Star of the East - Spiced Wine for Twelfth Night

Warm spiced wine, like the Austrian Gluhwein, along with Wassail or Lambs Wool are common traditional drinks served at Twelfth Night celebrations.  Anise is both a spice that can be used for seasoning a mulled wine (or other drink), as well as a symbolic star garnish to add visual appeal.

Gluhwein

Ingredients:

1 (750 milliliter) bottle red wine

3/4 cup water

3/4 cup white sugar

1 cinnamon stick

1 orange

10 whole cloves

2 anise stars

Optional – 1/2 cup rum

Combine the water, sugar, cinnamon, star anise, and cloves in sauce pan. Bring to a boil while stirring constantly, then reduce heat to simmer.

Cut the orange in half and squeeze the juice into pan. Add orange rind. Cook until the mixture starts to thicken like syrup.

Pour in the wine and rum (if using) and stir, heating gradually until steaming. DO NOT BOIL. Remove oranges and serve in prewarmed mugs. Garnish with star anise. 

Your Light is Come: Closely linked to both these themes of divine manifestation and world kingship is a third idea running through the Epiphany feast: that of light. During Advent, the world was in darkness, and we prayed and waited in the spirit of the Jewish nation which lived in expectation of the Coming Light during thousands of years. At Christmas the Light shone forth, but dimly, seen only by a few around the crib: Mary and Joseph and the shepherds. But at Epiphany the Light bursts forth to all nations and the prophecy is fulfilled: "The Gentiles shall walk in Thy light, and kings in the brightness of Thy rising." The mysterious star of Epiphany, "flashing like a flame," is still another facet of the light-motif, a symbol capable of being interpreted in a dozen different ways. Catholic Culture article: "Meaning of Epiphany"

There are many lovely star anise garnished drinks and cocktails that would be fun to make for a Twelfth Night celebration.

Cranberry & Anise Star Champagne Cocktail

Savory Spiced Soda

Hot Toddy with Star Anise

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Epiphany Breakfast Cinnamon Toaster Pastry Stars

On Epiphany we recall the wise men that traveled from the East to seek the baby Jesus, following the star. It is a feast of manifestation, and the light of Christ shining forth. Star shaped foods can be a fun way to commemorate the feast of the Epiphany. These homemade toaster pastries are a breakfast option that incorporates both the star shape and some spices that represent the lands from which they journeyed.

Cinnamon Toaster Pastry Stars

Ingredients
1 cup cold, unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water
6 tablespoons filling (jam, cinnamon sugar mixture, etc.)

Directions
Cut butter into 1/2 inch squares and combine with flour.  Coat the butter in flour. Combine 1/3 cup water, vinegar, and salt. Dissolve salt. Put both in freezer for 10 minutes. Blend the butter and flour mixture in mixing bowl on low speed until it is a crumbly texture. While still on low, slowly pour the liquid mixture into the bowl. When it comes together into a ball, stop mixer. Turn dough out onto the counter. Cut into two parts, wrap in wax paper, form a disk. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours (up to 3 days).

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Roll one disk of pie pastry on a lightly floured surface. Use a large star cookie cutter to cut out multiple star shapes. Lay each star on the prepared baking sheet. With a pastry brush, paint each star with the beaten egg.  Scoop a spoonful of filling onto center of each star.  To represent the spices associated with the East - where the wise men came from - I made a cinnamon, clove, and ginger sugar mixture with 2 T. melted butter (1/2 cup sugar, 2 T. cinnamon and a pinch of both cloves and ginger).

Roll out the second disk of pie pastry and repeat steps to cut out additional stars. Lay these stars over the ones already on baking sheet. Seal edges by pressing a fork around the perimeter of each star.

Use pastry brush to paint the tops of each pastry with egg wash and poke top layer through with fork.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.  [Optional: frost or dust with powdered sugar after cooling.]

