Flower Fruit Sandwiches for Our Lady

O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today!

Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.

Earlier this month I ran across a photo of some lovely flower covered sandwiches and was inspired to try something similar with my children in honor of Our Lady during her month of May. Due to the pandemic and stay-at-home order I used what I happened to have on hand, so some of our fruit was frozen instead of fresh, but they still turned out lovely! 

To make the sandwiches we simply trimmed the crusts off of some white bread, spread some homemade whipped cream over the bread, and then decorated each tea sandwich with flowers made from slices of fruit. 

We used fresh cuties and kiwis along with frozen blueberries, strawberries and a little mango. 

I just shared additional pictures over at Shower of Roses.

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Pope St. Clement - Clementine Cranberry Tea Bread

On this feast of Pope St. Clement I think of clementines for feasting. The timing is prime as clementine cuties are just starting to become abundant in the stores - right as we celebrate St. Clement's feast. This tasty sweet and tangy tea bread is a fitting tribute to today's patron.  Enjoy this bread with breakfast, brunch, or afternoon tea.

Clementine Cranberry Tea Bread

Ingredients:

4 ounces butter, at room temperature

2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

zest of 3 clementines

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup dried cranberries, chopped

Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons clementine juice

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325º. Grease and flour 8 x 4 or 9×5″ loaf.

Combine the butter, cream cheese, sugar and zest in mixer bowl. Beat on medium until light, 3 – 4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating until combined after each addition, and scraping sides. Stir in the vanilla. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.  Add it to batter, stirring on low speed until just combined. Fold the batter a few times with a rubber spatula to make sure zest clumps are distributed throughout the batter. Fold in the cranberries. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Bake 75-90 minutes until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.  Cool for 15 minutes and remove from the pan. Poke it all over the top with a toothpick or skewer.

Make the glaze:
While loaf is cooling, whisk together the powdered sugar and juice. Brush the glaze over the top and sides. Cool completely and serve. Makes one 9×5″ loaf.

Pope St. Clement, Pray for us. 

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A St. Therese "Shower of Roses" Tea Party

"My mission-to make God loved-will begin after my death.

I will spend my heaven doing good on earth.

I will send a shower of roses."

Saturday afternoon, in honor of St. Therese, we had a "Shower of Roses" Tea Party.  It was just the children and I, since my husband was working on a fire engine for the day, and I actually nearly skipped doing anything special (other than letting the kids work on some of the printables I had created) since I had a low grade fever on Friday and still wasn't feeling completely back to normal - thinking we would just wait until today, her traditional feast to celebrate.

However, dear St. Therese must have come to my rescue once again... I started feeling a little better that afternoon, and decided to try and pull together a simple little tea party.  After a quick trip to our local market (to try and find some eclairs, ingredients to make our own eclairs, or maybe some cream puffs) everything just fell into place, and our "Shower of Roses" Tea Party turned out much lovelier than I had imagined!

~ On the Menu ~

St. Therese of Lisieux Tea

Red Rose Naturally Decaffeinated Tea

Cream and Sugar Cubes

Heavenly Rose Garden Tea Sandwiches

Fruit and Veggie Platter

"The Story of a Soul" Cookies

Saintly Symbols Cupcakes :: St. Therese of Lisieux

Rose Petal Scones

French Vanilla Rolled Wafers

Éclairs

St. Therese of Lisieux Tea

 I pulled out my St. Therese Tea from Sancti-Teas, a couple precious statues, and my rose tea pots to get started!  I purchased the tea awhile back, and use it for special occasions only, so I still have plenty.  I also made a decaffeinated Red Rose tea that my children like as well. 

Heavenly Rose Garden Tea Sandwiches

I then started working on some Tea Sandwiches.   I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to make, but wanted to try to come up with a Rose themed sandwich and ended up with these "Heavenly Rose Garden Tea Sandwiches!"  They turned out so pretty and were not only delicious, but healthy as well!   The perfect alternative to all the sweets, especially for this pregnant momma who has been gaining weight a little quicker than I would like! 

I then went on to make some more Rose Tea Sandwiches, using Turkey Roses and Snap Pea Leaves - some with the Garden Vegetable Cream Cheese that I had used for the first tea sandwiches, and some with plain cream cheese for my younger children. 

"The Story of a Soul" Cookies

These "Story of a Soul" cookies were a last minute addition, when I happened to see a package of Rose Colored (Strawberry) Bar Cookies on an end cap at the market.   I put a little icing on the top of each (left over from my Little Flowers Meeting) in addition to a small mini candy rose, after deciding that it would take forever to write on them all with my Easy Writer Food Decorators.   

