St. Agnes Lamb's Wool Drinks

On January 21 we celebrate the feast of St. Agnes, 4th century martyr, known for her consecrated virginity. She is often depicted holding a lamb as her name, Agnes, means lamb or victim in Latin, and pure in Greek. In Rome on this feast day, two lambs are placed on the altar of the Basilica where her relics lie and are then blessed. The wool from these lambs is used in making the pallium, the symbols archbishops wear as sign of their authority. These are given to the new archbishops on the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, June 29.

There are so many beautiful details associated with this tradition, as specified in this article from the Vatican News Network:

The small lambs, traditionally less than a year old, are carried to the Pope in baskets, as per tradition, by the Canons Regular of the Cathedral of St John Lateran. To symbolize St. Agnes’ purity, one of the lambs wears a crown of white flowers, while the other wears a red floral wreath to recall her faithful witness even unto death.

Reared by religious sisters in the Saint Lawrence convent in Panisperna, Rome, come Summer these same lambs will be brought to the Saint Cecilia convent in Trastevere.  There, in a custom that has remained in tact down through the centuries, they will be shorn to supply the wool from which the religious sisters will weave the Pallium.

The Pallium are white woolen stoles, decorated with six black crosses worn by metropolitan archbishops around their necks as a symbol of their authority and unity with the Pope. Once woven they are custodied in an urn at the tomb of St Peter until the Holy Father presents them to newly-appointed metropolitan archbishops on June 29, the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul.

St. Agnes Lamb's Wool Drink Ideas

With the connection of lamb's wool, St. Agnes feast day lends itself to anything fluffy and white. Whipped cream seemed a fun way to try to replicate the look of wool and with this mid-winter feast, a perfect topping for a warm drink.  It's easy too!  Whether it be hot chocolate, chia latte, or a cappuccino, make it St. Agnes festive with a "woolly" topping. 

And if you are looking for some specific drink recipes with woolly names here are a few that would be fitting as well. 

Lamb's Wool - a type of Wassail ale dating from medieval times, traditionally served on Twelfth Night celebrating the end of the Christmas season. It is so named as the frothy apple mixture resembles wool. It would make a fun drink for St. Agnes feast celebrating as well. Florence Berger has a recipe for Lamb's Wool in her Cooking for Christ cookbook.  There are other versions of this wool-named ale including this one from Miss Foodwise blog.  Can be made as either an alcoholic or non-alcoholic drink.

Warm Wooly Sheep - a sweet, creamy, warm drink for the grown ups. It is made from Scotch, Drambuie, and warm milk. Recipes abound on various mixed drink websites.

St. Agnes, Pray for us!

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St. Paul Lunch

The following post was submitted by Lisa, from Catholic Missionary Family, in honor of today's feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. It would also be perfect for the feasts of Sts. Peter and Paul on June 29th. Thank you Lisa!

For the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul today I put together a special lunch for the kids using St. Paul symbols. It was easy, quick, and very kid friendly. Maybe this is what I had for lunch as well, so maybe it's also adult friendly.

Here is what you'll need to put on your shopping list.

"Wait, what is the ice cream for?" you ask. It's for the stormy sea dessert! Let's start there.

St. Paul made many voyages to spread the gospel. On one such trip there was a massive storm that left him shipwrecked. To remind us of this Pauline adventure we mixed Sprite, blue food coloring, and vanilla ice cream to create a stormy sea.

Because St. Paul was a Roman citizen he was not crucified, but rather beheaded with a sword. For this reason the sword is St. Paul's symbol. To incorporate this symbol into our lunch we made hotdog swords with pretzel stick blades. The kids loved being able to dip these into ketchup and eat them in one bite.



As I already mentioned, St. Paul made many voyages, so we made apple and cheese ships for the many boats he traveled on.



Finally, St. Paul is the author of many of the books of the New Testament. In the past the Scriptures were written on and read from scrolls. To remind us of St. Paul's writings we had Fruit by the Foot scrolls.

St. Paul, pray for us!

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On the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul

Our family is headed to a local parade and then swimming, but I wanted to quickly share our lunch plans for today repeated from our first unit of the Papal Lap Book:  "The Barque of Peter" Banana Boats with a Fishers of Men Snack!

