Onion Ring Chains "Linked" to August 1 Feasts

While it is no longer on the current liturgical calendar, the feast of St. Peter in Chains was a feast day commemorated on August 1st to recall St. Peter's miraculous release from imprisonment and the dedication in the 4th century of the church Pietro in Vincoli - St. Peter in Chains in Rome.  Last year I posted this St. Peter in Chains Feast Day Bread recipe as an idea to commemorate the feast.

This year I found a quote from St. Alphonsus Liguori whose feast is also on August 1.  He wrote in his sermon "On the Love of Christ":

Since God knew that man is enticed by favours, he wished to bind him to his love by means of his gifts: “I want to catch men with the snares, those chains of love in which they allow themselves to be entrapped, so that they will love me”. 

So another "link" to making chain related feast day foods for August 1. 

Onion Chain Links - Fried Onion Rings

1 onion, cut into ¼ inch slices
1 egg
1 t. baking powder
1 ¼ c. flour
1 t. salt
1 c. Panko bread crumbs
1 c. milk
oil for deep frying

Heat oil to 350 degrees.  Separate the ¼ inch slices of onion into separate rings.  Mix egg and milk, whisking until combined. Combine flour, salt and baking powder in another bowl. Dip onion rings in egg mixture, then in flour mixture.  Dip the flour-coated onion rings back into egg-milk mixture a second time. Place on a wire rack to let excess egg-milk mixture drain.  Place dipped onion rings into Panko bread crumbs and coat completely.  Drop in hot oil and cook 1 minute per side until golden brown color.  Place on a paper towel to drain excess oil. Sprinkle onion rings with salt to taste.

Serve either as individual links or cut the links so they open and link together several onion rings for a chain of onion rings.  Serve with ranch dressing or spicy dipping sauce.

St. Peter in Chains, Pray for us.

St. Alphonsus Liguori, Pray for us. 

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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. Peter in Chains Feast Day Bread

"Liberation of St. Peter" by Murillo

"On the very night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter, secured by double chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while outside the door guards kept watch on the prison. Suddenly the angel of the Lord stood by him and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and awakened him, saying, “Get up quickly.” The chains fell from his wrists." ~Acts 12:6-7

The feast of St. Peter in Chains was a feast day commemorated on August 1st to recall St. Peter's miraculous release from imprisonment and the dedication in the 4th century of the church Pietro in Vincoli - St. Peter in Chains in Rome . The church holds the reliquary containing the chains of St. Peter.

The feast day is no longer on the current liturgical calendar but definitely one that can be recognized. I think the imagery of chains is very vivid - one that makes an impression, so would be good to talk about and discuss with our children. 

This feast was also called "Lammas Day" or "Loaf Mass Day" because this day was offered as thanksgiving for the wheat harvest, used for the bread that becomes the Eucharist. Florence Berger discusses the connections between the liturgical year and agrarian life.

Bread is the most common product made from wheat – it is used to celebrate in all cultures and is symbolic of life and abundance.  We have discussed its significance in past posts here; Staples of Our Feastday Celebrations Part One: Bread and Bread – A Staple of the Liturgical Year Celebrations.  So making a bread of some sort to commemorate this day would be appropriate. And shaping it into links to form a bread chain uses that vivid image to a dramatic culinary advantage. Use any bread or pretzel recipe, such as the one suggested by Jessica in her St. Peter’s Keys post or even a pre-made refrigerator dough in a pinch.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 package yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon salt

4 cups flour

1 egg (optional)

Directions:

Dissolve the yeast in warm water.  Add the sugar and salt.  Mix in the flour and knead until the dough is smooth.  Roll out dough and form into desired shape - in this case into links. Connect the links to form a chain. Brush the dough with a beaten egg for a golden finish if desired. Bake in a preheated oven at 425˚F for 15 minutes.

Another idea that came to mind with the chain shaped dough was to place it along the outside ring of a pizza crust so the pizza would be circled in chain. A dinner idea for the feast day. Blessings to all!

~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Because of the symoblism of this feast and since St. Peter is their patron, The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter has asked all of its apostolates around the world to dedicate Friday, August 1 to a day of prayer and penance for the Christians who are suffering terrible persecution in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East.

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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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St. Peter's Keys (Key Shaped Pretzels)

My family is currently studying The Primacy of Peter with a Papal Unit Study and Lap Book as we say goodbye to our dear Holy Father, Pope Benedict, and prepare to welcome our next Pope!  

Over the past few days we have been focusing on St. Peter, The First Pope.   Tomorrow we will move on to Pope Benedict and other popes from the past, before moving on to learn more about the Hierarchy of the Catholic Church, the Papal Elections, and more!   You can find all the details over on my other blog, Shower of Roses.  

This afternoon for a fun, but still Lenten approved (since we gave up sweets), treat we made St. Peter's Keys out of pretzel dough, inspired by Lacy's Edible Papal Flag.   My children always enjoy creating various traditional symbolic shapes out of bread dough for the feast of St. Joseph, so I knew this would be a hit!

St. Peter's Keys

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 package yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 4 cups flour
• 1 egg (optional)

Directions:

Dissolve the yeast in warm water.  Add the sugar and salt.  Mix in the flour and knead until the dough is smooth.  