We have made these before as traditional rectangular toaster pastries. The recipe makes 6 traditional pastries or 12 stars. [Adapted from The Homemade Pantry cookbook by Alana Chernila]

St. Thomas Aquinas feast day is later this month, and he is often pictured with a star as well. Something to keep in mind for another cold January toasty breakfast idea. Pin It

Sopa Estrella - Soup with Star Shaped Pasta

There are several small star shaped pastas in the variety referred to as stelline (Italian for "little stars"). It is sometimes simply packaged as pastina which is a the generic variety of of tiny pieces of pasta available in a variety of shapes. Pastina is the smallest type of pasta produced.  These pasta are common for broth based or thin soups.

August has several feast days where this tiny star shaped pasta, stelline, could be used as a symbolic reminder of a saint in a recipe.

St. Dominic (August 8) - On Monday we celebrated the feast of St. Dominic de Guzman. St. Dominic, the Spanish priest and the founder of the Dominican Order received the rosary from Our Lady and the child Jesus. It is said when St. Dominic was a baby his godmother saw a star on his forehead during the baptism, so a common attribute is a star either on the forehead or above his head.

St. Lawrence (August 10) - Wednesday is the feast of St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr. Due to the timing of his feast in mid-August at the peak of the Perseid meteor shower, that annual asteroid showing is often called the "tears of St. Lawrence." So a "shower" of stars in some dish would remember this tie to St. Lawrence.

Assumption (August 15) - Our Lady is known by many star titles - - Star of the Sea (Stella Maris) and Morning Star (Stella Matutina) being the most prominent. Other titles or images include Star of the New Evangelization, Madonna della Stella, Star of Jacob, Fixed Star.  The star image could be tied to any Marian feast day, but there is a very strong connection to this feast and the Star of the Sea title. In many places traditions associated with the sea are part of this celebration - like the blessing of fleets, blessing of the bounty of the sea, and wedding of the sea.

Our Lady of Guadalupe (December 12) - In the image on St. Juan Diego's tilma we see Our Lady clothed in a mantle of blue with 46 stars.

Epiphany (January 6) - And of course we associate a star with the visit of the wise men who followed the Star of Bethlehem to the infant Jesus.

Our Lady of Pontmain (January 17) - Our Lady of Hope appeared to several children at Pontmain, France. They described her as surrounded by stars. "Oh, there are so many stars the Blessed Virgin will soon be gilt all over.”  Images of her under this title show he clothed in a blue mantle gilded with golden stars.

St. Thomas Aquinas (January 28) and St. Nicholas of Tolentino (September 10) both are shown with a sun/starburst on their chest in many depictions.

St. John Nepomucene (May 16), Bohemian priest and martyr for the seal of the confessional, is often shown with five stars over his head (because, on the night of his murder, five stars were seen over the spot where he was drowned).

This week for the feast of St. Dominic I modified a typical Spanish tomato broth sopa, using stelline pasta instead of the typical fideo to celebrate the Spanish Dominic de Guzman.

Sopa Estrella

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup stelline pasta, uncooked
3 cups chicken broth

salt and pepper to taste

Saute garlic in olive oil. Add chicken broth and tomato sauce. Bring to boil. Add dry pasta and simmer until pasta is tender. Add more liquid if desired for thinner consistency. Add salt and pepper. 

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Seasonal Candy Available Now - For OLoGuadalupe Later

I have always really loved this Our Lady of Guadalupe treat idea from Tiffany at Family at the Foot of the Cross.  These Hershey Kisses she recommends in blue foil with white stars were generally only available in a military tribute promotion in the past and are hard to find.  So when I saw a local store carrying a variety of Hershey candies in summer seasonal assortments (think 4th of July) I was thrilled. There were several different Hershey brands (Kiss, Miniature, and Reese's) packaged in blue foil with white/silver stars. There are quite reminiscent of the blue mantle and stars on the OL of Guadalupe image. So if these are available where you are too, this summer, it would be a good time to buy some to save for her feast day in December.