Saintly Symbol Cupcakes :: St. Therese, the Little Flower

I haven't posted about them all yet, but this is another one of the "Saintly Symbol Cupcakes" that I came up with for Wreath IV of Little Flowers, in honor of St. Therese, decorating the cupcakes with gold sprinkles, mini candy roses, and a chocolate cross.

Rose Petal Scones

I had recently run across this recipe for Rose Petal Drop Scones and considered making them, but honestly didn't feel up to baking, nor was I able to find Rose Water, or edible Roses for that matter.  Instead I purchased a little package of freshly baked Orange Cranberry Scones (the cranberry's at least look somewhat like Rose Petals!) from the bakery, and placed them on one of my daughters Rose Tea Platters.

French Vanilla Rolled Wafers

Since St. Therese was French, these French Vanilla Rolled Wafers from the cupboard were a great addition to our tea. 

Éclairs

Of course, our tea had to include Éclairs, St. Therese's favorite treat, and I was happy to find four at the bakery.  (In the past we have made our own, but our local market doesn't carry the ladyfingers.)  We already had plenty of treats to choose from, so each of my children split them, just one half each, which was plenty. 

I scattered rose shaped and pink tea lights over the table, which was covered with a light pink tablecloth and then our Angels and Roses lace tablecloth, while the boys set out our China and tea spoons.  

Everyone enjoyed our tea very much!  You can see a few more pictures from our afternoon over at Shower of Roses.  

St. Therese, the little flower,
please pick me a rose from the heavenly garden
and send it to me with a message of love; 
ask God to grant me the favor I thee implore 
and tell Him I will love Him each day more and more.

St. Therese, the Little Flower, 

Pray for us!

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Heavenly Rose Garden Tea Sandwiches

Today we had a lovely afternoon Tea Party in honor of St. Therese.   I will have to come back later to share pictures since we are about to have a family movie night, watching Miracle of St. Therese, but I wanted to share these yummy sandwiches that I came up with, as a healthy addition (and alternative for me, since I am trying to avoid most sweets) to our tea party treats.

Heavenly Rose Garden Tea Sandwiches
 for St. Therese

Ingredients/Supplies:

Favorite Sandwich Bread

Garden Vegetable Cream Cheese (or Hummus)

Tomatoes

Basil Leaves

Round Cookie Cutter

Sharp knife

I choose the delicious bread we have been getting from Costco lately... How can you go wrong with one that says "Heavenly texture and Saintly Flavor" on the package! ;) 

Directions:

I did a quick online search for tomato roses and came up with several videos showing how to make a rose from a tomato. It is really quite easy: just peel it in one long spiral and roll the desired length into the shape of a rose.

I then cut a circle out of each slice of bread. Then spread a nice thick layer of Garden Vegetable Cream Cheese to the top. Hummus would actually be a nice alternative as well, for anyone that can not have dairy! I then just added the tomato rose to the top along with a couple of freshly picked basil leaves from our garden.

Not only did they turn out pretty, they tasted heavenly and were the perfect addition to our "Shower of Roses Tea!"

St. Therese, the Little Flower, 

please pick me a rose from the heavenly garden 

and send it to me with a message of love. 

Ask God to grant me the favor I thee implore 

and tell him I will love him each day more and more.

St. Therese, the Little Flower, 

Pray for us! 

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St. Josephine Bakhita

We studied St. Josephine Bakhita a few years ago and enjoyed trying a traditional Sudanese tea and dessert at that time. Since my daughter chose St. Josephine for her Confirmation Saint, we now have a wonderful reason to celebrate her feast day every year.

There are a couple of different ideas you could pull from to celebrate this beautiful woman who knew the chains of slavery and the freedom of faith. She was born in Sudan in 1869 and died in a little town in Northern Italy named Schio.

To honor her birth country, you might consider some African foods, or just your regular fare but with a change of venue. A traditional Sudanese meal would be eaten on pillows around a low table. We like to use our coffee table! A small glass of fruit juice is offered to the guests who have traveled to show that they are welcome after their journey. Dinner begins with a soup course which is followed by the main course served on one large tray. The main course is usually eaten with flat bread. No utensils are offered as the entree is expected to be sopped up with the bread.

For dessert, Creme Caramela (also known as flan) is a tasty traditional treat. I am using a box mix this year (Jell-O Flan), but hope to try this recipe soon. (Pictures later.)

You can make your own cinnamon infused tea with regular black tea and cinnamon sticks if you don't have any Twinings Herbal Revive Cinnamon Tea on hand. (BTW... If you are off caffeine or prone to anxiety, you might want to stick with the cinnamon sticks. Cinnamon in high concentration can stimulate the nervous system just like caffeine.)

