St Patrick's Day Bread

Sweet Pistachio Bread (Green Bread)

1 yellow cake mix
1 pkg instant pistachio pudding
4 eggs
1/4 cup oil
1 cup sour cream
5-10 drops of food coloring (or more)

Mix above well. Generously grease 2 loaf pans.
Dust with a mixture of 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon.
Reserve remaining sugar mix.
Pour batter into loaf pans.
Sprinkle remaining sugar mix on top.
Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes. (or til done)
Remove immediately from pans and place in plastic baggies and refrigerate!

I am about 1/8 Irish.  My mom always argued with my dad, saying us kids were more Irish than German. My dad is 99% German though, so he wins that one.  Us kids all had dark hair and blue eyes so mom always said we looked Irish.  I thought the Irish were famous for having red hair?

We make this bread for St Patrick's Day and for Christmas to give to all the neighbors!  It's always a hit!

Happy St. Patrick's Day and don't forget to wear your green!

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Our Lady of Sorrows AND The Exaltation of The Holy Cross

I always get so nervous to post something here on Catholic Cuisine,
I'm in the presence of such holy and creative women and
I think things like "Will I get in trouble for posting 2 feast days in 1 post?"
I hope not.
Today for Our Lady of Sorrows, we plan to bake some brownies.

 I got the idea of putting pretzels in the heart shape cake from Barbara.

We also plan to do 7 almonds, which represent 7 tears. (tear shaped nut) Picture 5 kiddos putting these nuts under their eyes to pretend they are tears....The coloring sheet is from Mathilda.



The Blessed Virgin told St Bridget of the seven graces given to all who honor her daily by saying seven Hail Mary's and meditating on her tears and dolors.


Here are the seven graces:

1. I will grant peace to their families.
2. They will be enlightened about the divine mysteries.
3. I will console them in their pains and I will accompany them in their work.
4. I will give them as much as they ask for as long as it does not oppose the adorable will of my divine Son or the sanctification of their souls.
5. I will defend them in their spiritual battles with the infernal enemy and I will protect them at every instant of their lives.
6. I will visibly help them at the moment of their death, they will see the face of their Mother.
7. I have obtained (This Grace) from my divine Son, that those who propagate this devotion to my tears and dolors, will be taken directly from this earthly life to eternal happiness since all their sins will be forgiven and my Son and I will be their eternal consolation and joy.

Seven Sorrows

1. The prophecy of Simeon.
2. The flight into Egypt.
3. The loss of the Child Jesus in the temple.
4. The meeting of Jesus and Mary on the Way of the Cross.
5. The Crucifixion.
6. The taking down of the Body of Christ from the Cross.
7. The burial of Jesus.

Yesterday we celebrated the Feast of the Exaltation of the  Holy Cross, or the Triumphant Cross

by making a cross cake.  This year, I didn't make a poke cake, (since not everyone likes wet cake) but decided to make a regular white cake and  then I set aside some of the batter and added red food coloring gel, enough to make it a good red, then added it to the top of the cake batter in the pan.  I had no idea how it would turn out, and, well, it didn't turn out as good as I thought it would, I should have poked it down with the end of a wooden spoon or something. (make a mental note of that Jamie, for next year)

 (next year, remember at this point to poke the batter down)

 My kitchen helper...especially when there are bowls to be licked!

 We made the pudding frosting:

1 pkg any flavor pudding (we used chocolate fudge)

1 cup milk

1 small container of cool whip

The heart and glow things are Starburst rolled out and cut into shape.

 I did like the vibrant colors the red batter made, this would work for the 

Feast of Divine Mercy too....or Christmas, add a little green...

(See?  Should have poked that red batter down)

We also enjoyed the Tomato Basil Mozzarella Salad.

I used grape tomatoes and added cucumbers and 

cut up the Mozzarella into bite size pieces.

(the cucumbers were from Christine's garden!)
It was delicious!

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Irish Spud Strips

Everyone loved these home made fries!

Following after Charlotte with the K.I.S.S. version of St Patrick's day,

We had Green Bread for Breakfast and these for supper!

Irish Spud Strips

6 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

9 tsp Cajun seasoning

4 Baking size potatoes (the huge ones)

peeled, sliced lengthwise into 1/4 inch strips

Canola oil for frying

Combine the Parmesan cheese and Cajun seasoning in a plastic bag.

Heat oil in skillet.

Pat potatoes dry with paper towels

Cook a handful at a time, turning once in a while

until golden brown.

