St. Anne Thimble & Thread Pasta in Chicken Noodle Soup

There are two types of pasta I found whose names are associated with sewing in some way – ditalini and filini.

Ditalini is short tube pasta which means “little thimble.” It is a common soup pasta, typically found in minestrone.  I found it fun that this pasta is also sometimes called Ave Maria or Pater noster, as that was about the amount of time it needed to cook the pasta – the time it would take to say that prayer.  Filini is a very thin, small cut strand pasta. The name in Italian literally means “small strands” (or threads).  These are best for light, broth based soups or cooking with rice.  In the United States we usually find it packaged as fideo. 

Today, July 26, is the memorial of St. Anne and St. Joachim the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Since St. Anne is the patron of sewing and seamstresses, it would be fitting to make something using the “sewing” named pastas – “Thimbles and Threads”.

St. Clare of Assisi is the patroness of embroidery and needlework. Assisi is known for its beautiful needlework and embroidery and “Assisi embroidery” is a distinct type of cross-stitch.  Clare would have learned this skill herself as a girl. So her feast day, August 11 would be another opportunity to make this dish as well. And since the BVM is a patron of sewing as well, so any of her feast days, I would include, too.

Since they are both soup pastas I was looking for a broth based soup to use a combo of these two pastas and I decided on chicken noodle – a basic staple soup associated with comfort and healing.

Chicken Noodle Soup

½ cup chopped celery
¼ cup chopped onions
4 cans chicken broth
½ pound cooked chicken, chopped
1 cup diced carrots
½ t. basil
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
1 ½ cup of pasta

In large pot sauté onion and celery in olive oil for 5 minutes. Add broth, chicken, and herbs/spices. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer for 20-30 minutes. Add dry pasta when close to serving. Needs to cook for 5-8 minutes until tender. Serve.

St. Anne, pray for us!

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Canonization of Zelie and Louis Martin - Parmesan Lace Bowls

With the canonization this upcoming weekend (October 18, 2015) of Bl. Zelie and Louis Martin I was looking at additional ideas to add to the celebration. In previous posts, I suggested a couple recipes that were lace-themed because of Zelie's profession as a lace maker in the French region of Alencon. These quick and easy lacy-looking Parmesan bowls are a fun and delicious addition to the collection of "lace" foods. They make for a lovely presentation and are also edible!

Frico, or "little trifles" in Italian, are very thin and crisp disks made from small mounds of grated Parmesan, melted and cooled. They can be left as flat disks or formed into delicious edible bowls for a filling of salad, marinated vegetables, fruit, custard, or pasta.

Frico - Parmesan Bowls

Ingredients:

2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Chilled salad of choice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place oven rack in middle of oven. Dump 1/3 cup cheese onto greased or silicone mat lined baking sheet. Spread into 5-6 inch circles. Put in oven and allow to brown in the oven for 8-10 minutes, until golden.

Working with one round at a time, quickly transfer cheese with a thin spatula to an inverted custard cup or small bowl. Repeat with the next cheese round. Cool completely, and then remove carefully.  It is suggested that you bake only 2 or 3 at a time so that you can transfer and form them quickly before they cool too much.

Let Parmesan bowls cool about 5 minutes before removing from flipped bowl. Makes approximately 6 bowls depending on desired size and consistency.

Divide prepared salad among the Parmesan bowls and serve.  As mentioned, the bowls can also be filled with fruit, custard, whipped cheeses, etc. Using a smaller amount of cheese can be made into appetizer sized bowls. I saw some recipes forming the bowl over a cork end, so that would be the size.

Bl. Zelie Martin, Pray for us.

Bl. Louis Martin, Pray for us.

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Lace Cookie Bowls for St. Anne

As mentioned in the previous Florentine Lace Cookie post, there are numerous saints associated with lacemaking. Those saints who are listed as patrons of lacemaking and or lacemakers includes:

• St. Anne
• St. Catherine of Alexandria
• St. Crispin
• St. Elizabeth of Hungary
• St. Francis of Assisi
• St. John Regis
• St. Luke
• St. Therese
• St. Zelie Martin

Since today is the feast of St. Anne, I am offering a variation on the lace cookies - Lace Cookie Bowls. These delicate and tasty edible bowls are great for fruit or ice cream.