"The Barque of Peter" Banana Boats

Ingredients:

• Bananas
• 1 bun for every banana
• 2 Tbs of Peanut Butter (or other spread of your choice)
• Optional toppings (chopped nuts, chocolate, or other toppings you might find on a ice cream sundae)

Directions:

Begin by toasting your bun. Let the bun cool a bit before spreading the peanut butter (or other spread) on each side.  Peel the bananas and place them inside each bun. If you are adding addition toppings, drizzle a little more peanut butter over the banana so that the toppings stay put.  Enjoy! 

Additional ideas for these great saints can be found in the archives (St. Peter and St. Paul) or in this post at Shower of Roses. 

O God, whose right hand raised up blessed Peter, when he walked upon the water and began to sink, and thrice delivered his fellow-Apostle Paul from the depths of the sea, when he suffered shipwreck: graciously hear us and grant, by the merits of them both, that we also may attain unto everlasting glory: Who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.

Sts. Peter and Paul, Pray for Us! 

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Bible Cookies for the Year of Faith

A couple years ago, when trying to come up with a snack for our Little Flowers Girls' Club meeting on the virtue of Wisdom, I came up with these cute little Bible Cookies to place on top of our cupcakes.  Lacy expanded on this idea by cleverly adding a little bookmarks made from fruit roll ups!   We just made them again, since one of our Kindergarten Themes this past week was "B is for Bible" inspired by A is for Altar, B is for Bible, and I thought I'd share the directions with you all, as we begin The Year of Faith.   

Bible Cookies 

Ingredients:

• Fig Newtons (we made these with "Gold" Peach & Apricot Newtons)
• White Icing (I used Wilton's Icing Writer, but any white icing/frosting would work)
• Red Fruit Roll-ups

Directions:

Begin by trimming off one long side of each fig newton with a sharp knife.   This creates the book, with three sides of "pages" showing with the binding on the remaining side.  

I have found that standing them on their end and cutting straight down leaves a nice clean edge, versus cutting through the cookie/cake:  

Using a sharp knife, cut "bookmarks" from the red fruit roll ups. Stick them into the end of the "book" (newton) using a toothpick (or the end of the knife, like I did).       

Decorate the cover and binding with icing to complete the "Bibles."

This idea can also be modified, using different flavored/colored cookies and decorations, like we did for our "Story of a Soul" cookies last year.  

These cookies would make a great snack anytime during this "Year of Faith."  They are also perfect for the feasts of the Evangelists, Sts. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, or for the feast of St. Paul and any other of the many saints that are symbolized with a "Book."   

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Saints Peter and Paul Cupcakes

Tomorrow is the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, and since we invited friends over for some Saintly Summer Fun I spent some time this afternoon trying to come up with a snack for all the kids.

My husband suggested making boats/ships for a craft, and so I decided to carry that theme over to the snack as well.   Recalling how those outside of Noah's Ark were destroyed, the ship became an early symbol of the Church with its associations with "The Barque of Peter, the Fisherman."  And although most of St. Paul's missions were accomplished by walking, he also traveled by boat.

Cupcakes and Wrappers:

Any cupcake recipe can be used for these, though my children opted for a "Triple Chocolate" cake mix, reminding us of the Blessed Trinity.

For the cupcake wrappers I used my Cricut with the Cupcake Wrappers Cartridge<.    I love that it cut out a circle of fish all around the cupcake, in addition to the waves. "The fish,  ever-watchful with its unblinking eyes, was one of the most important symbols of Christ to the early Christians. In Greek, the phrase, "Jesus Christ, Son of God Savior," is "Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter." The first letters of each of these Greek words, when put together, spell "ichthys," the Greek word for "fish" (ICQUS ).   Because of the story of the miracle of the loaves and fishes, the fish symbolized, too, the Eucharist."  ~ Source   

If you don't happen to have a Cricut you can just as easily use blue cupcake liners and add some Candy Fish or Shark Bites around the platter holding the cupcakes.

I also opted to forego using any food coloring in our frosting, and I just plan to tell the kids that the boats are sailing on white water waves, though blue frosting would look pretty too.

