Sweet Carmel Rosary

A very simple idea to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (July 16) is a rosary fashioned out of caramel bits. These cute and tasty caramel bits are a perfect rosary bead size - ready made. Just count out 59 caramel bits and arrange in rosary shape. I used some extra caramel to mold the cross and pressed a Marian medal into a flattened bead for the rosary center.  These caramel bits are made by Kraft and where available are sold in grocery store baking sections. You might have to look a few places to find them. I found these at Walmart.

Though this feast day is most associated with the scapular, the rosary is always fitting for a Marian feast day. On this special Marian feast day the family could say the rosary together then enjoy snacking on the beads. Alternatively, you could eat the beads as you go along.

Also, the rosary is a prominent feature hanging from the cinture of the Carmelite habit so is associated with the various Carmelite saints in images. This idea could be implemented on other feast days of the Carmelite saints, too.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Pray for us. 

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Trail Mix Variations for Rose Themed Saints

Last month I posted an idea for making a trail mix with a rose theme using this candy mold for mini roses.  

St. Elizabeth of Hungary variation which includes grains for the symbol of bread

The mix, which I made for St. Therese's (The Little Rose) feast day, would easily fit a variety of other feast days associated with the theme of roses. There are several saints associated with roses or have rose stories and a few feast days are coming up soon. While all would still have as a base the candy roses, I've compiled some ideas for ingredients which could be added to or substituted for other ingredients in trail mix recipes to make them more fitting symbolically for some of the other "rose" saints.

Our Lady of Guadalupe or St. Juan Diego (December 12, December 9)
Variations to add a Mexican flare:
~pecans - native to Mexico
~pine nuts - from Pinyon trees native to Mexico
~chocolate chips (or cocoa roses in addition to pink/red ones) since cocoa bean domestication originated in Mexico
~dried papaya, mango, or banana

St. Elizabeth of Hungary or St. Elizabeth of Portugal (November 17,  July 5)
Variations which include grains (since both of these saints stories are associated with bread and roses falling from their cloak):
~wheat chex
~rye crisps
~puffed wheat

St. Rose Philippine Duchesne (November 18)
Variations associated with the midwest and with the Native American tribe she ministered to:
~dried berries, seeds, and nuts - recalls typical food of the plains tribes
~corn nuts - corn is associated with Kansas where the spent time with the Potawatomi tribe

Our Lady of the Rosary (October 7)
Variations associated with Our Lady because of color or virtue of purity:
~dried blueberries - blue color associated w/ Our Lady
~coconut flakes - color symbolizes purity, Immaculate Conception
~white/light nuts like blanched almonds, cashew, macadamia - purity

St. Rose of Lima (August 23)
Variations to add Peruvian theme:
~dried papaya
~cancha - dried corn (is a Peruvian dried corn snack - recipe - or corn nuts could be used)
~cashew - nut native to S. America

St. Rita of Cascia (May 22)
Variation idea:
~figs or fig pieces (There is an old tradition that associates a miracle of roses and figs with St. Rita.)





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White Chocolate Rosary Cheesecake

While today's feast celebrates Our Lady of the Rosary, the entire month of October is dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary.  This idea adds drops of fruit sauce to the top to create a visual rosary. 

White Chocolate Rosary Cheesecake

Ingredients

1 graham cracker crust
12 oz. cream cheese (1 1/2 pkg.), softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 egg white
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
4 oz. white chocolate, chopped or 1 cup white chocolate chips
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Fruit sauce (prepared puree or pie filling could be used instead)

1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1 cup raspberries (or blueberries, strawberries, etc.)

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Sauce:
In a small saucepan, whisk together 1 Tbsp granulated sugar and cornstarch . Stir in water and add berries. Cook over medium heat whisking frequently, until mixture reaches a boil. Allow mixture to gently boil about 5 minutes whisking constantly and reducing temperature slightly if necessary to reduce splattering, until sauce has thickened. Remove from heat and force sauce through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl to remove seeds (skin, etc.), set aside.

Cheesecake:
In a large mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese and granulated sugar until fluffy, about 1 minute. Mix in egg and egg white. Add vanilla and lemon juice. Set mixture aside. Melt white chocolate with cream in a double boiler until melted and smooth, Add melted chocolate mixture to cream cheese mixture and blend until smooth.