Edited to add (Oct. 1, 2016): I am now seeing more candies (at Walmart) which were available for the Olympics with the stars and stripes theme.  Get them while they are still available.

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Mantle of Stars for Our Lady

In the grocery store this week I saw a Limited Edition Pop Tart flavor which was blue frosted with white star sprinkles. It reminded me of the mantle of stars present in several images of Our Lady.

Some of the images where we see the Blessed Mother beautifully cloaked in a mantle of stars are shown here.

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Our Lady of Altagracia

Our Lady of Pontmain (OL of Hope)

So if you are looking for a quick and easy treat for a Marian feast day this could be an option. But act fast as this is a limited edition Pop Tart flavor. I don't know how long it is available as I assume they were from the 4th of July this summer and have only seen it in one store here (Albertson's). 

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Cookie Cutters Tell the Story of Christmas

Back in November Debbie shared an article with me (over at Shower of Roses) that was written by Iris Hammett in the 1940's titled "Cookie Cutters Tell the Story of Christmas."  We have made Nativity Cookies and Starlight Cookies in the past, but I thought this story would be a fun alternative for this year and we finally had a chance to make them today!   We also spent some time making cookies to go along with a couple more of our Christmas picture books, but I'll post about those later.

Cookie Cutters Tell the Story of Christmas

By Iris Hammett, written in the 1940’s

(Published in the Mansfield News Journal)

"It is a story, as suggested by cookie cutters, which are familiar to the younger generation both for their utilization purpose in shaping sweets and as playthings for toddlers. This is their message as interpreted by Mrs. Iris Hammett."

"The oven is heated, the dough is made, and the kitchen table is spread with an array of cookie cutters. But theses are not just ordinary cookie cutters, for they have a story to tell."

"Three (Seven in our case!) anxious little faces look on with great anticipation of receiving a sweet morsel when it is baked. Their dark eyes glisten as they listen to the story of the Christ child as each cutter tells his part."

"First, we make an angel, for it was an angel who came to Mary and told her that she would have a baby boy and should call his name Jesus, for he would save his people from their sins."

"Second, we make a donkey, for it was a little donkey that Mary rode into Bethlehem where the baby Jesus was to be born."

"Third, we cut a star for the star that shone in the East to guide the Shepherds to where they would find the Baby Jesus. The wise men had seen this star in the East and knew it told of the birth of the Savior."

"Fourth, we cut more angels for the angels who sang Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. The angels also brought the good news to the shepherds as they watched their sheep during the night."

"So we make candy cane cookies to represent the shepherd’s staff."

"Fifth, we make a camel because the wise men traveled over many miles of sandy desert on camels that they might find the young child."

"Then we come to some of the cookie cutters which we can’t find in the Bible, but which have wonderful meaning by which we tell God’s love for us. We make a wreath for it is round and has no end, even as God’s love has no end. He gave to us eternal life which has no end. We think of the wreath being made of evergreen and so we frost it green. The evergreen is a symbol of the eternal life which Christ bought for us on Calvary. Then comes the Christmas tree, again an evergreen tree, the symbol of everlasting life. It stays green winter and summer as no other tree. It tells of the love of Christ which goes on and on, and of the eternal life which he gives us if we believe in him as our Savior. And last of all we make the bells, for the bells ring out the glad news that a savior is born this day in the City of David."

"And so, as we bake our Christmas cookies, we see the story of the Savior's birth and purpose in our lives. What a wonderful way to gather the little ones around and tell them of God’s love for us. As we roll and cut the dough and mold it into shape, we tell over and over the story that never grows old."

"Then breathe a little prayer that we are molding young and pliable lives, minds, and hearts into the right form, that they might come to know and love this Christ that was born on Christmas Day."

"My prayer is that my children shall never forget the cookie cutters and the story they told of Jesus, His birth and purpose."

"Thus we keep Christ in Christmas even with the cookie cutters."