Place on paper towels to drain.

Repeat with the rest of the potatoes.

Sprinkle with additional Parmesan cheese mixture if desired.

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Our Lady of Lourdes Chicken Soup and Dumplings

When I broke my leg a couple years ago, the lovely ladies in my Catholic Book Club brought our family meals for 2 months straight. This meal was one of those meals. I asked for a copy of the recipe from my friend Susan, and on the copy, it says it is from Building the Family Cookbook, by Suzanne Fowler.

At the top of the recipe, it reads:

This is a comforting soup and the perfect dinner to have after the "budget talk". Your husband will be impressed that you can make so little, so delicious and go so far!

Our Lady of Lourdes Chicken Soup and Dumplings

10 cups Water

2 Large Chicken Breasts (cooked and cut up for soup)

1 chopped onion

1 tsp Salt

3/4 tsp Pepper

1 Bay Leaf

1 1/2 c. Carrots, sliced

1 c. Celery, chopped (I used the inner w/leaves)

3/4 tsp garlic salt

2 Tbsp Chicken Bouillon (I used "Better Than Bouillon" brand)

Put all in pot and cook these for about an hour. Then add dumplings.

Dumplings:

2 cups Flour

3 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

4 Tbsp Cold Butter

1 cup Milk

3 Tbsp dried Parsley

Stir together the flour, baking powder, salt and parsley. Cut in cold butter until crumbly.

Mix in milk with fork. Drop by rounded Tablespoonfuls (or teaspoonful, depending how big you want your dumplings) into the soup. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Remove cover and carefully flip dumplings. Continue cooking uncovered for 10 minutes.

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Mexican Crispas

To celebrate the feast of St. Juan Diego today we made Mexican Crispas.

I referred to them here in this post, but for you visual readers (like myself) here are better directions.
All you need is:
Granulated sugar
Cinnamon
Oil (I use Canola)
Flour tortillas (I use store bought, I'm kind of the Semi-Semi Homemade cook)

Cut tortillas into triangles and fry in oil, browning both sides.

Then, place onto paper towels to drain a little of the oil, but not too long, just long enough to put more into the pan, then put the hot ones into a mixture of Cinnamon and Sugar in a bag, and shake to coat.

That's it.

Then eat warm or cold.

But, they are really good warm!

Enjoy!

I've been making these since I was a teen, and that was over 20 years ago!

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Cherry Angel Bread

We made this bread for breakfast for the feast of St. Nicholas.

I found the recipe in my Pillsbury Holiday magazine.

As I type this, I've realized I forgot to do the frosting. (oops!)
You will need:
1 can refrigerated crescent rolls
1/2 cup pineapple cream cheese spread (from 8 oz container)
2 Tbsp sugar
1 egg, separated
1/2 cup drained, chopped cherry pie filling
1 Tbsp water
1 tsp sugar

Heat oven to 375 degrees.
Spray cookie sheet with nonstick spray. Unroll dough onto cookie sheet forming 13x7 rectangle. Firmly press perforations to seal.
In medium bowl, beat cream cheese and 2 Tbsp sugar with electric mixer on medium speed til well blended. Beat in egg yolk. With spoon, stir in cherries. Spoon mixture lengthwise down center of dough rectangle in 2 1/2 inch wide strip. With scissor, cut 1 inch wide strips on each side of cream cheese filling to within 1/2 inch of filling. Alternately cross strips over filling.
beat egg white and water and brush over dough. (discard any remaining) sprinkle with 1 tsp sugar.
Bake 17-22 minutes until golden brown. Cool 5 minutes.

Glaze (which I forgot)
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp almond extract
1-2 tsp milk
Stir together and drizzle over warm braid. Store in refrigerator, if any left!
My kiddos loved even without the drizzled frosting!

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St Nicholas Cake!

We made our cake for St. Nicholas today since tomorrow will be a school day!

I saw a recipe for a Santa Claus cake in a Pillsbury Holiday magazine and decided to make it and just change the hat to make him St. Nicholas!
You'll need:
Any cake mix (we chose Red Velvet), and the ingredients to make that cake
White frosting
2 gumdrops
1 small marshmallow
Coconut
Yellow and red licorice pieces
Red sprinkles

Bake the cake according to the directions in a 13x9 cake pan.
Cool and cut in the above way


Frost and decorate!
The kids can't wait to dig in!
Happy Feast of St. Nicholas!

