St. Jerome and the Lion Cupcakes

At the end of each September, I love turning our leftover Michaelmas Cupcakes into the face of a lion for the kids to enjoy while we read the legend of St. Jerome and the Lion. You can find many options for today's feast listed in our September Book Basket over at Shower of Roses.

I shared this idea here in the archives many years ago but my children all agree that our newer lions look so much better. Here are some pictures from recent years!

Our 2015 Cupcakes • Original post at Shower of Roses

Our 2016 Cupcakes • Original Post at Shower of Roses

Our 2018 Cupcakes • Original post at Shower of Roses
Saint Jerome and the Lion from our out-of-print copy (The Neumann Press, 2000 Edition)
of Legends of Saints and Beasts by Ann Marie Jauss originally published in 1954.

+ + + 

"So valuable to heaven is the dignity of the human soul that every member of the human race has a guardian angel from the moment the person begins to be." - St. Jerome

The feast of the Holy Guardian Angels is coming up in a couple days! 

Recipes for celebrating can be found in the archives. 

St. Jerome, Ora Pro Nobis!

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A Lion Lunch for St. Mamas

I first learned about this obscure, to me, saint when we visited Spain a couple years ago. In the Basque region, near my relatives' town, there is a cave containing prehistoric paintings – Santimamiñe Cave. These cave paintings date from about 13,000 BC and include a range of animals such as bison, horses, deer, goats and brown bears.

The cave's name comes from a nearby chapel of Santimamiñe, which in the Basque language means San Mamés or St. Mamas (also St. Mammes), to whom the chapel is dedicated. I had not heard of him before, but the guide shared that he was a 3^rd century martyr, often pictured with a lion. 

He was orphaned at a young age – his parents killed for being Christians. He was a shepherd who was known to preach to the animals in the fields. It is told that St. Mamas was tortured for his faith by the governor of Caesarea and was then sent before the Roman Emperor Aurelian, who tortured him again. An angel then freed him and ordered him to hide himself on a mountain near Caesarea.  St. Mamas was later thrown to the lions, but managed to make the beasts docile. A lion is said to have remained with him as companion and protector. Accompanied by the lion, he visited Duke Alexander, who condemned him to death.

In Cyprus, there is the legend that he was a hermit and when soldiers were sent out and captured him, while on the way back to town, St. Mamas saw a lion attacking a lamb, escaped the soldiers, saved the lamb, jumped on the lion's back, and rode it into town. That is how he is often depicted in icons. 

He is the patron of Langres; babies who are breastfeeding; protector of sufferers from broken bones and hernias.

Pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela brought his cult into Spain and he is more well known there. A statue depicting San Mamés and a lion can be found in the Casa de la Misericordia in Bilbao, which was once the convent of San Mamés and whose current chapel holds a relic of the saint. The stadium that is home to the Athletic Club de Bilbao is called San Mamés Stadium, and players of that club are called the "lions of San Mamés" because their stadium was built near there.

So his feast day (August 17) can be a time to learn a little more about a saint that might be new to your family, too. Since St. Mamas is closely associated in pictures with a lion it is a feast day idea. Additionally, it was a medieval belief that the lion slept with its eyes open. For this reason, they also became a symbol of watchfulness. I came across this lion themed recipe and thought it would be a fun, savory lunch idea for children to add the the other lion themed recipes on Catholic Cuisine. It is made from spiral noodles in a red sauce, surrounding a circle of colby jack cheese. Add olives for the eyes and nose, with cheese triangle ears and pepperoni strip whiskers. Who can resist a pasta lion?

Other saints who are depicted with a lion are St. Mark, St. Jerome, St. Mary of Egypt, St. Paul the Hermit, St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Onuphrius, so this idea could be used at other feast days.

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St. Jerome and the Lion Cupcakes

St. Jerome and the Lion Cupcakes

11 leftover cupcakes from Michaelmas - frosted with a swirl of white and chocolate frosting

1 - 6" yellow cake - I ran out of frosting so I just trimmed off the top and flipped it over

3 Hershey Kisses for the eyes and nose and a little more chocolate frosting for the mouth

Quick and easy! 

Every year on September 30th my children pull our copy of St. Jerome and the Lion off the bookshelf.  This book is currently out of print,  but you may be able to find a copy at the library!  Cay Gibson has an excellent study guide to go along with it in her book Catholic Mosaic.  If you'd like to be entered to win a copy of Catholic Mosaic, hop on over to my other blog, Shower of Roses, and leave a comment!

Happy Feast of St. Jerome! 