Pour cheesecake mixture into the crust and spread evenly. The idea I had seen for adding shapes to the top of a cheesecake suggested using a clean medicine syringe. Fill with fruit sauce and begin to pipe small circles in a rosary pattern over cheesecake. It was more challenging than I thought to get uniform drops. Take a toothpick or sharp pointy move it through the center of each circle to connect “beads”.  Melted chocolate chips were used to make a cross. 

Bake cheesecake for 40 minutes. Turn oven off and leave cheesecake in the oven for 5 more minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Refrigerate for about 6 hours until fully set.

Our Lady of the Rosary, Pray for Us!

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For Those Sailing Related Saints - Taco Boats

I recently saw this new product from Old El Paso - Mini Soft Tortilla Taco Boats - and immediately thought of the uses for all the saints and feast days associated with boats and sailing (and there are many!).

Today's feast of Our Lady of the Pillar is connected to Christopher Columbus, the holiday also recognized today in the United States.  Under King Ferdinand of Aragon and his wife Queen Isabella, devotion to Nuestra Senora del Pilar (Our Lady of the Pillar) took on national importance in Spain. When Columbus embarked on his journey to find a sailing route to India, he placed the three ships under Mary's patronage. As the weeks dragged on and no land in sight, the sailors grew restless. Columbus' journal indicates he invoked Our Lady under this title, declared that if they did not see land by her feast day they would turn back. On October 12, 1492 the navigators spotted indications of approaching land - one of the islands of the Bahamas - which was named San Salvador when they landed.  Our Lady had interceded.

Today, in commemoration of Our Lady of the Pillar, and of the three ships - the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria - we enjoyed a dinner of taco ships.  These edible little boats can be filled with a variety of different fillings, made to your liking and specifications. Here they are filled with spiced ground beef, cheese, salsa and sour cream with a tortilla chip sail. Thought a "New World" Hispanic inspired meal with spices (Columbus' travels were intended to make it easy to reach the spices of far east.) would be fun. Made with or without a sail, can be a quick and ready made boat for a variety of saints and feast days.

Some ideas to consider:

• St. Brendan (May 16)- Called Brendan the Navigator, patron of mariners; it is said he sailed across the Atlantic in 6th century
• St. Nicholas (December 6) - patron of sailors and ships
• St. Elmo (Erasmus) (June 2) - patron of sailors, especially against sudden storms and lightening
• St. Raymond of Pennafort (January 7)- miraculous story of him sailing on cloak across the Balearic Sea after being barred from boarding a ship
• St. Catherine of Siena (April 29) - often pictured holding a ship (represents the Church)
• St. Anthony of Padua (June 13) - ended up in Italy because a storm forced a ship he was on in opposite direction and so he did not return to Portugal
• St. Jude Thaddeus [& Simon] (October 28) - often pictured holding a ship (represents the Church)
• St. Peter Gonzales (April 15) - sometimes also called St. Elmo, patron of Spanish and Portuguese sailors
• St. Francis Xavier (December 4) - known for his missionary travels to Asia, often pictured with ship
• St. Peter (June 29) - the title "Barque (ship) of St. Peter" often used for Catholic Church
• St. Paul (June 29, February 10) - known for his missionary travels by ship to spread the Gospel, shipwrecked
• Our Lady of the Rosary (October 7) - Naval battle of Lepanto: Christians victorious against great odds, feast of OL of the Rosary instituted after her intercession
• St. Frances Cabrini (November 13) - Immigrated to US on ship, story of her dropping violets in paper boats as a child who wished to be a missionary

Past posts with sailing themes: Deviled Egg Boats, Victory Vessel Potatoes, Sts. Peter and Paul Sailing Cupcakes, St. Paul Apple & Cheese Ships


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A Cupcake Rosary for Our Lady

The following post was submitted by Adoro Te Catholic Home Educators.  You can visit them on Facebook.  The girls in The Little Women’s Hospitality Club did an amazing job creating this Cupcake Rosary for Our Lady! 

Adoro Te Catholic Home Educators of Connecticut capped off their annual end-of-the-year May Crowning with a Rosary. A cupcake Rosary, that is. The 10-12 year old girls in The Little Women’s Hospitality Club (part of Catholic Children’s Clubs) baked dozens of fluffy “beads,” arranged the edible display, and served it to 100 hungry children and their moms.