Download and print a copy of Cookie Cutters Tell the Story of Christmas here. 

Recipe:
The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies (Found in the Archives)

Our Cookie Cutters:

Nativity Bake Set

Wilton Holiday 6-Piece Mini Metal Cutter Set

Additional Angel, Tree, and Star Cookie Cutters

Our Christmas Story Picture Books:

The Donkey's Dream

The Nativity

Bethlehem

Additional Christmas Books Can Be Found Here

Wishing you all a very Merry 10th Day of Christmas and a Blessed Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus!

  

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Epiphany Tart

Inspired by our latest family read aloud, we looked into English Epiphany traditions and found that an Epiphany Tart (which we would consider just a simple jam tart) was considered a delicacy in the Victorian age. When done well, it is supposed to have at least 13 different flavors of jam and look like a stained glass window. Ours only had 6 flavors and while not lovely enough to hang in a Cathedral, it still looks good enough to eat!

Epiphany Tart

1 1/2 C. flour

1/2 C. powdered sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

9 Tbl. cold stick butter, cut into pieces

1 egg yolk

an assortment of jams

In a food processor, pulse dry ingredients to combine. Add butter and pulse until coarsely cut. Break up the yolk and add in parts, pulsing for 10 seconds after each addition. When the dough clumps, turn dough out onto a work surface. Knead lightly to mix in any unincorporated ingredients. Press into bottom and partially up the sides of a buttered tart pan. Shape the wise men's star with extra dough by pinching and pressing together. Place in freezer for 30 minutes. (I doubled the recipe and had some left over.)

Prior to baking

Preheat oven to 375. Bake tart for 25 minutes. Remove and fill sections with jam. Bake another 10 minutes until jam is set and tart is lightly browned. Cool on rack until ready to serve.

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Epiphany Feasting

This post was written by Robina, at Motherly Loving, and submitted for publication here at Catholic Cuisine. Thank you Robina!


For the feast of the epiphany, I made a couple symbolic things for dinner. The first for the children was macaroni and cheese stars. I used star silicone baking molds and made them little mini mac 'n cheeses to symbolize the Star of Bethlehem. They look orange in the picture but were really more really resembling a star.


Since foods with spices are traditional for the Feast of the Epiphany, I made a honey spice bread that was delicious. The recipe is below and is from Breaking Bread with Father Dominic.

Honey Spice Bread

Bread Machine
from Breaking Bread with Father Dominic

Ingredients:

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon butter

1 1/2 tablespoons honey

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

3 cups Flour

1 1/2 teaspoons FLEISCHMANN's Bread Machine Yeast

Directions:

Add milk, butter, honey, salt, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, flour and yeast to bread machine pan in the order suggested by the manufacturer. Select basic cycle; medium/color settings.

Yield: 1 (1 1/2-pound) loaf

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May Crowning

A May Crowning has become a tradition in our house and while I like to do it as early in May as I can, it can be done at any time during this month of Mary. I thought I would share some scenes and ideas from today:Our May Crowning tradition is to celebrate the many beautiful titles of Our Lady found in the Litany of Loreto and to pray a Memorare each night for those people who might fall under her patronage through a specific title. You can see one of our past lists here. We sing hymns, crown our three Mary statues and place flowers on our Mary altar. We pray the Litany of Loreto and then enjoy a feast. As for the menu, some old favorites and some new treats were planned and prepared.

~Mother Most Pure Calla Lily Sandwiches~

A variation of these. Peanut butter inside of white bread circles and pinched at one end. A banana segment rolled in yellow sprinkles and a green swizzle stick stem completes the lily nicely.

~Mirror of Justice Bites~
We chose tuna fish (Star of the Sea) on top of Melba toast rounds served on a mirror but you could choose anything since it is the mirror that ties this in. Might I suggest a little cream cheese on the bottom of each bite. Mirrors make very slippery serving trays. Ask me how I know.