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A Lion Sandwich & Snack on the Feast of St. Mark

"And round the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of man, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle." Revelation 4:6-7 

We made these cute and simple sandwiches for last year's "Heavenly Zoo Garden Party" inspired by Charlotte.  I'm planning on making them again today in honor of the feast of St. Mark, since he is symbolized by a winged lion.   Our sandwiches were just turkey and cheese, surrounded by shredded carrot.   Add a couple chocolate chips for the eyes and pipe on frosting for the mouth.  

I may also serve some Lion and Cheese Crackers, which I came up with for our 2011 Heavenly Zoo Garden Party.  This little guy was inspired by a Bear Cheese and Crackers Snack, to which I made a couple tiny modifications. Our Flower Silicone Cups worked great for his mane and the kids loved the cheese, crackers and olives. 

You can find other ideas for the feast of St. Mark in the archives. 

O Glorious St. Mark, through the grace of God our Father, you became a great Evangelist, preaching the Good News of Christ. May you help us to know Him well so that we may faithfully live our lives as followers of Christ. Amen.

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The Good Shepherd's Garden Party :: Week Seven

Well, with the celebration of Pentecost, the Easter season has come to an end and we had our very last Good Shepherd's Garden Party for this year, based on The Garden of the Good Shepherd: A Sticker Calendar to Count the Fifty Days of Easter.   This past week's Garden Party was based on the theme "The Heavenly Zoo!"

The Heavenly Zoo Menu Suggestions

Water
Deer Cupcakes
Lucky Lion Lemonade
Beehive Baked Pears
Pelican Toasties
Phoenix-Tail Shrimp

Dove Candy (for Day 50 ~ Pentecost Sunday) 

Decorating Ideas

Peacock Feathers
Water Fountain Centerpiece

First you can head over to Charlotte's blog, Waltzing Matilda, to see the pictures from her family's Good Shepherd's Garden Party ~ Week 7, including her "Lazy Lion Sandwiches!"

These cute little sandwiches would also be perfect for the feast days of any of the Saint's that are symbolized by a lion, including St. Mark, St. Leo the Great, and St. Jerome.  

You can also click over to Shower of Roses to see all of the pictures from Our Seventh Good Shepherd's Garden Party.  Pictured below is our "Peacock Cupcake."

The Peacock is also an ancient Christian symbol of the Resurrection.  It was once believed that the flesh of the peacock never corrupts, so peacocks became the classic symbol of immortality, and representations of them are found on the tombs of ancient Christians as an expression of their hope to follow Christ in His defeat of death. 

Now it's your turn!  How did you and your family celebrate this last 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.   Also, anyone who would like to share food related posts from this year's Pentecost Sunday celebrations are welcome to join as well!

THANK YOU to all of you who joined us in celebrating the Easter season with the Garden of the Good Shepherd!  It has been so much fun, and Charlotte and I have really enjoyed seeing how you all have adapted our plans for your own families!  

To Participate:

1. Create a post about your Good Shepherd's Garden Party or activities for the second week of Easter.  (Or any food related posts for Pentecost Sunday.)
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 remain open until next Monday.

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A Lion Cake for St. Mark's Feast Day

This Lion Cake was submitted by my friend Jacinta. She made it for her son's birthday, on the feast of St. Leo, but it would also be perfect for the upcoming feast of St. Mark, since he is often symbolized as a lion.  Thank you Jacinta!

Lion Cake

(recipe from Parenting Magazine)

Ingredients:

1 (9-inch) round cake
1 can (16 oz) vanilla frosting
Orange food coloring*
1 can (5 oz) crunchy chow-mein noodles
2 Junior Mints
1 small tube brown decorating icing
3 red Starburst or Jolly Rancher Fruit Chews
6 brown M&M's Minis
2 gummy peach-flavored rings [Note: there's no official name for this]

What you'll need:

A bread knife
A resealable sandwich-size bag (Ziploc)
A serving platter

*If you can't find orange food coloring, use a mixture of red and yellow food coloring to achieve the right color.


Trimming the cake:

1. Place the cake on a clean work surface. Using the bread knife, trim a 1 by 5-inch long piece on an angle from opposite sides of the cake to create the lion's jawline (see picture). Discard scraps. 

For the frosting:

1. Spoon 3 Tbsp of the untinted vanilla frosting into a resealable plastic bag. Add the food coloring to the remaining frosting to tint it orange.

Assembling the cake:

1. Place the cake on a serving platter. Spread the cake evenly with the orange frosting.
2. Poke the chow-mein noodles into the sides of the cake for the mane; insert more chow-mein noodles into a widow's-peak shape into the top 2 inches of the cake to create the lion's forehead.