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Divine Mercy Rice Krispie Treat

For Divine Mercy, we made Rice Krispie bars, (with chocolate chips added after the krispies) put them into a heart shaped pan and used pull apart string licorice for the "mercy" side and white frosting (put into a baggie, corner cut and squirted out) for the "graces" side.

*Our computer was down yesterday, so this is late, but it can be made anytime, right?

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Mexican Sopapias For St Juan Diego or Our Lady of Guadalupe

I actually first made this recipe a very, very, long time ago. I was in 9th grade and had to bring a dish from another country for some class and I picked Mexico. Little did I know I'd be using it to teach my children some day so many years later!

My recipe spells the word this way: Sopapias, but I've seen it spelled as Sopaipillas, I think they are the same, Mexican fry bread.

Sopapias

4 cups flour

1 1/4 tsp salt

3 tsp baking powder

4-5 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons shortening

1 1/4 cups milk (or more if needed, I needed)

Oil (for frying)

Powdered sugar (for coating)

In large bowl, mix dry ingredients. Cut shortening into dry mixture with fork. Add milk, mix well. Here you will need to add more milk if you can't get the dough to form a ball. Next form the ball and cover bowl and let stand 30-60 minutes.

On a well floured surface, roll dough to thickness of 1/4 inch and cut into squares or whatever shape you'd like I guess, but I always do little squares.

Heat oil in pan and place dough shapes in the oil. Cook until brown on both sides, constantly flipping and checking. (I heat it to a med/high temp) The shapes will puff a little.

Drain on papertowel or paper bag and coat with powdered sugar. (I put powdered sugar in a baggie and shake the bread to coat) The kids really loved this recipe and it was really fun to make it again for my own children. We had the leftovers today for breakfast and for snack!!

Since we made these Sopapias for the feast of St Juan Diego, on Friday we will make Mexican Crispas, which are just flour tortillas cut with a pizza cutter into triangles and fried the same way as these Sopapias then covered in cinnamon and sugar alongside of cheese tortillas!

Happy Feast days!

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Holy Name of Mary Cookies

I hope it's not too late to post this! I decided since my 2 and 4 year olds are learning their ABC's, cookie cutter cookies of Mary's name would be fun for today! My cutout cookie recipe always gets rave reviews by my husband's co-workers, and these men can be brutal. SO, here it is:

Cookie Cutter Cookies

1 cup salted butter (2 sticks)

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons baking powder

3 cups all purpose flour

3 Tablespoons milk

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Mix baking powder and flour in bowl. On low speed, gradually beat flour mixture into butter mixture until combined. Add milk; beat until dough masses around beaters.

Divide dough in half or thirds (whatever you prefer). Lightly flour work surface and roll out dough to 1/3 inch thickness. Cut shapes.

Bake for 10 minutes. ( I usually bake them for 14, so I suppose it depends on your oven)

Cool and frost.

Buttercream Frosting

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening

1/2 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla

4 cups powdered sugar

2 Tbs milk (or more depending on how thin you want your frosting)

Blue food coloring (or whatever color you need)

Cream butter and shortening. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. When all sugar has been mixed, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat on high speed until light and fluffy.

Makes 3 cups.
Makes enough for cookie recipe to be doubled or tripled.

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Ascension Pancakes!

My 8 year old son, after seeing this, asked "what do I have to eat to get that?" I explained this is our lunch! It's kind of a dessert pancake, for lunch! We made these today after Mass. In our diocese, the Feast day was moved to Sunday, so we get to celebrate the Ascension twice! We are planning on having Mathilda's Ascension Cloud dessert for supper tonight!

Paula told me she was planning on making Ascension Pancakes on Sunday, so I googled it and this is what I found:

Pancake = the earth Jesus walked on.
Fresh strawberries= blood Jesus shed.
Chocolate syrup= roads Jesus traveled.
Whipped topping= clouds our Lord ascended into.
Sprinkles= the sweetness of life in Heaven.

We also put regular syrup on these.
My pancake recipe: (I always double this though)
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1-2 Tbsp sugar
1 cup flour
2-4 Tbsp oil
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 Tbsp cinnamon (optional)

Beat egg until foamy. Mix rest of ingredients until smooth. Fry.

*It is such an honor to be a part of this wonderful Catholic Cuisine blog!! I was afraid Jessica would kick me out if I did not put something on pretty soon! I hope someday we can all sit down and have some Catholic Cuisine food together and meet in real life! Pin It