St. Agnes Little Lamb Popcorn Snacks

I have seen this idea for sheep-themed birthday parties and thought it would make a nice and simple (and healthy) feast day snack idea of those saints associated with sheep or who have a sheep/lamb as a symbol. This week is the feast of St. Agnes (January 21), who is usually depicted holding a lamb to represent her virginity.

Fill small baggies with popcorn (not ziploc), tie the baggie closed, and tape on paper lamb head using this template or have your children draw their own.  I taped the corners to the back to make sure it retained the rounded shape. Could also just wrap in plastic wrap to make a round shape.

Other saints with lambs/sheep symbol including those who were shepherds:
St. Genevieve (January 3)
Sts. Jacinta and Francisco (February 20)
St. Bernadette (April 16)
St. Drogo (April 16)
Good Shepherd Sunday (4th Sunday Easter Season)
St. Germaine (June 15)
St. John the Baptist (June 24)
St. Joan of Arc (October 21)

*Looks like April 16 is a great day for sheep themed ideas with two different saints associated with sheep. 

St. Agnes, Pray for Us!

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Our Lady of Lourdes Candies

Happy feast of Our Lady of Lourdes! Today we highlight a couple of sweet confections that have an association to the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France – Ferrero Rocher and Pastilles a l’eau de Lourdes.

Last February a few days after the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, Nutella founder Michele Ferrero died and at that time there were numerous articles circulating about his strong devotion to Our Lady under this title.  So this year on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, I wanted to highlight that connection.  In 1996, at the 50th anniversary of the company’s founding Michele Ferrero is quoted as saying, "The success of Ferrero we owe to Our Lady of Lourdes; without her we can do little." He was a man of strong faith and every year he went on pilgrimage to Lourdes taking his top manager. Each of the Ferrero plants and offices around the world have a small statue of Our Lady.  It is said that the company's Rocher pralines, first produced in 1982, were inspired by the grotto at Lourdes. Rocher is translated as rock and the craggy rock formation at the shrine in Lourdes is called the Rocher de Massabielle.  It is easy to see how the chocolate's nutty surface resembles a rocky grotto.  

The other Lourdes associated candy,  Pastilles a l’eau de Lourdes, are a Lourdes water lozenge – made from water from the grotto, sugar, and natural flavorings (mint, lemon, or anise). Similar candies have a very lengthy history, having been produced in Lourdes since 1888.  The original pastilles are imprinted with a figure of the Virgin Mary on one side and ‘A L’EAU DE LOURDES’ (‘contains Lourdes water’) on the other.  The current candies back imprint is ‘Malespine’ which is the factory.  We bought some while we were in Lourdes a few years ago, but they are also available online and through many religious goods outlets.

Our Lady of Lourdes, Pray for Us!

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French Vanilla Cocoa for the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes

With Valentines's Day in just a few days, heart shaped marshmallows are easy to find this time of year. In honor of the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes consider serving French Vanilla Hot Cocoa topped with a white a marshmallow representing the Immaculate Heart of Mary!



Enjoy the cocoa while reading a story about the "Beautiful Lady" who appeared to St. Bernadette in Lourdes or while watching one of the great movies available including The Song of Bernadette, or St. Bernadette of Lourdes from Navis Pictures.  (affiliate links included)

Book pictured: Bernadette: The Little Girl from Lourdes

From the Archives: Cocoa Pebbles Grotto

This would also be a great way to celebrate the upcoming feast 

of St. Bernadette on February 18th! 

Happy Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes! 

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Our Lady of Lourdes Gluten-Free Treat

Today is the traditional feast of St. Bernadette Soubirous, saint of Lourdes and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's 86th birthday!  I thought it would be the perfect time to share the beautiful gluten-free treat submitted by Summer, which she made for her children earlier this year on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and the day on which Pope Benedict announced his resignation.   Thank you Summer! 

