Peruvian Corn Snack for St. Rose Feast Day

St. Rose of Lima, partoness of South America, is celebrated August 23. An idea for a simple snack on the feast of St. Rose (or other Peruvian saints) is the traditional Peruvian cancha, a popular snack made with a special type of large-kerneled corn called maíz chulpe. The dried kernels are tossed with oil and toasted in a hot skillet until they are browned and puffed.Trader Joe's makes their version of this snack - a Giant Peruvian Inca Corn which is very tasty. 

We love snacking on it. Since it is a ready made snack would be really easy to pull out for the feast day as an alternative to making your own. We opted for the ready made Trader Joe's version, but if you want to make the homemade version, it is as easy as popping corn. See recipe for details.

Homemade Cancha

Ingredients

1 cup maíz chulpe (can usually be found at Hispanic grocers)

1-2 tablespoons oil

salt

Directions

Heat oil in large, heavy-bottomed skillet on medium heat. Add the chulpe corn and toss to coat with the oil. Cover and cook, shaking the pan periodically to keep the kernels from burning. The kernels will begin popping (without turning inside out like popcorn) and turn golden brown. Cook until popping subsides, about 5-8 minutes.  Drain on a plate lined with paper towels. Salt to taste.

St. Rose of Lima, Pray for us. 

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St. Martin de Porres Broomstick Snacks

On November 3, the Church honors and remembers Saint Martin De Porres, the first black saint of the Americas, who would become well known for his humility and help of the poor and in hopeless causes. He is often depicted with a broom, and even affectionately referred to as the "Saint of the Broom," because he considered all work to be sacred, no matter how menial.

These broomstick snacks are often suggested as a snack for Halloween, but I think they make the perfect healthy treat for the feast of St. Martin de Porres. They could be made for Epiphany also as a nod to the legend of La Befana.

The pretzel and cheese broomsticks are very simple to make. Take a cheese stick and cut into thirds. Peel small sections of the cheese portion from the bottom up about 2/3 to make the broom straws. Insert a pretzel stick into the solid end of cheese. Tie a piece string of chive around the broom straws and snip. I would say that step is option of you don't have chives on hand - or you could peel a full length piece of string cheese and use that as a tie.

St. Martin de Porres, Pray for us!

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Chocolate Mice

In honor of the feast of St. Martin de Porres, which is celebrated on November 3rd, Michaela from Filled with Joy shares this fun little recipe for Chocolate Mice! These would be a great treat to go along with the story of Saint Martin de Porres and the Mice and The Pied Piper of Peru, two of our favorite books on this great saint.  You can find other ideas for his feast in the archives!



St. Martin de Porres showed love and kindness to all people and creatures.

There is a tale of his kindness even to the mice that were eating the sacred linens in the sacristy.

It inspired us to come up with this fun, absolutely adorable dessert.  Simple enough my girls were able to assemble without help.

Chocolate Mice

Ingredients:

• 1 jar maraschino cheeries with stems
• 1 bag Hershey's kisses
• sliced almonds
• red decorating icing for nose and eyes
• oil
• tin foil

Directions:

1. Cover cookie sheet with tin-foil. Rinse and drain cheeries. Pat dry with paper towels. Check for pits and remove if found.

2. Unwrap 2 Hershey Kisses for every mouse you plan to make. Place 1/2 in bowl, and reserve the other 1/2. Microwave the kisses in the bowl for about 45 seconds. Check to see if melting. You will probably need to put it back in for another 45 seconds. Once chocolate is almost melted, add a little oil. Stir and microwave for about 15 seconds. The oil will help the chocolate from becoming sticky.

3. Holding the cherry by the stem, roll into chocolate, fully coating. This will become the body. Push a Hershey kiss from the reserve pile onto the front of the cherry to make the head. Place on cookie sheet. The melted chocolate should hold the kiss onto the body. Continue until all cheeries are coated and have heads.

4. Cut the sliced almonds in 1/2. Place 2 almond halves onto the mouse between the Hershey kiss and the cherry to make the ears. Make eyes and the nose with the icing. Place in fridge until chocolate hardens. Carefully removed from tin-foil and serve as you please.

To you Saint Martin de Porres we prayerfully lift up our hearts filled with serene confidence and devotion. Mindful of your unbounded and helpful charity to all levels of society and also of your meekness and humility of heart, we offer our petitions to you. Pour out upon our families the precious gifts of your solicitous and generous intercession; show to the people of every race and every color the paths of unity and of justice; implore from our Father in heaven the coming of his kingdom, so that through mutual benevolence in God men may increase the fruits of grace and merit the rewards of eternal life.  Amen.