Follow recipe for making the florentine cookie dough from earlier post. In the previous recipe for smaller cookies, small balls were formed. In order to make the lace cookie bowls you need to form much larger balls of dough - approx. 2 inch in diameter.   Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper, 2 or 3 to a tray as they will spread a lot.

Place in preheated oven - 350 degrees. Bake 1 pan at a time, until the cookies are thin and an even golden brown color throughout, rotating pans halfway through baking time, about 10-12 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for a few minutes until they can be handled. They need to be cool enough to remove from tray but not yet have hardened. While still soft place over a small inverted bowl and press down to form bowl shape.  Let cool until hardened.

Filled with ice cream these are a refreshing treat for a mid-summer feast day. While we used chocolate because it was what I had on hand, another great ice cream choice would be spumoni, which includes both a red (cherry) and green (pistachio) color - the colors associated with St. Anne.  Or any red/green combination - like strawberry ice cream with a sprig of mint or green tea ice cream with fresh raspberries on top. There are many fun and refreshing combinations in those colors.

Enjoy!

Dear Saint Anne, we know nothing about you except your name. But you gave us the Mother of God who called herself handmaid of the Lord. In your home, you raised the Queen of Heaven and you are rightly the model of homemakers. In your womb came to dwell the new Eve, uniquely conceived without sin. Intercede for us that we too may remain free from sins. Amen.

St. Anne, Pray for Us.

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The Lace Cookie - Florentines

With the recent feast of Sts. Zelie and Louis Martin I shared the connection to the lace and lace making. Lace is such a beautiful and delicate textile art and the look can translate to the kitchen to some degree.

July 13 is the anniversary date of Sts. Zelie and Louis Martin and follows their feast day by one day. So since we are still thinking about the Martins, I am adding an additional lace themed treat idea for today. The florentine is a a cookie commonly called lace cookie because of the natural lacy open hole appearance it gets while baking. There are variations on the cookie but the traditional one is almond or other nut based. Candied fruit, coconut, oats are sometimes used in the variations. Sometimes just a honey/sugar and butter base such as these here.

Florentines

1 3/4 cups sliced, blanched almonds (about 5 ounces)
3 tablespoons flour
finely grated zest of 1 orange
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cream
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
5 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pulse the almonds in a food processor until finely chopped, but not pasty. Stir together the almonds, flour, zest and salt in a bowl.

Put the sugar, cream, corn syrup and butter in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a rolling boil and sugar is completely dissolved. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Add sugar mixture to almond mixture and stir just to combine. Cool for 30 minutes.

Scoop rounded teaspoons (for 3-inch cookies) or rounded tablespoons (for 6-inch cookies) of batter and roll into balls. Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper, leaving about 3 to 4 inches between each cookie. They will spread considerably in oven.

Place in preheated oven - 350 degrees. Bake 1 pan at a time, until the cookies are thin and an even golden brown color throughout, rotating pans halfway through baking time, about 10 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool.

You can serve plain or drizzle with chocolate. You can also put a filling (jam, cream, chocolate, ice cream) between two cookies for a sandwich style. 

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Saint Zélie Martin Lace Effect Sugar Cookies

“The good God gave me a father and mother more worthy of Heaven than of earth.”

Written by St. Thérèse of Lisieux of her parents, Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, who married on July 13, 1858 and whose feast is celebrated today, July 12.

The couple were married for nineteen years before Zélie’s death from breast cancer in 1877. They created a close, caring, family home, where love of God and neighbor were taught and practiced. It was in and by marriage that Louis and Zelie were to gain their own sanctification and set a heroic example for others. Their example illustrates how marriage can be a starting point of the journey to holiness made in the company of a spouse.  St. Louis Martin and St. Zélie Martin were canonized as a couple in October 2015. First time in history that a married couple has been canonized together.

Marie Azelia (known as Zélie) Guerin was born near Alencon France in 1831. This is an area of France renowned for its beautiful lace making.  Zélie was an accomplished lace maker in the tradition and style of the region.  After she married Louis Martin in 1858, they settled in Alencon and conducted their businesses where Louis took on the business management of Zélie’s lace making enterprise.  An example of her beautiful lace can be seen here. 

This is a simple idea to incorporate a touch of subtle lace effect into a cookie for the feast day. Using any sugar cookie recipe, just roll out the dough and cut out basic shaped cookies. Keep the dough a little thicker than you would normally when you cut the cookie as you will be pressing down lace and it will flatten slightly. Place a lace or crochet doily (or any piece of lace with large, deep design would work) over the cookie dough and roll gently but with enough pressure to press the design into the dough. 