For the face:

1. Snip a small corner from the bag of untinted vanilla frosting. Pipe two 1 ½-inch circles for the lion's eyes.
2. Place the Junior Mints onto the circles for the irises. Pipe a small dab of vanilla frosting on each Junior Mint to add sparkle to the eyes. Place a chow-mein noodle above each eye for the lion's eyebrows.
3. Using the brown decorating icing, pipe a W shape for the lion's mouth, as pictured.
4. Microwave the red Starburst for 2 to 3 seconds to soften slightly. Knead the Starburst together to make a 1 ½-inch triangle and place it in the center of the cake for the nose.
5. Add the M&M's Minis for freckles. To finish, lay the gummy peach rings on the upper left and right corners of the cake for the lion's ears.

You can also find the directions for making Lion Cupcakes and other foods in honor of St. Mark in the archives! 

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St. Mark Lion Pizza

Feast of St. Mark Lion Pizza

We made this pizza for the Feast of St. Mark but it would be great to use for St. Leo the Great or any other "roaring" occasion!

This was lion was very easy using a Take-N-Bake pizza.
Ingredients:
Take-N-Bake Cheese Pizza
1 C shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 C cooked sausage (for mane)
sliced mushroom (for nose)
8 slices pepperoni (for ears and eyes)
Small sliver of red bell pepper (for mouth)
2 sliced olives (for center of eyes)
Assemble ingredients like the picture below:
(Add shredded cheddar cheese over the mozzarella first)

Happy Feast of St. Mark!

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Memorial of St. Jerome, September 30

This is a busy week for popular feastdays, but I didn't want the memorial of St. Jerome to fall by the wayside. St. Jerome is a Doctor and Father of the Church, a very important saint in our Church history. He is most remembered for his translation of the Bible into the Latin Vulgate, which is still used today. His patronage list is more bookish in nature: archeologists, archivists, Bible scholars, librarians, students, and translators.

From My Nameday Come for Dessert by Helen McLoughlin:

Father: This is the faithful and wise servant whom the Lord has set over His household.

All: His posterity shall be mighty upon the earth; the righteous
generation shall be blessed.

Father: Let us pray. O God, may blessed Jerome intercede for us in
heaven as he once instructed Your faithful on earth and directed them in the way of eternal salvation. Through Christ, our Lord.

All: Amen. Christ conquers, Christ reigns!

The symbols of St. Jerome include a lion, a skull, and a book or scroll would also be appropriate.

As we're reading Margaret Hodges St. Jerome and the Lion and also Rummer Godden's book by the same title, lions will be roaring today. The cute lion cupcakes for St. Mark's feast day would be perfect for this feast. I think I can transform Devil's Food Cupcakes into a few lions.

My Nameday, Come for Dessert also mentioned making a lion cake for this feast. Her idea is based on the Cut-Up Cakes from Baker's Coconut, which I mentioned previously on St. Mark's feast day.

Book Cakes are also appropriate for Doctors and Fathers of the Church (for their writings), and Genoise Book Cake is a delicious sponge cake recipe. One could also use cake pans in the shape of a book. The white chocolate cake used for St. Gregory the Great can also be used for other book cake inspiration.

As far as the skull symbolism, you might not have time today, but it's a good reminder to order the materials to make Mexican Sugar Skulls for the Day of the Dead (All Souls Day) feasting, since it's in one month. Our family personally can't make these, unless someone has a substitute for meringue powder and egg whites. That is the glue to hold the sugar together, so it's indispensable. Please leave a comment if you know another way that we can avoid egg and still make those fabulous sugar skulls!

Enjoy the feast of St. Jerome. Think of him today and read a bit of Scripture, write those overdue thank-you notes or write a letter to a far-away friend.

St. Jerome, pray for us! Pin It

San Marco Pasta and Animal Cakes

I love all the ideas for St. Mark's feast day! Since Jessica had commented that so many of the recipes from Cooking with the Saints were complex, I thought I should put in a plug for this one recipe for St. Mark's Feast Day. I tried it two years ago, and mentioned it on my blog. This makes a lot of pasta and vegetables, so next time I would definitely cut back. If you're abstaining from meat, I'd either save this for Saturday or skip the chicken and make it a vegetarian feast. But it's really, really delicious!