Let the children shape the dough into key shapes and place on baking sheet.  

Brush the dough with a beaten egg for a golden finish. 

Bake in a preheated oven at 425˚F for 15 minutes.

Let the children color pictures of our first Pope and Pope Benedict XVI while they enjoy their pretzels and listen to a few chapters about the life of St. Peter, The Man Who Never Died! 

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"A Multitude of Fish" Trail Mix

Tomorrow is the feast of St. Anthony of Padua!  Last year we celebrated his feast day with some Saintly Summer Fun and "A Multitude of Fish" Cupcakes, but since we are leaving to go camping this week I have to keep it extra simple this year.    We made this trail mix during the Easter season, for one of our Good Shepherd's Garden Parties.  It will be a perfect snack for tomorrow afternoon, while the kids complete our St. Anthony's Outdoor Scavenger Hunt!  Feel free to modify the ingredient list however you'd like, just be sure to include "a multitude of fish" recalling all the fish that rose out of the water to listen to St. Anthony preach!

No sooner had he spoken a few words when suddenly so great a multitude of fish, both small and great, approached the bank on which he stood. All the fish kept their heads out of the water, and seemed to be looking attentively on St Anthony's face; all were ranged in perfect order and most peacefully, the smaller ones in front near the bank, after them came those a little bigger, and last of all, were the water was deeper, the largest.

As he continued speaking, the fish began to open their mouths and bow their heads, endeavoring as much as was in their power to express their reverence. The people of the city, hearing of the miracle, made haste to go and witness it.

"A Multitude of Fish" Trail Mix

Adapted from Pepperidge Farm

3 cups Pepperidge Farm® Goldfish Colors

1 cup Pepperidge Farm® Smores Goldfish

1 cup Pepperidge Farm® Pretzel Goldfish

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup craisins

1 cup dry roasted peanut

1 cup white chocolate pieces

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.   Enjoy!

This Trail Mix would also make a great snack for the feasts of Sts. Peter and Paul, Fishers of Men, later this month!

St. Anthony of Padua, Pray for us! 

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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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Baked Rockfish for the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter

This morning as I was meditating on the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, this rockfish recipe came to my mind. It seems so appropriate to make fish today and since the name Peter means "rock" it would be the obvious choice for today. :-)

Ingredients:

5 cups fresh spinach

2 (6 ounce) fillets rockfish

10 cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup vegetable broth

2 tablespoons minced fresh dill

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

salt and ground black pepper to taste

2 lemon slices

2 onion slices

1 teaspoon butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

2. Layer the spinach in the bottom of a 2 quart baking dish. Lay the rockfish atop the spinach. Scatter the tomatoes around the fish. Pour the broth into the dish. Season the fillet with the dill, garlic powder, lemon pepper, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Place the lemon, onion, and butter on the rockfish. Cover the entire dish with aluminum foil.

3. Bake in preheated oven until the fish flakes easily, 20 to 25 minutes.

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Golden Chair of St. Peter Fruit Salad

Feast of the Chair of St. Peter

February 22nd

In commemoration of the day when St. Peter held his first service in Rome, we made this 

Golden Chair of St. Peter Pineapple Fruit Salad.

It doesn't exactly look like this picture,

but it was fun to make.

We just carved out a pineapple in the shape of a chair.

First, cutting the skin,

Then carving the chair.

Next, we combined the following "golden" fruit:

(They may sound like a strange combination but it definitely worked~yum!)

Diced pears

Diced peaches

Diced cantaloupe

Diced pineapple

Mandarin orange slices

Golden raisins

We also mixed in a natural oats and honey granola for some crunch!

(If you like a creamy fruit salad, we love to add honey flavored Greek yogurt).  

Note:  We placed toothpicks in the mandarin orange slices on the pineapple chair to represent the Holy Spirit, as seen in the actual photo (above).

Intercessory Prayer to St. Peter:

O God, who hast given unto They blessed Apostle Peter

the keys to the kingdom of heaven,

and the power to bind and loose:

grant that we may be delivered,

through the help of this Intercessory,

from the slavery of all our sins:

Who livest and reignest world without end.

Amen.

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Edible Chairs for the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter

With the feast of the Chair of St. Peter at Antioch coming up on February 22nd (a First Communion Anniversary in our home), the Toaster Pastry Throne I came up with during Our Sixth Good Shepherd's Garden Party last year came to mind as a fun treat to make for this feast day.  

Edible Chairs/Thrones

Supplies:

Toaster Pastries/PopTarts (We love Nature's Path Organic Toaster Pastries, Frosted Wildberry Acai)

Pepperidge Farm Pirouettes or Pirouline Rolled Wafers

White Almond Bark, Candy Melts or White Chocolate Chips, melted

Directions:

Cut the Toaster Pastry to make the seat and back of chair/throne, making one side bigger than the other.  Place the taller side on the top end of the shorter side using melted chocolate. 

Cut the cookies into four even sections to use for the legs of the throne and two for the arms... Attach them (as shown below) using melted chocolate.   

Please feel free to leave a link in the comments (or post a picture to our Facebook page) if you end up making these and would like to share a picture.  I'd love to see them!

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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.

Blessed feasting to you all. Pin It