Remove lace, place cookies on baking sheet and bake until golden.

As mentioned any sugar cookie recipe (or even pre-prepared refrigerator brands) could be used. If you are looking for a good sugar cookie recipe, I like this one from a Midwest parish cookbook.

Sugar Cookie Dough Recipe

• 2 ¾ C. sifted flour
• 1 t. baking powder
• ½ t. salt
• ¾ C. butter or margarine
• 1 C. white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 t. vanilla

Put softened margarine in large bowl of mixer. Add sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat until mixture is light and fluffy. Mix in flour, baking powder, and salt. Blend until smooth. Chill at least one hour. Roll small amount of dough at a time on floured board. Cut into desired shapes. Put on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

While St. Zélie was specifically a lacemaker by trade, there are numerous saints who are listed as patrons for lacemaking and lacemakers. These cookies would be a fitting addition for a treat on any of their feast days. 

St. Zelie, Pray for Us!

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St. Anne's Day Dessert Fruit Pizza

Through the ages she {St. Anne} has been depicted wearing a green mantle and a red dress, colors symbolic of immortality and divine love.  Rev. Edgar Schmiedler in "Your Home: A Church in Miniature" mentions the custom in Louisiana of children of French extraction named Anne wearing red and green ribbons in her honor. These are colors to bear in mind for party decorations on her feast. There is no need to look "Christmasy" by using equal amounts; rather, use cool green for the main color scheme with accents of red. ~ My Nameday - Come for Dessert

This year, in honor of today's feast of St. Anne, we my oldest daughter made a Dessert Fruit Pizza covered with "Red and Green Fruit Ribbons" to celebrate, just like Lisa made last year!  Here's our recipe, adapted from Pampered Chef:

Dessert Fruit Pizza

Ingredients:

• 1 package (18 ounces) refrigerated sugar cookie dough
• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 4 cups assorted red and green fresh fruit such as strawberries, raspberries, kiwi, green grapes, etc

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F. Place dough on round baking stone and cook 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool. For topping, combine cream cheese and sugar and spread over cookie dough, then start placing on the fruit.

Family Prayer on the Feast of St. Anne:

Father: We all rejoice in the Lord, 

As we keep holiday in honor of blessed Anne, 

Of her whose feast fills angels with joy, 

And sets them praising the Son of God. 

All: Amen. 

Father: Spotless Anna, Juda's glory, 

Through the Church from East to West 

Every tongue proclaims thy praises, 

Holy Mary's mother blessed. 

All: From thy stem in beauty budded 

Ancient Jesse's mystic rod; 

Birth from thee received the Mother 

Of the almighty Son of God 

Father: Let us pray. O God, You were pleased to bestow Your grace upon Anne so that she might fitly become the mother of her who was to bear Your only-begotten Son; grant that we who keep her feast will be helped by her protection. Through Christ, our Lord. 

All: Amen. Christ conquers, Christ reigns!

Sts. Joachim and Anne, Pray for Us! 

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A is for St Anne and for Apple Tart

France, the 'Eldest Daughter of the Church' has always had a special connection to St Anne, since it's earliest days.  If you have ever watched the 4 part documentary Eldest Daughter of the Church (which I high recommend) you will see it begins with St Anne ~ her venerable body being carefully transported from the persecution in the Holy Land, in a boat with Sts Lazarus, Mary Magdalen, Martha and other notable New Testament people.  They have been cast out by their persecutors into a boat with no oars and by the grace of God, arrival safely to the shores of France.  This country was to be the final resting place for St Anne and devotion has spread out from there to all parts of the world, notably Canada, where her greatest shrine stands, in La Côte-de-Beaupré.

Since St Anne's feast day falls in height of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, where fruit is abundant and enjoyed, it comes as no surprise that fruit tarts are a tradition for her feast.  There would be great spiritual symbolism as well, St Anne is the 'fruitful, flowering vine of Jesse' and Mary is the Immaculate  'fruit of her womb'.  Her tomb in Apt, France had been engraved with this symbolism as Frances Parkinson Keyes points out in her book, "St Anne, Grandmother of Our Saviour":

"This design is still visible, in exacly the same form wherein it was graven so many centuries ago. It consists of the flowering branch of a tree, interlaced with a vine bearing both foliage and grapes. To look at it is an experience so moving that, months after gazing at it, this chronicler finds it impossible even to write of it without profound emotion. For it reveals, unmistakably, that when the stone slab was carved, even as now, men and women were reverently reciting the litany which begins:

"St Anne, Grandmother of our Saviour, pray for us." And continues: "St Anne, Root of Jesse, St Anne, Fruitful Vine....pray for us."