I woke up Monday morning [February 11, 2013] to the news that Pope Benedict had resigned from the papacy. After I cried, remembered to pray, and gathered up my little ones to tell them the news, I had to ready everyone for a party. As it was the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes and I needed a gluten free treat to help keep my kids away from the other tasty pastries, I made the grotto. This time, however, I used popcorn because that is what was in the cupboard. Elizabeth Foss inspired me with her popcorn snowballs. Let me tell you, big and little ones demolished this treat. The three-year-olds just stood around taking little bits like Hansel and Gretal. It's truly delicious and easier to mold than rice crispies! We will definitely make this version in the future.

RECIPE

• 3/4 Cup of Popcorn
• 2 TBS of Coconut Oil
• 1 Stick of Butter
• 1 Bag of Marshmallows
• 1/4 t of Salt

I pop the corn on the stove in the pot. If you let the pot heat first, without the oil, there will be far less smoking and time spent shaking the thing. Also, coconut oil can take much higher temperatures and is delicious. Throw a couple of corn kernels in to see if they pop right away, if so, toss the rest in, put the lid on, and shake until the popping sounds slow way down. Transfer to another bowl.

In the same pot (I don't like to do dishes) melt the butter, toss in the salt, then melt the marshmallows. You know how to do this, right? Stir all that popcorn back in until it is well coated. Using well greased hands, mold warm yummy goodness into your grotto. Really press everything together. Try not to eat too much during this step! I used a jar to prop up the roof until it cooled.

Add a little statue of Mary and a decoration or two. Easy!

You can find grottos made from Cocoa Pebbles, Fruity Pebbles, and Rice Krispy Treats in addition to other ideas for Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Bernadette in the archives.  

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Cocoa Pebbles Grotto for Our Lady of Lourdes

A number of years ago I shared the recipe and directions for the Our Lady of Lourdes"Fruity Pebbles" Grotto.   We made another version a couple years ago using Cocoa Pebbles, which my children preferred since it looked more like a real grotto to them.  This year they used Cocoa Pebbles once again, and a small statue of Our Lady instead of one of our hand-painted saints.   I've heated some water for some French Vanilla Hot Cocoa to enjoy while we read Bernadette: The Little Girl from Lourdes.

Cocoa Pebbles Grotto 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 stick Butter 
• 10.5 oz. Marshmallows
• 8 1/2 cups Cocoa Pebbles Cereal

Directions:

Line a 13x9-inch pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan and grease lightly.

In a large pan, melt butter. Add marshmallows, stirring constantly until melted.  (We used a bag of leftover pumpkin marshmallows that needed to be used.) 

Add cereal; mix well. (Grease your spoon or spatula before mixing.)

Place cereal mixture into pan. Top with parchment paper and press mixture firmly into pan. Remove parchment and allow mixture to cool.

Before completley cooled (read: still pliable), lift cereal bars from pan using foil handles, and cut into 18 squares (or rectangles). A pizza cutter works well for this task.

Use four squares for the back wall of the grotto and one square cut in half for the floor. Build up the walls with all but four of the remaining squares. Mold three squares into the roof and cut the last square in half to add to the sides of the roof. You may need to play around with it a little bit and trim the edges if you'd like.    Note: As you can see, my children didn't follow the directions exactly this year, but it still turned out cute!  

Place a Statue of Our Lady of Lourdes inside the Grotto.

Our Lady of Lourdes, Mother of the Church, 

Pray for us.

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French Onion Rice

The following recipe was submitted by Lori from Living A Learning Lifestyle in honor of today's feast of Our Lady of Lourdes!  Thank you Lori! 

In honor of Our Lady of Our Lourdes, France we are having this delicious dish.  It’s super easy to make and would also be appropriate for any French Saint's Feast Day.

French Onion Rice

1 cup of uncooked white rice
1 can French Onion Soup Mix
1 can Beef Consomme
1/2 stick of butter

Mix the first three ingredients together in round baking dish. Then slice butter into pats and arrange on top. Cover and cook at 350 for 1 hour.

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Our Lady of Lourdes Chicken Soup and Dumplings

When I broke my leg a couple years ago, the lovely ladies in my Catholic Book Club brought our family meals for 2 months straight. This meal was one of those meals. I asked for a copy of the recipe from my friend Susan, and on the copy, it says it is from Building the Family Cookbook, by Suzanne Fowler.

At the top of the recipe, it reads:

This is a comforting soup and the perfect dinner to have after the "budget talk". Your husband will be impressed that you can make so little, so delicious and go so far!