Candy Boats and Sails:

To make the boats I just used some Orange Fruit Slices from our grocery store, though when I was looking through the candy aisle so many different candies would have worked great.   My boys liked the idea of molding caramels into the shape of a boat, or using mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  Yum!  I opted for the orange slices since they were the least expensive!

For the sails I decided to use the shields of Sts. Peter and Paul.  I resized them to 2.25" in height, which seemed to work well with a regular sized cupcake.  I printed it out on regular copy paper and made a tiny slit with my x-acto knife, making it much easier to insert a toothpick to be used as the mast.

The Symbolism of the Shields/Sails:

St. Peter's Shield:    Download Document

The Keys are the symbol of St. Peter, the authority of the papacy, and the Church's power to "bind and loose" (Matthew 16:19 and Isaiah 22).  One key represents Excommunication, a locked door to the unrepentant sinner.   The other key stands for Absolution, the open door to the Kingdom of Heaven for the repentant sinner.

St. Paul's Shield:    Download Document

Saint Paul has the sword assigned to him because he was a persecutor of the Church. The book is a symbol of his conversion into the greatest preacher of the Church. The great change in Saint Paul shows itself in this that he afterward speaks of the Word of God and the Sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17).

God our Father, Today you give us the joy of celebrating the feast of the apostles Peter and Paul. Through them your Church first received the faith. Keep us true to their teaching.

Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, pray for us! 

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Saints Peter and Paul Avocado Soup

I recently had the pleasure of reading a review copy of Brother Victor-Antoine D'Avila-Latourrette's The Monastery Garden Cookbook.  It was was sent to me by Monastery Greetings, a lovely catalog based website that combines hundreds of religious and spiritual gifts from Abbeys, Convents, Monasteries, and Hermitages.  

Anyhow, I already own a couple other books by Brother Victor, including Twelve Months of Monastery Soups and Blessings of the Table, and was excited to be able to add this one to my collection as well.   After talking to a friend and looking through the table of contents, it looks like The Monastery Garden Cookbook is a revised version of his out-of-print book Fresh from a Monastery Garden: An A-Z Collection of Delectable Vegetable Recipes, though I don't own a copy of the older book to compare for sure.

This book contains 200 vegetable recipes, starting with Artichokes and ending with Zucchini and Yellow Squash, direct from Brother Victor's kitchen at Our Lady of the Resurrection Monastery, complete with illustrations and descriptions.

With the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul coming up tomorrow, the recipe for Saints Peter and Paul Avocado Soup caught my eye and I decided to give it a shot.    Brother Victor says, "This soup is often served in our monastery during the summer months, especially on June 29, the feast of the great apostles Peter and Paul, foundation stones of the church of God, whose icons are venerated in our chapel."

It was quite simple to make (the trip to the market with all the kids for some Avocados and Leeks was by far the hardest part) and it is chilling in the fridge right now.  I tasted a little bit and it is absolutely delicious!  Here is the recipe in case any of you would like to make it for tomorrow.

Saints Peter and Paul Avocado Soup

adapted from The Monastery Garden Cookbook

Ingredients:  

3 leeks, white parts only, trimmed and sliced
3 avocados, peeled and sliced in half
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 (8-ounce) container sour cream
1 teaspoon paprika
salt and pepper to taste
lemon rind as garnish

Directions:

Place the leeks in a saucepan, cover with 6 cups of water, and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat to medium-low and cook leeks for 15-20 minutes.

Remove pan from heat, allow to cool slightly, and then whirl leeks and water in a blender or food processor.  (I used my Vita-Mix.)  Pour the mixture back into the pan or a large bowl.

 

Tip:  If you'd like to use some of the lemon rind as a garnish, it is probably a good idea to peel the lemon before juicing it for your soup! ;) 

Place the avocados, lemon juice, sour cream paprika, and salt and pepper in the blender or food processor and whirl for about 1 minute.  

Add to the leek mixture and blend all the ingredients well by hand.  Place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving.  Serve cold and add some lemon rind on the top of each serving as garnish.  

Yields 4-6 servings

The Monastery Garden Cookbook, in addition to many other Catholic Cookbooks, is available at Monastery Greetings.  While you are there, be sure to check out their section on Fruitcakes!  I don't generally care for Fruitcake, but the new Tropical Dessert Cake from The Abbey of Our Lady of Guadalupe is out of this world, or maybe I should say just heavenly!  We'll be enjoying the rest of it for dessert!