Each cupcake was adorned with an image stamped in marshmallow fondant. The Hail Mary beads (standard-sized cupcakes) were baked in brown cupcake papers and stamped with a rose cookie mold from The Springerle Baker. The Our Father beads (baked in a Texas cupcake pan *) were stamped with a Greek cross surrounded by a Greek inscription that reads, “May the Blessings of the Lord be upon you.” We used a bread stamp from Prosphora Stamp Central.

The medal centerpiece was stamped with a Madonna and Child icon bread stamp, also from Prosphora Stamp Central, and baked in a Fat Daddio’s aluminum round cake pan. The crucifix was stamped with a Crucifixion springerle cookie mold from House on the Hill. It was baked in a rectangular Fat Daddio’s aluminum bread pan.

*Baking tip: To ensure straight, even crowns on your Texas cupcakes, place one cupcake pan on top of the other. Spray both pans with cooking spray and fill one pan ¾ of the way with batter. Invert the second pan and place it evenly atop the filled pan for baking.

The recipe for the marshmallow fondant can be found here.

Stamping marshmallow toppers: Dust your work surface and the stamp with powdered sugar. Roll out the marshmallow fondant like you would cookie dough. Press the stamp into the fondant, cut out design with a circle cutter, and remove the topper before stamping the next section of fondant. Be sure to dust your stamp every time you stamp the dough.
Use frosting to attach the topper to the cake.

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In Honor of the Most Holy Rosary :: An Edible Rosary Link-Up!

Since I had been asked to bring all the treats to serve after Mass this past Sunday, I decided this was the perfect opportunity to make another Cupcake Rosary!

This year we made our Cupcake Rosary with Pumpkin Cupcakes topped with Cream Cheese Frosting and added Fall themed Sprinkles to the tops of the Our Father "beads."   We also used a milk chocolate cross for the Crucifix.

Just like in the past, we'd LOVE to see any of your edible rosary creations made this year in honor of the Most Holy Rosary and the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, which was just celebrated on October 7th!

The linky will remain open through the end of the month.

Reminder: You have until midnight (PST) to enter our St. Therese Apron Giveaway, if you haven't already!

Regina Sanctissimi Rosarii, Ora pro nobis!

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Roses for Our Lady...

... on the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary!

"Roses for Our Lady" Lollipops

Supplies:

Wilton Rose and Buds Lollipop Mold

Wilton White Candy Melts

Blue Candy Decorating Pen

"Roses for Our Lady" Chocolate Covered Cookies

Supplies:

Wilton Flowers Cookie Candy Mold

Wilton White Candy Melts

Blue Candy Decorating Pen

Oreo Cookies 

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In Honor of the Most Holy Rosary

Our family has been enjoying making various versions of the "Cupcake Rosary" for the past few years. This year we made our first "full size" rosary to bring to our First Friday Mass & Craft Day last week, in honor of it being the month of the Most Holy Rosary.   Since it was also the feast of St. Therese, I topped each of the Hail Mary Cupcakes Beads with a Chocolate Rose, which was made with Wilton Red Candy Melts and the  Wilton Chocolate Mold - Roses in Bloom.

Just like in the past, we'd LOVE to see any of your edible rosary creations in honor of the Most Holy Rosary and the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary which is celebrated tomorrow, October 7th!   Please feel free to add a link to your post below, or you can also email a picture to be added to this post, if you do not have a blog.

The linky will remain open through the end of the month. 

Regina Sanctissimi Rosarii, Ora pro nobis!

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Pray, Eat, Love~The Rosary

Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary

~October 7th~

"To recite the Rosary is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ"
~ Pope John Paul II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 3

I know there is a movie and a book that came out with the title "Eat, Pray, Love." I have heard a bit about them but have not seen the movie or read the book. I couldn't help but use a similar play-on-words with this post! When we made these edible Rosary delights, followed by praying, eating, and loving, I thought about that recent movie and book title. The prayer came first, then we indulged in some "sweet" Rosaries. The love is automatic, both giving and receiving, when you pray the Rosary, right? Hence the title of Pray, Eat, Love~The Rosary.