Our Lady of Lourdes Chicken Soup and Dumplings

10 cups Water

2 Large Chicken Breasts (cooked and cut up for soup)

1 chopped onion

1 tsp Salt

3/4 tsp Pepper

1 Bay Leaf

1 1/2 c. Carrots, sliced

1 c. Celery, chopped (I used the inner w/leaves)

3/4 tsp garlic salt

2 Tbsp Chicken Bouillon (I used "Better Than Bouillon" brand)

Put all in pot and cook these for about an hour. Then add dumplings.

Dumplings:

2 cups Flour

3 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

4 Tbsp Cold Butter

1 cup Milk

3 Tbsp dried Parsley

Stir together the flour, baking powder, salt and parsley. Cut in cold butter until crumbly.

Mix in milk with fork. Drop by rounded Tablespoonfuls (or teaspoonful, depending how big you want your dumplings) into the soup. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Remove cover and carefully flip dumplings. Continue cooking uncovered for 10 minutes.

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Pure Potato Soup in Honor of Our Lady

The following recipe was submitted by Lori, from Busy with Blessings, for the upcoming feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. Thank you Lori!

On February 11th we celebrate Our Lady's first apparition to St. Bernadette at Lourdes, France.  We celebrate a name day on this feast day so it's an extra special day here.  Last year I served a special French meal (American style) including Pure Potato Soup, Ham Steak, and French Rolls.  (By the way the potato soup is only 2 pts a cup - if your counting :)

Pure Potato Soup in honor of Our Lady

Ingredients:

1 small onion
Bag of shredded potatoes
Packet of White Gravy Mix.
Broth 1 - 26oz box plus about a half of an addition can

Directions:

Saute the onion in a little of the broth from the box. Once the onion is translucent, add remaining stock from the box and the bag of shredded potatoes. In a separate bowl, whisk together the packet of white gravy mix with about half of the can of broth. Once this is mixed well, add to the soup. Bring up to temp. then reduce and simmer about 30 to 45 min. or until your potatoes are soft.

The white gravy mix makes the soup a little on the peppery side (which I really liked)! The specks of pepper in the soup can remind us of our sins and how we are to pray to Our Lady asking her to help us to be good.

And here's a beautiful prayer from Catholic Culture to pray before tonights meal:

Table Blessing for the Feasts of the Mother of God

We praise and magnify you, O Lord, the most high, for in the fullness of time you chose the humble virgin of Nazareth as the mother of your only begotten Son. By the intercession of her prayers we beg your blessing upon our daily food and drink. May they sustain us in our journey until you bring us to the eternal joy of heaven, where Jesus is king forever and ever. Amen

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Rice Krispie Treat Grotto for Our Lady of Lourdes

Inspired by the Grotto for Our Lady found in the archives, Lacy at Catholic Icing made a Rice Krispie variation and submitted it for publication here at Catholic Cuisine.  Thank you Lacy!  

The feast of Our Lady of Lourdes is on February 11. Last year I saw the grotto made from fruity pebbles, and I thought it was one of the most adorable Catholic feast day celebration ideas I had ever seen! I knew I had to try my hand at making one this year! :-)

I didn't actually have a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes, so we just used the Mary from our Little People Nativity set. I get that it's cute to make a grotto out of fruity pebbles or cocoa pebbles because of the play on words "pebbles", but I opted for regular rice krispies.

First I made a regular batch of rice krispie treats. Some of them were spread flat into a pan like normal, but some of it I molded for the grotto using my bunt pan.

Warm rice krispie treats are surprisingly easy to mold any which way you want to. I read somewhere that if they start to set up too fast, you can use your hair dryer to make them pliable again. (If you wanted to make a big grotto, I think you could totally fill the bunt pan and cut it in half for the grotto piece.) Then I cut the sheet of rice krispie treats into squares and built my grotto as best I could.