~Queen of Martyrs Cake~
I did not make this delicious cake. We picked it up from a local bakery. It is a Strawberry Boston Cream Cake and it is delicious! As my son said, "The red is for the martyrs and the strawberries make it look like a crown." Bingo! I did decorate some sugar cookies with frosting forget-me-nots as part of our decorative theme.

~Tower of Ivory, House of Gold~
Mozzerella Cheese Sticks and Colby Jack cheese cubes.

~Mystical Roses~
Turkey breast roses and cucumber roses. I used the leftover turkey breast from the sandwiches below and a cucumber following these instructions. For some reason that website takes a long time to come up so wait for it. Also, I think Japanese cucumbers have smaller seed pockets. Mine held together only because they were impaled on toothpicks but they did look cool!

~Vessels of Honor~
My kids know that using great-grandma's punch bowl and cups is a huge honor. This year, we used 7Up,vanilla ice cream, and one small box blue gelatin (unsweetened if you can find it) to make our Mary Blue Punch. Stir the 7Up and gelatin together until gelatin dissolves. Pour into punch bowl and float vanilla ice cream clouds on top.

~Morning Star~
Star shaped turkey and cheese sandwiches (because we ran out of Calla Lilly stems). I did serve them with their tops on and a little mayo/mustard mixture on the side.

If you need more information to make one of these I'd be happy to help and I would love to see what a May Crowning looks like in your home!

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The Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas

Tomorrow, January 28th, marks the feast of one of the greatest Doctors of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas. It is also the date on which The Summa Theologica, written by St. Thomas, was originally published. Before 1969, and in the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, his feast was (and is) observed on March 7th, the anniversary of his death.

St. Thomas Aquinas is the Dominican order's greatest glory. He taught philosophy and theology with such genius that he is considered one of the leading Christian thinkers. His innocence, on a par with his genius, earned for him the title of "Angelic Doctor". Read the rest here...

In her book My Nameday Come for Dessert, author Helen McLoughlin shares a number of ideas for celebrating the feast of this amazing saint (I've added links where applicable):

The star, St. Thomas Aquinas' symbol, signifies the divine guidance given him in his work. A chalice and host are also used as symbols. A star cake-tin and a star cookie-cutter, or a sunburst dessert mold are a delight to a child who likes to help prepare nameday dessert; small children may cut out stars or stick gummed stars on place-mats or paper plates.

For dessert you might make a book cake inscribed with our Lord's words: "You have written well of Me, Thomas" (this can be done with "Cake-Mate"). A dove on a book cake, a rosary cake, or a crown cake are other suggestions.

Our week is pretty busy, but it shouldn't be too hard to find time to let the children cut-out and bake some star shaped cookies in honor of St. Thomas. I have a bag of Betty Crocker Cookie Mixin the cupboard left over from Epiphany, but here is a yummy recipe from the archives in case any of you would like to join us!

Also from the aforementioned book is this beautiful prayer which may be said (or sung) as a family on his feast:

Father: This is St. Thomas' festal day,
Celestial doctor of the King;
Let Mother Church in prayerful lay
Devoutly all his praises sing.

All: While all the Church enjoys the aid
The Angelic Doctor doth bestow,
St. Dominic's fold by him is made
To share with glory's special glow.

Father: O Doctor of the faithful here below,
Fair blossom of virginity unstained,
St. Thomas, grant that we may come to know
The joys which thy triumphant state hath gained.

All: St. Thomas, Doctor of the Church divine,
Italia's star, to all the world a light,
A virgin with chaste lily shining bright,
The twofold crown of glory now is thine.

Father: Let us pray. O God, You enlightened Your Church with the wonderful learning of blessed Thomas, Your confessor, and made it fruitful by his holy works; grant us, we pray, both to understand what he taught and to follow the example of his life. Through Christ, our Lord.

All: Amen. Christ conquers, Christ reigns!

St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us!

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