For the Rosary Cake 

(Pictured Above)

We used mini M&M's for the 53 Hail Mary beads, as well as the beginning Our Father, Glory Be, and the Crucifix...

Then we used a regular-sized blue(for Our Lady) M&M to mark the 5 decades~

We are saying that the "M's" on the M&M's stand for Mary!

*A blue border around the cake also represents the color of our Blessed Mother*

Since October is dedicated to the Holy Rosary, we thought it appropriate to bring in some Autumn celebration at the same time!

Try this Autumn Candy Rosary

~Pray, Eat, & Love~

Now we're ready to pray, eat, & love...We just did all 3 right in one sitting!

This was the yummiest Rosary we've ever tasted and prayed at the same time...

Our family had a ball taking turns eating a candy after each prayer.

~ I know many of you have done the same thing with other versions of edible Rosaries ~

"The Rosary is a powerful weapon to put the demons to flight and to keep oneself from sin…If you desire peace in your hearts, in your homes, and in your country, assemble each evening to recite the Rosary. Let not even one day pass without praying it, no matter how burdened you may be with many cares and labors." Pope Pius XI

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Victory Vessels for the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary

Today is the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. It is named so because of the Battle of Lepanto which was a great Catholic victory over the Turks on this day back in 1571. Victory is said to have been achieved due to the faithful praying the Rosary. Many families celebrate this feast with a family rosary.

Maryan Vander Woude shares an absolutely fabulous recipe, in the Autumn edition of Faith and Family, for celebrating this feast. She quite creatively turns twice baked potatoes into darling sailing vessels reminding us of the Battle of Lepanto, the origin of this feast. More facts about the history of this feast are below...

Our Lady’s Victory Vessels

8 large baked potatoes
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup bacon bits (optional)
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup sour cream
2/3 cup milk
salt and pepper
white paper
3 skewers 10 toothpicks (cut in half)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake potatoes for 1 hour. When potatoes are done, allow them to cool for 10 minutes. Carefully cut off the top skin of the potato. Gently scoop the flesh into a mixing bowl. Set the potato shells on a tray. Mix all the ingredients except cheese and bacon. Fill the potato shells and top with cheese and bacon. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees until cheese melts.

Cut nine rectangular pieces of paper to put on the skewers in honor of Our Lady. Decorate the “sails” with blue crosses, rosaries, or other Marian symbols. Insert toothpicks in the “hull” of the potato as the oars — 10 on each side.

* Note: If you are pressed for time, just decorate a plain baked potato!

An Excerpt from "Our Lady and Islam" (Source: EWTN)

The Battle of Lepanto

On October 7, 1571, a great victory over the mighty Turkish fleet was won by Catholic naval forces primarily from Spain, Venice, and Genoa under the command of Don Juan of Austria. It was the last battle at sea between "oared" ships, which featured the most powerful navy in the world, a Moslem force with between 12,000 to 15,000 Christian slaves as rowers. The patchwork team of Catholic ships was powered by the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Knowing that the Christian forces were at a distinct material disadvantage, the holy pontiff, St. Pope Pius V called for all of Europe to pray the Rosary for victory. We know today that the victory was decisive, prevented the Islamic invasion of Europe, and evidenced the Hand of God working through Our Lady. At the hour of victory, St. Pope Pius V, who was hundreds of miles away at the Vatican, is said to have gotten up from a meeting, went over to a window, and exclaimed with supernatural radiance: "The Christian fleet is victorious!" and shed tears of thanksgiving to God.

What you may not know is that one of three admirals commanding the Catholic forces at Lepanto was Andrea Doria. He carried a small copy of Mexico's Our Lady of Guadalupe into battle. This image is now enshrined in the Church of San Stefano in Aveto, Italy. Not many know that at the Monastery of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Spain, one can view a huge warship lantern that was captured from the Moslems in the Battle of Lepanto. In Rome, look up to the ceiling of S. Maria in Aracoeli and behold decorations in gold taken from the Turkish galleys. In the Doges' Palace in Venice, Italy, one can witness a giant Islamic flag that is now a trophy from a vanquished Turkish ship from the Victory. At Saint Mary Major Basilica in Rome, close to the tomb of the great St. Pope Pius V, one was once able to view yet another Islamic flag from the Battle, until 1965, when it was returned to Istanbul in an intended friendly token of concord.