 

I decided it looked boring and unfinished. It needed something more. So I whipped up another batch of rice krispie treats (only with cornflakes and green food coloring- like the cornflake wreaths you can make at Christmas time) to add some greenery cascading down our grotto. This was super easy to do while this stuff was warm! Just blob it on there- it looks so natural! ;-)  It still seemed to be missing something... so I added a few roses at Mary's feet. They were also really easy to make. Just take a long skinny piece of a fruit roll up and roll it into a tiny rose. Voila!

Our Lady of Lourdes, Pray for us! 

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Mary's Immaculate Conception

I apologize for the fact that I am posting these recipes after the feast day (or almost after). I wanted to get pictures before I posted them. I think you'll find, however, that these dishes would be wonderful for any feast of our Blessed Mother.

When I planned my menu for the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, I decided to prepare the roasted chicken and cauliflower, simply because of their French origins. But when I pulled the whole menu together, I realized I had the makings of a white meal. I normally try to plan my menu for each dinner with colorful foods -- a green or yellow vegetable, maybe an orange or red fruit, a white or red meat and maybe a green salad. This meal, however, was almost devoid of all color, representing our Blessed Mother's immaculate conception, which she declared to St. Bernadette at Lourdes.

I am not posting my recipe for mashed potatoes, or French bread, since I imagine you already know how to make mashed potatoes and possibly have a recipe for French bread. You can find my French bread recipe here. I didn't manage to get the cake made, mostly because there was mass clamoring in my house for chocolate chip cookies, but I often make this cake for Mary's feast days. You could also make these pretty French cookies. With their rosette appearance, they make a perfect Mary cookie.

Menu

Lemon Roasted Chicken
Roasted Cauliflower
Mashed Potatoes
French Bread
Butter Brickle Cake

Lemon-Roasted Chicken
serves 6 to 8

12 small pieces or 6 large pieces bone-in chicken
2 lemons, each cut into 8 wedges
8 garlic cloves, peeled
1 t. dried oregano
4 T. olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450°.
If using large pieces of chicken (breasts) cut each in half crosswise
(this allows them to cook more quickly).
Rinse and pat dry chicken pieces and place in a large bowl.
Add lemons and garlic cloves to bowl, squeezing each lemon piece slightly.
Sprinkle with oregano and drizzle with 3 T. olive oil.
Toss with salt and pepper.
Drizzle rimmed baking sheet with remaining tablespoon
olive oil and smear with your hands.
Place chicken pieces on sheet, skin side up,
arranging so pieces don't touch.
Place lemon pieces and garlic cloves
on top of chicken pieces randomly.
Roast for 35 to 40 minutes.
Test for doneness and serve when juices run clear.

Roasted Cauliflower

3 t. olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced in eighths (I cut mine like apple slices)
5 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
4 cups cauliflower florets (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 T. water
1 T. Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 450°.
Drizzle large rimmed baking sheet with 1 t. olive oil
and smear with your hands.
Place onion, garlic, and cauliflower in a large bowl.
Drizzle with 2 t. olive oil.
Mix mustard and water and pour over vegetables.
Toss with salt and pepper.
Place on baking sheet and spread out.
Bake at 450° for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown,
stirring occasionally.
Taste and season again if needed.






Butter Brickle Cake

2 cups flour
11⁄4 cups sugar
1 T plus 1/4 t. baking powder
1 t salt
1 cup milk
1⁄2 cup shortening
11⁄2 t vanilla
3 egg whites, room temp.

Icing
1⁄4 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2 T half & half
2 T hot water
1 - 1⁄2 t vanilla


Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in mixing bowl.
Add milk, shortening and 1-1/2 t. vanilla.
Beat at medium speed until well blended.
Add egg whites, beat 2 minutes.
Pour batter into greased and floured 13”x9” pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until cake tests done with a toothpick.
Cool.

Melt butter in heavy saucepan.
Cook over low heat until butter is golden brown.
Remove from heat and add powdered sugar, half & half, water and vanilla.
Beat with a whisk for 3 minutes, or until smooth.
Spread evenly over top of cake.

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A Grotto for Our Lady

Our Lady of Lourdes
"Fruity Pebbles" Grotto

Ingredients:

• 1/2 stick butter or margarine
• 10.5 oz. pkg. mini marshmallows
• 13 oz. box Fruity Pebbles Cereal (about 8-1/2 cups)

Directions:

Line a 13x9-inch pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan and grease lightly.