St Anne's tomb engraving.

So I have made for my family today a fruit tart ~ an apple tart.  Apple is a very good choice of fruit for St Anne because Eve in the Garden of Eden, corrupted the apple, whereas Mary is the 'new Eve' who restores what is corrupted and Mary is the fruit of St Anne's womb..I think of the typology of the two Eves and think ~ apple.  

I wanted something that was delicious and healthy.   So I found a lovely recipe that is gluten-free with minimal sugar, using hazelnut meal for the crust/base and agave nectar and apple cider with the apple filling.  My husband said, 'well I really enjoyed that', so I think it is a good recipe, just the perfect amount of sweetness and worth trying.  The recipe was adapted by Tamara Duker Freuman at her website here.

APPLE HAZELNUT TART

Flourless Hazelnut Tart Crust

1.5 cup Hazelnut Meal

6 Tbsp of powdered sugar (I used rapadura)

2 Tbsp of butter at room temp 

1 1/2 Tbsp of cream

I just kneaded the ingredients together, popped the bowl in the fridge for 15mins, then pressed the dough into 9" tart dish.  I pre-baked the pie crust in the oven at 375 degrees (for Australia, that would be 190 degrees), for about 5mins or so and then removed it from the oven, ready to fill with the apple filling

Apple Filling

2 lbs (1 kg) Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled and sliced into 1/2" wedges

1/4 cup agave nectar

3/4 cup apple cider

I placed the apple slices into a large frypan, drizzled the agave nectar over the apples and poured in the apple cider.    I popped the lid on the frypan and let the apples cook for about 10-15mins (the time depends on whether you want the shape of the slices kept or you are happy to to let the apple go to mush ~ I did the later).  I then removed the lid and let all the liquid evaporate and then spooned the filling into the tart dish.

I then put the tart into the oven at the same temperature as before and cooked for 25-30mins.  Once out of the oven, I let it cool so that it was mildly warm and served with whipped cream.  I cut the pie to serve 8.

Happy St Anne's Day!

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Watermelon Cupcakes for the Feast of St. Anne

Last month my girls made these cupcakes for the first time.  With the feast of St. Anne coming up on July 26th, I thought I would share the recipe here at Catholic Cuisine, continuing the Watermelon Theme for St. Anne's feast day which was originally inspired by Charlotte and her girls!

Watermelon Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 box white cake mix or your own white cupcake recipe
1 cup boiling water
1 small box of watermelon flavored Jell-O or any red colored Jell-O
1 8oz container of Cool Whip, thawed
red & green liquid food coloring
mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Make your own Cupcakes from scratch or using a boxed mix. Use cupcake liners. Cool cupcakes.

Stir boiling water into powdered Jell-O until dissolved. Pierce tops of cupcakes several times with a meat fork or straw.

Spoon Jell-O over cupcakes, making sure that the liquid is going down into the holes.

Refrigerate 30 min. Remove from pans.

Tint Cool Whip with red and green food coloring.

Using plastic baggies to hold the whipped topping, pipe a green circle around the outside rim of each cupcake.

Fill the middle with pink whipped topping.

Add mini chocolate chips to represent watermelon seeds.

Store in refrigerator. Best if eaten the same day.

Additional Recipes for the Feast of St. Anne can be found in the archives! 

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Mum Cupcakes

Since the month of May is dedicated to our Blessed Mother, and with Mother's Day coming up this weekend, I thought I would share the directions for these cupcakes, which we recently made at our last Little Flowers Girls' Club Meeting based on the virtue of Responsibility and St. Anne, Mary's Mum!   They were very easy to make, though they did take a little bit of time to assemble.  The girls all had so much fun making each of their cupcakes.  I thought they all turned out beautiful and were worth the time!  