Another idea for celebrating St. Josephine is to honor the country that gave her the freedom she had long been denied. When she was purchased by an Italian Consul named Callisto Legnani, St. Josephine's life changed. She experienced kindness, cordiality, love and ultimately freedom. Any Italian dish will do to honor the country that gave St. Josephine her first Sacraments and a home. It still might be fun to eat dinner on pillows instead of chairs!

St. Josephine Bakhita, Mother "Moretta" and African flower, pray for us! Pin It

St. Charles Lwanga & Companians

Today is the feast day of Charles Lwanga and Companions, 19th century martyrs from Uganda, Africa. They are the first martyrs of Sub-Saharan Africa. Saints such as Charles Lwanga are examples of the true universality of the Church and it's zealous followers.

It is fun and educational to incorporate cultural foods of the saints into our feast day remembrances, especially ones that might not be familiar to us. There are a variety or recipes I found online that are representative of the Ugandan culture. Here is one that seems fairly simple and would make a nice tea-time snack.

Amandazi (Fritters)

3/4 cup cornmeal

1/4 cup wheat flour

1 1/2 Tbsp sugar

1 Egg

1/2 cup Milk

Oil for frying

In a bowl, mix flour and sugar. Add the egg and milk and stir to form a viscous dough. Heat the oil in pan. Add the dough one spoon at a time and fry until golden. Place on paper towels to remove excess oil and serve hot.

Enjoy your amandazi with a cup of sweetened chai tea - a common beverage in the East African countries.

Prayer:
Martyrs of Uganda, pray for the faith where it is danger and for Christians who must suffer because of their faith. Give them the same courage, zeal, and joy you showed. And help those of us who live in places where Christianity is accepted to remain aware of the persecution in other parts of the world. ~Amen Pin It

Pretzels

Traditionally, the pretzel was only eaten during Lent. It is available all year round now, but before it became a popular snack food it was available from Ash Wednesday to Good Friday. There are records of Lenten pretzels in a 5th century manuscript in the Vatican Library. Early Christians ate no dairy products during Lent, so pretzels were made from the simplest of ingredients - flour, salt, and water.

It is made in the shape of two arms crossed in prayer. The origin of the name comes from the word "bracellae" (little arms). In German it became "Bretzel" which then changed to "Pretzel".

If you haven't yet made pretzels during Lent, why not try it during Holy Week?

Pretzels

1 tablespoon honey or sugar
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
1 envelope active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups flour (I make mine with half white, half whole wheat sometimes)
Coarse or kosher salt
1 egg, beaten

Add the honey to the water; sprinkle in the yeast and stir until dissolved. Add 1 teaspoon salt. Blend in flour, and knead the dough until smooth. Cut the dough into pieces. Roll them into ropes and twist into pretzel shapes. Place pretzels on lightly greased cookie sheet. Brush them with beaten egg. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake at 425 for 12 - 15 minutes - or until the pretzels are golden brown.

These pretzels make a lovely Lenten tea. Pair them with a nice Earl Grey or your favorite tea. Pin It

Teatime Suggestions for Lent and Easter

 

 
Alice Gunther, author of the wonderful book Haystack Full of Needles, A Catholic Home Educator's Guide to Socialization, shares some inspiring and symbolically rich suggestions for "Teatime" on her blog Cottage Blessings.  She has a few "Teas" for the Lent and Easter season which I plan to serve my children this year.  Alice has made it very easy to implement by including menu suggestions, recipes, reading suggestions, and even shopping lists! 

Here is her first Lenten Tea Menu.  This menu is based on Chapter 14 of the Gospel of Mark and is perfect for Holy Thursday.  The Menu includes the following:

• Palm on the Road
• Costly Oil
• Thirty Pieces of Silver
• Unleavened Bread
• Mount of Olives
• The Cock Crows Twice
• Gethsemane Figs
• Judas' Kiss
• Clouds of Heaven
• Saint Peter's Tears

Her Second Lenten Tea is perfect for Good Friday and is presented using Chapter 15 of the Gospel of Mark.  This Menu includes:

• The King's Crown
• Out of Envy
• The Purple Cloak
• The Crown of Thorns
• Golgotha Eggs
• The Seamless Garment
• Two Robbers
• Vinegar to Drink
• The Roman Centurion
• Laid in the Tomb

Then, for Easter, she shares a Joyous Easter Tea.   Unlike the two Lenten Teas, she has loaded this menu "with sweets and treats and even a slice or two of savory ham."  