In a large pan, melt butter. Add marshmallows, stirring constantly until melted

Add cereal; mix well. (Grease your spoon or spatula before mixing.)

Place cereal mixture into pan. Top with parchment paper and press mixture firmly into pan. Remove parchment and allow mixture to cool.

Before completley cooled (read: still pliable), lift cereal bars from pan using foil handles, and cut into 18 squares (or rectangles). A pizza cutter works well for this task.

Use four squares for the back wall of the grotto and one square cut in half for the floor. Build up the walls with all but four of the remaining squares. Mold three squares into the roof and cut the last square in half to add to the sides of the roof. You may need to play around with it a little bit and trim the edges if you'd like.

(This idea was originally suggested in a thread at 4Real. I also posted other ideas for celebrating the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes here.)

Our Lady of Lourdes ~ Pray for us!!

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Blueberry Muffins for Our Lady

An easy way to celebrate any of the Blessed Virgin Mary's feast days is by incorporating the colors that symbolize her into our meals for that day. The color white symbolizes Mary's purity and blue is the traditional color of her mantle and/or sash.

Since the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes is coming up on February 11th, I thought I would share a yummy recipe for Blueberry Muffins that we are planning on including in our celebration. (This recipe was adapted from one I found over at All Recipes.)

These muffins would also be great for any Saturday morning breakfast, since Saturdays are devoted to Mary.

Blueberry Muffins for Our Lady

INGREDIENTS

Muffins:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup milk
• 2 tsp vanilla
  
• 2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
  

I prefer increasing the blueberries to 3 cups, though I didn't have enough in my freezer for our latest batch. They were missed!

Crumb Topping:

• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 TBS butter, cubed
• 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Spray muffin pan with Pam or other non-stick spray or line with muffin liners.

Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in large bowl. In a 2 cup measuring cup, place vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla, and enough milk (just over 2/3 cups) to fill to the 2 cup mark. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. (Note: The batter is extremely thick.) Fill muffin cups right to the top for oversized muffins.

To make the crumb topping: mix together 2/3 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup flour, 3 Tbs butter, and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with a fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

This recipes yields approximately 12-16 extra generously sized delicious muffins.

Our Lady of Lourdes ~ Pray for Us!

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Crepes for the Feast of St. Bernadette

I want to thank Jessica of Shower of Roses for inviting me to be a guest author here at Catholic Cuisine. I hope to post some of our recipes and liturgical ideas throughout the year for you to try with your families! I feel blessed to be part of this lovely sharing blog!

Here is a very easy and lovely meal that can be prepared for the Feast of St. Bernadette which we celebrate tomorrow April 16th.

I first posted this celebration at Sweetness and Light titled Crepes for St. Therese, hence the statue of St. Therese.

Here's the VERY simple and no fail Crepes recipe:
4 eggs lightly beaten
2 cups milk
1 Tablespoon Canola Oil (or any veg oil, just not Olive oil)
3/4c. to 1 cup flour (depending upon how thin or thick you prefer)
1-2 Tablespoons sugar
1/4 tespoon salt (kosher)
Blend first three ingredients until frothy, add last three ingredients and blend until you have a nice smooth pourable batter. Pour about 1/4 cup batter onto a med-high heat griddle or very large non-stick saute pan. (You need room around your crepe to get your spatula under it to flip) Use a spoon to lightly swirl your crepe into a large disc, be careful not to tear the batter, if you happen to, just spoon a little batter into that spot :) Cook for about 30 seconds on each side until lightly golden, and then stack 'em up on a platter for serving at the table.
Of note: you may have a crepe pan at home and if you like that give it a whirl, personally my favorite cooking surface for these is my stove top griddle ;)

This recipe works for either sweet or savory crepes, I would just omit the sugar if your fixing for a dinner crepe!

Fill with any of your favorite *pancake* type items, like maple syrup, powdered sugar, applesauce, yogurt, peanut butter, jams, honey, strawberries and whip cream :)

I hope you enjoy these as much as we do and please share your results if you try them, they are a mainstay in our family celebrations!!

Bon Appetit! St. Bernadette, pray for us! Pin It