Mum Cupcakes

inspired by What's New, Cupcake?: Ingeniously Simple Designs for Every Occasion

Ingredients:

Cupcakes
Light Colored Frosting (I used a cream cheese frosting)
Colored Sanding Sugars
Mini Marshmallows (you can use the pastel colored ones or plain white)
Licorice Pastels (I couldn't find this candy so I skipped these)
Green Licorice Twists (I used a couple packages of Rainbow Twizzlers)

Directions:

Bake the cupcakes and allow them to cool completely before topping each with a thin layer of frosting.

Use a separate bowl for each color of sanding sugar you plan to use (this will also allow you to save any extra for future use). Make the petals for the cupcakes by cutting mini marshmallows in half on the diagonal. The authors suggest 22 mini marshmallows for each cupcake. Depending on how big your marshmallows are and how closely you space the petals, you may need more or less. I used white mini marshmallows, but depending on the colored sugars you are using the pastel colored marshmallows would be very pretty as well. Once you've cut the marshmallows, press the cut side (it will be sticky) into the sugar to coat.

Starting along the outside edge of the cupcake, arrange like-colored marshmallow petals with the sugared sides up. Go all the way around the outside edge then move in and create another row of the same colored marshmallows inside the first. Continue until you've almost completely covered the cupcake. Repeat to cover all of your cupcakes with the marshmallows.

I skipped this step, but if you are using the licorice pastels, insert 5 like-colored ones into the center of each cupcake as stamens. I just used extra marshmallows to cover the entire cupcake since I forgot to buy the licorice pastels. Arrange the flower cupcakes on a serving platter and trim the green licorice twists to look like stems for the flowers.

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Watermelon Pie for the Feast of St. Anne

Last year Charlotte shared a great post with recipes for Watermelon Cookies and Lemonade in honor of the traditional colors of St. Anne.   According to My nameday--come for dessert (You can find the whole book online here),  St. Anne "is often shown in art teaching Our Lady to read the Scriptures. Through the ages she has been depicted wearing a green mantle and a red dress, colors symbolic of immortality and divine love. Rev. Edgar Schmiedler in "Your Home: A Church in Miniature" mentions the custom in Louisiana of children of French extraction named Anne wearing red and green ribbons in her honor. These are colors to bear in mind for party decorations on her feast. There is no need to look "Christmasy" by using equal amounts; rather, use cool green for the main color scheme with accents of red."

So, inspired by Charlotte and a recipe I ran across last year at Make and Takes, we just finished preparing a "Watermelon Pie" to celebrate the feast of St. Anne tomorrow!    I am still currently without a kitchen, and probably will be for another month or so, but this recipe didn't require any baking and was quite easy to make.   Not to mention in turned out super cute.  Here's the recipe:

Watermelon Pie

Ingredients:

•  Key Lime Sherbet

•  Vanilla ice cream or Pineapple sherbet

•  Red/Pink-colored sherbet

•  Mini chocolate chips

Note:  Let the sherbet/ice cream soften for a few minutes before preparing the pie.  

Directions:

1.  Using a round springform pan (You may want to line the bottom of the pan with wax paper or parchment paper if you plan to transfer the entire “pie” to another dish before serving),  start with the lime, spread a ring of sherbet around the edge of the springform pan – about 2 inches high and about 1-2 inches wide from the outside edge of the pan.  Put pan in freezer to harden lime layer.

Mine was a good two inches and next time I plan to make it closer to 1" wide... I guess I was leaning towards using "cool green for the main color scheme with accents of red." ;)  

2.   Spread a ring of Vanilla Ice Cream inside the lime ring, but make the layer much thinner – maybe 1/2 inch. Use a butter knife to flatten the top, even-ing out the lime with the vanilla. Put pan in freezer to harden again.

3.  Mix the mini chocolate chips into the red sherbet.  (I wasn't able to find red/raspberry sherbet so I bought a berry rainbow and added a bit more red food coloring along with the mini chocolate chips.)

4. Fill the center of the pie with the red/chocolate chip sherbet.

5. Flatten the top of the pie with a butter knife and then freeze.

6. When it’s time to eat, run a knife around the edge of the pan before popping off the outside of the springform pan. Use a nice thin-blade knife to slice.

You can find more ideas for celebrating the feast of St. Anne in the archives!

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St Anne, "Flowering, Fruitful Rod of Jesse"

This year for St Anne's feastday we have a beautiful theme of 'The Flowering Rod of Jesse". It is an ancient title connected to Our Lady as well as St Anne.