• Tea
  
• Stone Scones
• Linen Cloth and Napkin
• Two Angels
• The Gardener
• Peace be with You
• Receive the Holy Spirit
• The Twin
• Thomas' Thumbprint Cookies
• Many Other Signs and Wonders

I hope you have an opportunity to try out one (or ALL) of these tea's with your families!  I am really looking forward to it myself.  Thank you Alice! Pin It

Feast Day Sugar Cookies

The go-to dessert in our house for feast days when I'm either rushed for time, or just can't come up with something original, is frosted sugar cookies. Frosted in green for St. Patrick's Day, as they are pictured here, or with white frosting and blue sugar for a Marian feast day, or with a country's flag colors for any international saint, they make a fun addition to a feast day or dessert. The cookie taste and texture is a lot like cookies from Cheryl & Co., if you're familiar with them, or a standard bakery sugar cookie. They are soft, due to the short bake time and thick cut, and frosted with thick buttercream frosting. They are one of my kids' favorites and there are never cookies left for very long.



(I rolled my St. Patrick cookies a little too thinly and they browned a little too quickly, so do as I say and not as I do.) ;-)

Bakery Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter Crisco (or butter, but you'll get a crisper cookie)
1 cup sugar
2 t. baking soda
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
3 cups flour
a few tablespoons of milk as necessary

Cream together Crisco (or butter) and sugar with electric mixer.
Add egg, vanilla and baking soda.
Add flour one cup at a time.
Add milk one tablespoon at a time until dough is of rolling consistency.
Roll out and cut into shapes (roll thickly -- about 1/4 to 1/3 inch).
Bake for 6-7 minutes on ungreased cookie sheet
on top shelf of oven at 400 degrees.
(Cookies will look undone on top).
Cool and frost.

Frosting:
4 T. softened butter
2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 t. vanilla
a few T. milk to make frosting spreading consistency

Beat butter in a mixing bowl and add powdered sugar gradually.
Add vanilla and milk and beat until frosting is a good spreading consistency.

After frosting cookies, sprinkle immediately with colored sugar.
Let frosting harden slightly before stacking the cookies.

* Cookies can be frozen for a few months -- freeze before frosting.
On the day they are needed, pull the desired number out of the freezer and thaw.
Make frosting fresh and frost (and sugar) when cookies reach room temp.


A few color suggestions for sugar cookie frosting and sugar sprinkles:

Pink -- St. Valentine's Day, Laetare Sunday, Gaudete Sunday
Red -- Pentecost and any Feasts of Jesus' Passion and Precious Blood (like Corpus Christi), feasts of the Cross, feasts of apostles and martyrs
Purple -- Lent and Advent
Blue -- Marian Feast Days
White -- Angel feast days

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St. John Bosco's Feast Day

Enjoy yourself as much as you like

- if only you keep from sin. - Saint John Bosco

We love celebrating the feast of this very joyful saint. Our tradition every January 31st is to make Bachelor Button cookies and drink (decaf) caffe lattes. From our celebration two years ago:

To celebrate this feast day, we a have a little family tradition of making Bachelor Buttons. I started this a long time ago and The Professor has never let me off the hook. I chose this recipe simply because you roll the dough into balls and then roll them in sugar before putting them on the pan to bake. I told the children they were like the juggling balls Don Bosco used to entertain people with. In exchange for the entertainment, he would ask them to go to Mass or say a rosary. I am sure there are many cookie recipes that would also require this step, but the Bachelor Buttons are the ones requested. (Maybe because they sound so masculine?)

Here is the recipe I use. It is from a friend of the family who passed away several years ago but who is remembered fondly whenever I pull out that yellowed, wrinkly card from my recipe box:

Bachelor Buttons
3/4 C. butter
1 C. brown sugar
1 egg
2 C. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
1 C. nuts, chopped (optional)

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and beat well. Mix in dry ingredients. Stir in nuts. Chill several hours. Shape into balls. Roll in granulated sugar. Cook 2 inches apart at 375 degrees for 8 - 10 minutes. Use a mix of walnuts, almonds, pecans, etc... for a special treat.

(My kids are not fond of nuts in cookies so we make them without.)

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Feast Day Plans

We love Blessed Mother Teresa. We used to attend Mass at the home parish of a group of Missionaries of Charity who always showed up for the earliest Mass radiating love and charity. My girls would race across the church plaza to receive big hugs and smiles from these beautiful ladies.

Last year's celebration was remembered fondly by my kids so this year will be more of the same with a few exceptions. Albania is located just northwest of Greece, so the food is very similar to Greek cuisine. Since the walnut cake was more complicated than I liked, I am thinking of Baklava this year. And my children are demanding requesting more homemade naan. They like it served with cheese cubes and fruit, but I still plan on making some hummus for the grown ups. Chai tea lattes are still on the menu and loved by everyone especially with a scoop of whipped cream on top! We brew our own chai tea, but here is a recipe for an instant version if you want to try it.

Lastly, here are two coloring pages I made for the girls to choose from.

Blessed Teresa 1
Blessed Teresa 2

Have a lovely day and stay dry if you can!
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