The Rosary

At Lepanto, the Victory over the Moslems was won by the faithful praying the Rosary. Even though they had superior numbers, the Turks really were overmatched. Blessed Padre Pio, the Spiritual Father of the Blue Army, said: "The Rosary is the weapon," and how right he was!

The Battle of Lepanto was at first celebrated liturgically as "Our Lady of Victory." Later, the feast of October 7th was renamed "Our Lady of the Rosary" and extended throughout the Universal Church by Pope Clement XI in 1716 (who canonized Pope Pius V in 1712).

And with that we are back to Fatima, Portugal where Our Lady, when asked her name, said: "I am the Lady of the Rosary." At Fatima, Our Lady taught us to pray the Rosary every day. Heaven presented its peace plan at Fatima and truly gave us hope for the world. Conversions were promised at Fatima: the conversion of sinners; the conversion of Russia; and what also appears to be the conversion of Islam.

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us!

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Cupcake Rosary

Tomorrow we celebrate the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary and the Feast of the Most Holy Rosary.

This feast was originally titled the feast of Our Lady of Victory, since "On Sunday 7 October 1571 combined Christian fleets under Don John of Austria achieved a significant naval victory over the Turks in the Straits of Lepanto. Thousands of Christians were liberated, the Turkish fleet was destroyed, and they suffered their first great defeat at sea. In gratitude to God and Our Lady, Pope Saint Pius V ordered an annual commemoration to be made of Our Lady of Victory. Pope Gregory XIII transferred the feast to the first Sunday of October with the title Most Holy Rosary since the victory was won through invocation of Our Lady of the Rosary. In the reform of the liturgy the feast was returned to its original day." (New Catholic Dictionary)

Awhile back, I ran across a suggestion (I am pretty sure it was from the 4Real Forums) for making a Cupcake Rosary! I thought it was such a great idea, and have been looking forward to giving it a try.

So, in honor of this Feast, we will be meeting a couple other families at the park tomorrow, to Pray the Rosary, color Charlotte's beautiful Our Lady of the Rosary Coloring Page, and eat our Cupcake Rosary!

To make the rosary, I used 6 regular size cupcakes frosted with White Frosting, and 53 mini strawberry cupcakes. I planned on frosting them, but was lazy decided not to after all. For the cross, I just cut one out of brown construction paper, but it would be really cute with a small cross cake, don't you think?


Other variations of the Cupcake Rosary:

• And these Thy Gifts made one with all regular sized cupcakes.


• Living Without School made a darling Cupcake Ring.


• Totus Tuus Family shares a beautiful Cupcake Rosary. I loved the idea of using cupcakes for the cross as well.


• Mary over at Our Domestic Church has been making the Cupcake Rosary for years and shares a darling picture as well! She made this particular rosary out of mini-muffins. Not only do you not need all those tiny little cupcake liners, it is a healthier option to follow up the desserts from last weeks celebrations!


• OH!! Don't miss Jamie's Marshmallow and Kisses Rosary!! I *LOVE* it and I know my kids would as well. What a perfect treat to go along with some hot cocoa on a rainy day. We will definitely be using this idea sometime this month!


• Another option is to make a "Finger Rosary" out of cupcakes. I love the little cross cake that this Catholic mom made. Very cute!


~ 2009 ~

• Anne shares their lovely rosary made from Marshmallows and Heart Shaped Cupcakes. It looks too pretty to eat!


• We also opted for Marshmallows this year, combining them with little Pecan Clusters and a Cross made from Hershey squares. You can see pictures over at Shower of Roses.


• I am constantly amazed by everyone's creativity! Head on over to Castle of the Immaculate to see Helen's unforgettable Rosary!


• Visit Cherished Hearts at Home to see Gae's lovely "Biscuit Rosary."

(If any of you have made (or make!) a Cupcake Rosary and posted/post about it, I would love to see pictures!! So please feel free to leave your link in the comments--or email me at catholiccuisine[at]gmail[dot]com, and I will add it to the list above!)

I hope you all have a wonderful feast!

Our Lady of the Rosary ~ Pray for Us!

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