St Anne's body was removed from Jerusalem when Lazarus, Mary Magdalene and Martha were cast out upon the Mediterranean Sea without oars by the Jews who were persecuting the very early Christians. They were miraculously guided to the shores of France and there St Anne's body was eventually hidden in the town of Apt until it's miraculous discovery by Charlemagne.

Here is a quote from the book, St Anne, Grandmother of Our Saviour about what ancient symbol was found near the body of St Anne:

"St Anne's body was then placed in an opening in the wall excavated from a subterranean gallery known as the Antrum Antiquum, which had originally been a branch of the catacombs. It was reached by a short flight of steps and hedged in by the cathedral ramparts. This wall opening, which would now become an ossuary, would be sealed in and not marked in any way; but on that part of the passage ceiling which was directly beside it a design would be carved, intelligible only to the initiate.

This design is still visible, in exacly the same form wherein it was graven so many centuries ago. It consists of the flowering branch of a tree, interlaced with a vine bearing both foliage and grapes. To look at it is an experience so moving that, months after gazing at it, this chronicler finds it impossible even to write of it without profound emotion. For it reveals, unmistakably, that when the stone slab was carved, even as now, men and women were reverently reciting the litany which begins:

"St Anne, Grandmother of our Saviour, pray for us."

And continues: "St Ane, Root of Jesse, St Anne, Fruitful Vine....pray for us."

The fruitful vine carved into the ceiling above St Anne's body in Apt. (in photo below)

Personally, we require no further confirmation of our belief that this became St Anne's last resting place. But to the doubting Thomas-or Thomasne, as the case may be - has only to look at the slab beside the one which shows the root of Jesse and the fruitful vine."

In the book, My Nameday: Come for Dessert (pg 198) Helen McLoughlin draws upon this ancient title connected to St Anne where she suggests a cake, maybe in the shape of a book with an image of the 'flowering rod' on the front. Helen also goes on to share this beautiful table prayer below:

Father: We all rejoice in the Lord. As we keep holiday in honour of blessed Anne. Of her whose feast fills angels with joy, And sets them praising the Son of God.

All: Amen

Father: Spotless Anna, Juda's glory, Through the Church from East to West, Every tongue proclaims they praises, Holy Mary's mother blessed.

All: From thy stem in beauty budded Ancient Jesse's mystical rod; Birth from thee received the Mother Of the almighty Son of God.

Father: Let us pray. O God, You were pleased to bestow Your grace upon Anne so that she might fitly become the mother of her who was to bear Your only-begotten Son; grant that we who keep her feast will be helped by her protection. Through Christ, our Lord.

All: Amen. Christ conquers, Christ reigns!

Below is the very simple but effective cake we made to symbolize the flowering rod of Jesse. It is a Chocolate Ripple Cake and you use the following ingredients.

Chocolate Ripple Cookies, I used 2 and half packets
Cream that can be whipped thick. (I add a bit of sugar to sweeten the cream)
Cocoa powder to colour the whipped cream
Milk, small bowl (to dip the biscuits into)
Plain chocolate bar, grated
Assorted lollies for decoration

I dipped each biscuit quickly in milk and shook off the excess. With a flat knife I applied whipped cream to one side of each biscuit and joined them together on the pan as you can see below. I made three rows and then fashioned a few on the side to create the side stem. Once the shape is made, I lightly covered the whole biscuit creation in whipped cream. Then I covered the cream in grated chocolate.

I just bought lollies that could be used for creating leaves, grapes and flowers. I used marshmallows cut in half for the flowers seen below. Then it is put in the fridge until ready to serve, in our case we will serve it up tomorrow on St Anne's feast day!

This is a very quick and simple recipe that will visually delight the children and will give you ample opportunity to explain the religious connection of the Flowering Rod of Jesse to the wonderful and blessed St Anne, Grandmother Our Lord.

Happy Feast Day!

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Our Heavenly Grandmother

St. Anne is most traditionally seen wearing green and red. Little girls in Louisiana named for St. Anne used to wear red and green ribbons in their hair on her feast day. We made some for my girls that you can see here. Since it is summertime, when we think of green and red, we think of watermelons. So in honor of St. Anne's colors, we made watermelon cookies and quenched our thirst with watermelon lemonade.