Saints Peter and Paul, Pray for us! 

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Fried Fish in Honor of the Fishers of Men

Today, June 29, is the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, two of the Church's greatest apostles and fishers of men. In honor of this feast, we will be enjoying some beer battered fried fish this evening. This recipe is fun and easy and the kids can help.

Ingredients:
2 lbs. fish filets, dried with a paper towel and seasoned with seasoning salt
1 container shake and pour buttermilk pancake mix
1 cup beer
oil for frying (about 1 in. deep in large fryer)

Directions:

Pat fish filets dry, season, and set aside. Add beer to pancake mix in place of water as directed. Shake well. (You can play with the amount of beer for desired consistency.) Pour batter into shallow bowl. Heat oil in large frying pan, dip fish in batter until coated and place in pan. Fry on each side until golden brown (aproximately 3-4 minutes). If batter begins to brown too quickly, reduce heat. Drain on fish on paper towels after removing from oil.

You can mix ketchup and a bit of horse radish for a dipping sauce, reminding us of St. Paul's conversion story, and then, maybe serve up a bit of Key Lime Pie for dessert, since Jesus entrusted Peter with the keys to the Kingdom.

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Conversion of St. Paul

January 25 is the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. Since this is a special Year of St. Paul, there is special permission to have the option to celebrate this feast on this Sunday. Normally it would be the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

From the readings for the Mass of the Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle:

Acts 9:1-22: Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord,
went to the high priest and asked him
for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, that,
if he should find any men or women who belonged to the Way,
he might bring them back to Jerusalem in chains.
On his journey, as he was nearing Damascus,
a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him.
He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him,
"Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?"
He said, "Who are you, sir?"
The reply came, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do."...

Although the story from the Acts of the Apostles doesn't mention St. Paul falling to the ground off his horse, it seems that is how the scene is always artistically rendered (see Caravaggio's painting above). After all, falling to the ground from a standing position hurts, but it isn't as dramatic as a fall from a horse!

Some ideas for honoring St. Paul on his conversion (also for June 29, Saints Peter and Paul):

1. Incorporating a horse in the celebration seems most obvious to me. This previous post for Horseshoe Cookies for the feast of St. Martin has loads of ideas for other horse themed foods. There is also Podovy: St. Stephen's Horns which is a filled bread in the shape of horseshoes. How about the Giddy-Up Horse Cake from Kraft Foods?


2. Roast beef and horseradish, one of my favorite combinations would make a nice main course. And how about Garlic Horseradish Mashed Potatoes?


3. Don't forget what we feed the horse! Perhaps a plate of crudités: maybe just celery and carrot sticks with dip.


4. St. Paul followed the Jewish laws strictly, which would mean dietary laws, too. This could be an opportunity to serve a Biblical Jewish meal.


5. While thinking of a personal conversion, the image of a Black and White, those famous New York cookies came to mind.


6. Perhaps bring in the symbols of St. Paul: a book or scroll (for his letters), a sword (for his martyrdom). Book Cakes are also appropriate for Doctors and Fathers of the Church (for their writings), and Genoise Book Cake is a delicious sponge cake recipe. One could also use cake pans in the shape of a book. The white chocolate cake used for St. Gregory the Great can also be used for other book cake inspiration.


7. I'm keeping the food celebration simple at our house. I'm making chocolate cupcakes and using two symbols of St. Paul as decorations: sword and scroll. And our centerpiece will include a Playmobil horse and St. Paul (Saul) lying on the ground.

Glorious St. Paul, from being a persecutor of the Christian name you became its most zealous Apostle. To make Jesus, our Divine Savior, known to the uttermost parts of the earth you suffered prison, scourgings, stonings, and shipwreck, and all manner of persecutions and shed the last drop of your blood.

Obtain for us the grace to accept the infirmities, sufferings, and misfortunes of this life as favors of divine mercy. So that we may never grow weary of the trials of our exile, but rather show ourselves ever more faithful and fervent. Amen.

St. Paul the Apostle, pray for us!

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