesting it.

There you go an authentic German Brat!

Happy Birthday, Our Beloved Pope!

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