Watermelon Cookies

I used Betty Crocker's Sugar Cookie Mix. Mix sugar cookies using cut-out cookie recipe and red food coloring. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick. Cut out circles with a cookie cutter or other round object, such as a glass or round plastic container. Place circles on ungreased cookie sheet. (I used parchment paper.) With a knife, carefully slice circle in half and separate by at least 1/2 inch to allow for expansion during baking. Gently press miniature semi sweet morsels into each semicircle. (Little ones can do this just know that the mini morsels melt quickly if handled too much. Refrigerating them beforehand helps. I sprinkled them onto the unbaked cookies and then let the kids push them into place where they fell.)

Bake for 6-8 minutes, checking after 6 minutes. Cookies will be done when edges are lightly browned. Do not allow cookies to get too brown. Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool on cookie sheets for 5 minutes. Remove from cookies sheets to aluminum foil on a flat surface and allow to cool completely.

Glaze:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 tbsp water
15-20 drops green food coloring

In a small bowl mix together all ingredients to form a glaze. You may add drops of water to thin glaze if it is too thick. To decorate the cookies, roll the round end of the cookie in the glaze, allow excess to drip off into bowl. Place cookies back on foil until glaze dries.

Watermelon Lemonade

• 2 (12-ounce) cans frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
• 15 cups seeded and cubed watermelon
• *2 sprigs mint (optional)
Process watermelon, in batches, in a blender or food processor until smooth. Combine concentrate and 2 mint sprigs, and cook in a saucepan over medium-high heat 10 minutes. Stir together watermelon puree and lemonade mixture; cover and chill 8 hours. Remove and discard mint. Stir and serve over ice.

*If you are not going to add the mint, then skip the stove top step.

I made half of this recipe and I strained my watermelon puree through cheesecloth so there wouldn't be much pulp. 10 cups of watermelon made about 8 cups of puree which made 5 1/2 C. of watermelon juice once it was strained. I mixed those 5 1/2 C. with one can of frozen lemonade.

The French have a great devotion to St. Anne and love to celebrate her feast day with seafood. Maybe consider making your favorite fish recipe for dinner!

We are celebrating early because the 26th is my husband's birthday. Pin It

Crème Sainte-Anne (St. Anne's Cream)

This coming Sunday, July 26th, is the feast of St. Anne, the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary and patron of homemakers.

I have always loved Saint Anne and choose her as one of my Confirmation name saints. Since her feast day is coming up I have been looking for various ways to celebrate this year and I am anxiously awaiting to see what else Charlotte has to suggest!

When I was looking through Cooking With the Saints I noticed it had a couple different recipes in honor of St. Anne: one for Crème Sainte-Anne (St. Anne's Cream) and one for Anna Torte (Gâteau Sainte-Anne). The Crème Sainte-Anne looked delicious and seemed quite similar to flan, which my husband loves and I am terrified to make after my disastrous last attempt! So, I decided to give it a trial run to see if I would be able to pull it off for her feast.

The recipe ended up being fairly easy and turned out delicious. I really liked the flavor that the macaroons added. I plan to double the recipe when I make it again on her feast.

Crème Sainte-Anne

(St. Anne's Cream)

1/2 c. sugar
2 Tbsp. water
1 Tbsp. butter, unsalted
1/4 c. macaroons, crushed
1 1/14 c. milk
1 egg
3 egg yolks

Butter 4 ramekins. Put half the sugar in a pan and moisten with 2 tablespoons water. Bring to a boil and cook to amber caramel. Pour the caramel into 4 ramekins, to make a thin layer in each, and allow to set.

(I don't think I cooked the sugar quite long enough since it never turned to a caramel color -- next time I think I may try cooking it longer or reduce the water. Any suggestions??)

Place a thin slice of butter on the caramel in each ramekin and sprinkle each with the chopped macaroons.

Heat the milk to the simmering point. Whisk the egg, egg yolks and remaining sugar until creamy. Beat in the hot milk and pour into the prepared ramekins. The macaroons will float to the top.

Stand the ramekins in a tray of simmering water that comes halfway up their sides. Bake in a moderate oven at 325°F (160°C) for 20 to 25 minutes until set. Allow to cool, loosen edges and turn out onto a plate.

(I baked mine for 28 minutes and it could have still used a few more minutes... I am sure this varies depending on your oven, but mine usually tends to bake hotter/ quicker so you may need to increase the baking time.)

Serves 4.

Enjoy!

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