Pasta San Marco

San Marco Sauce
3 Tbsp. olive oil
2 lb. chicken meat, skinned, boned, and cubed
1 medium onion, diced
2 large carrots, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1 Tbsp. garlic, minced
1 cup chicken stock
3 1/2 cups canned plum tomatoes
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. rosemary (I omitted)
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
cornstarch (optional, for thickening)

Pasta
1 1/2 lb. fettuccine (we use Tinkyada rice pasta because of food allergies)
1 Tbsp. olive oil

Vegetables
1 medium green pepper, cut in julienne strips
1 medium red pepper, cut in julienne strips
2 cups broccoli florets (approx. 2 broccoli crowns)
1-2 medium zucchini, sliced
1-2 medium yellow squash, sliced
3 Tbsp. olive oil

Preheat large, heavy skillet with tight-fitting lid, or large heavy pot with lid, over moderate high heat and add oil. Add chicken to pan when oil is fragrant and sauté, stirring and turning frequently for 5 minutes until browned on all sides. Add onions, carrots, and celery and sauté until onion becomes translucent. Add garlic and sauté for half a minute. Add chicken stock and loosen ingredients off the bottom of pan. Add final ingredients, stir and put on gentle simmer and cover for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The chicken should be tender, but not soft. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta. When finished, add olive oil and toss to prevent it from sticking.

Prepare the vegetables, julienne strips for the peppers, small florets for the broccoli, 1/4 inch thick slices and halved for the yellow squash and zucchini. Add olive oil to a heavy saucepan and sauté the vegetables until just crisp-tender.

Mix together pasta, sautéed vegetables and sauce in large bowl and serve promptly.

This should feed about 8 people.

I don't limit myself to the actual feast day for celebrating with food. Sometimes we can't always do it all in one day, but if it's an important feast day, or if it's enjoyed by my son, we spread out the celebration and discussion. And even my favorite cookbook author, Florence Berger mentioned how she saves a recipe for later in the year.

The lion cupcakes are so cute! To continue the lion theme or finding other animal cakes for other feasts (and perhaps a retro adventure), first see Helen McLoughlin's Lion Cake from her book, My Nameday, Come for Dessert. It wasn't until much later that I realized that the ideas for her cut-up cakes came from Baker's Coconut little booklets, such as this one, Animal Cut-Up Cakes. I love the idea of cutting up a cake to make unique creations (very frugal and creative), but I'll hold back on the coconut.

Tradition has said that the young man in St. Mark's Gospel that flees from the Garden when Jesus was arrested was actually St. Mark. Now how to incorporate clothing in the dinner menu? ;-) Pin It

Cupcakes for St. Mark's Feast Day

It is very exciting to be part of this blog - which is a fabulous resource for celebrating the liturgical year in our homes and kitchens. Thank you to Jessica for making this idea a reality and thank you for inviting me to contribute.

Jessica mentioned the lamb cupcakes for the Annunciation being part of an "in like a lion out like a lamb" set from Martha Stewart. So to keep the set together here is another chance to convert it to a liturgical year theme. How about some lion cupcakes to celebrate the Feast of St. Mark - evangelist, apostle, martyr (April 25).

St. Mark is often pictured with a lion, particularly a winged lion. Tradition has long connected the authors of the Gospels with the four creatures in Ezekiel and Revelation. St. Mark is represented by the winged lion because Mark's gospel begins with the description of John the Baptist as a "voice of one crying out in the desert" and because he presents the Lord as the unconquered King. So to incorporate this symbol into a feast day celebration you could try some lion cupcakes. You could use the lion paired with the lamb from Martha Stewart , but we opted for these caramel corn lions since we are not big coconut fans. The cupcake lions could also be used for the Feast of St. Jerome (Sept. 30) or if reading Daniel and the lion's den.

Make cupcakes in the flavor of your choice. We used butter cream frosting with a slight tint of brown food coloring for a golden colored frosting. Molasses could also be used to achieve the coloring. Frost cupcakes and pipe on eyes and mouth with a darker brown or chocolate frosting. Circle each cupcake with caramel corn to make the mane.

You can purchase pre-made caramel corn or use this easy (and delicious) recipe to make your own. I was thinking the recipe could be used again for the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (okay, it's a stretch, I admit).

Caramel Corn Recipe

2 1/2 qts. popped corn

1/4 c. corn syrup

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. butter

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. baking soda

1 t. vanilla

Cook syrup, brown sugar, butter, and salt in microwave, on high for 2 minutes, stir once. Add baking soda and vanilla. Stir well. Place popcorn in a large brown bag; pour syrup mixture over popcorn, stir a with wooden spoon. Roll up top of bag and put in microwave. Cook on high for 1 minute. Shake and repeat (but shake after first 30 seconds).

HT: Michaela

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