St. Martin de Porres, pray for us!

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Mini Mice on the feast of St. Martin

I know I shared some Mice Cupcakes last year for the feast of St. Martin, but here is a miniature version that we plan to make this year.

St. Martin's Mini Mice Cupcakes

adapted from Fun Stuff Cupcakes

1 package (about 18 ounces) chocolate cake mix, plus ingredients to prepare mix

1 container (16 ounces) chocolate frosting

1 cup white frosting (optional) 

Small black and pink hard candies or decors (I used red & brown mini M&M's)

Small fruit-flavored pastel candy wafers (I loved these, and thought I had some, but wasn't able to find them so I used white & brown coconut M&M's)

Black string licorice (my children will not touch black licorice, so I used red)

With all my substitutions, they didn't look nearly as cute as the picture in the book, but my children still thought they turned out cute! 

1.  Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line 48 mini (1 3/4-inch) muffin cups with paper baking cups.

2.  Prepare cake mix according to package directions.  Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling almost full.  Bake about 12 minutes or until toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean.  Cool cupcakes in pans 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

3.  For brown mice, frost cupcakes with chocolate frosting; use knife or small spatula to pull up frosting and create fuzzy appearance.  For speckled mice, frost cupcakes with white frosting; use toothpick to add streaks of chocolate frosting.

4.  Arrange candies on one side of each cupcake to create eyes, nose and ears.  Cut licorice into 3-inch lengths; press into opposite end of cupcake to create tail.

Makes 48 mini cupcakes

Tip:  Cupcakes can be baked in advance and frozen, undecorated, in an airtight container for up to three months.   Defrost them at room temperature for several hours.   (I have some defrosting right now to decorate this afternoon after school, to enjoy while we color a picture and read a sweet picture book in honor of this saint.) 

Saint Martin de Porres, Pray for Us! 

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St. Martin and the Mice Cupcakes

On November 3rd, the feast of St. Martin de Porres, two of our favorite picture books will be pulled off our shelves: Saint Martin de Porres and the Miceand The Pied Piper of Peru. After reading the stories about St. Martin and the Mice with my children, we'll be making mice cupcakes, inspired by a recipe in Let's Eat! Recipes for Every Meal... All you add is fun!

If you'd like to make them too, here's what you'll need:

• 1 package Chocolate Cake Mix (plus ingredients to make cupcakes)
• Vanilla Frosting
• Vanilla Wafer Cookies
• Candy-Coated Chocolate Pieces (ie: M&M's)
• Chocolate Kisses
• Shoestring Licorice

Directions:

Bake cupcakes according to directions on box.

Spread the tops of the cupcakes with frosting.

To make each mouse, put 2 vanilla wafer cookies for the "ears," 2 candy-coated chocolate pieces for the "eyes," 1 chocolate kiss for the the "nose," and pieces of shoestring licorice for the "whiskers."

Enjoy!

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St. Martin's Mice

November bears feasts of two St. Martins, today is the optional memorial of the lesser-known St. Martin, St. Martin de Porres. St. Martin was born in Lima, Peru. Being illegitimate and of mixed race made his life very difficult, as he was considered very low in society. He became a laybrother for the Dominican order at age 15 and remained a member the rest of his life.

I'm not going to suggest the obvious Lima beans, or pull out a lavish Peruvian meal. One of the endearing qualities of St. Martin was his love for all of creation, including even vermin. There are favorite tales that mice were eating the sacred linens in the sacristy. Martin made a deal with the mice that if they stayed out of the monastery and church, he would feed them, and both kept their word. The picture book Pied Piper of Peru by Ann Tompert retells this beloved story.

A more simple idea for dinner is St. Martin's Mice, or Baked Potato Mice? These are just twice-baked potatoes, similar to the recipe for Victory Vessel with added embellisments to look like mice: slices of radishes for the ears, small cherry tomato for the nose, green onions or chives for the whiskers and tail, and raisins for the eyes (you might need a toothpick to keep some things in place). If you're short on time or have allergies, just make baked potatoes (do you know how fast you can make them in the microwave?) and add the decorations.

I don't have a photo of my own to share, but I did find these Pinterest Link with cute photos. Pin It