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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Saint Valentine's Oatmeal Bake

This post was written by past Catholic Cuisine contributor Amy.

I have been using a certain recipe for Oatmeal bake for about a year now, but decided to change it up a bit. Then I figured, I would share it with you!  This would make a perfect Saint Valentine breakfast or treat with some added white chocolate chips!

Since there are some people in this house that would rather eat dirt in this house than eat a bowl of oatmeal,  this is a nice alternative.  Everyone likes it and it make a ton, so even if you do not have a large family you can stick it in an air tight container and snack on it.

Oatmeal Bake
serves approx. 12

1 cup butter
1 cup all natural peanut butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup applesauce
1 Tablespoon vanilla
4 cups oats
3 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup dried cherries
shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Cream together butter and peanut butter.  Add sugar and whip till fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time and then vanilla.
In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients except dried fruit and coconut.  Slowly add to wet ingredients.  When fully combined add dried fruit.
Press into a buttered 10x15  pan.  Helpful hint: wet down your hands.  Sprinkle with shredded coconut and arrange some extra dried cherries on top in he shape of a heart.  Bake for 20-30 minutes.

Arrange some extra dried cherries on top in he shape of a heart.

This is so yummy with a tall glass of ice cold milk!

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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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Pure Potato Soup in Honor of Our Lady

The following recipe was submitted by Lori, from Busy with Blessings, for the upcoming feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. Thank you Lori!

On February 11th we celebrate Our Lady's first apparition to St. Bernadette at Lourdes, France.  We celebrate a name day on this feast day so it's an extra special day here.  Last year I served a special French meal (American style) including Pure Potato Soup, Ham Steak, and French Rolls.  (By the way the potato soup is only 2 pts a cup - if your counting :)

Pure Potato Soup in honor of Our Lady

Ingredients:

1 small onion
Bag of shredded potatoes
Packet of White Gravy Mix.
Broth 1 - 26oz box plus about a half of an addition can

Directions:

Saute the onion in a little of the broth from the box. Once the onion is translucent, add remaining stock from the box and the bag of shredded potatoes. In a separate bowl, whisk together the packet of white gravy mix with about half of the can of broth. Once this is mixed well, add to the soup. Bring up to temp. then reduce and simmer about 30 to 45 min. or until your potatoes are soft.

The white gravy mix makes the soup a little on the peppery side (which I really liked)! The specks of pepper in the soup can remind us of our sins and how we are to pray to Our Lady asking her to help us to be good.

And here's a beautiful prayer from Catholic Culture to pray before tonights meal:

Table Blessing for the Feasts of the Mother of God

We praise and magnify you, O Lord, the most high, for in the fullness of time you chose the humble virgin of Nazareth as the mother of your only begotten Son. By the intercession of her prayers we beg your blessing upon our daily food and drink. May they sustain us in our journey until you bring us to the eternal joy of heaven, where Jesus is king forever and ever. Amen

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Rice Krispie Treat Grotto for Our Lady of Lourdes

Inspired by the Grotto for Our Lady found in the archives, Lacy at Catholic Icing made a Rice Krispie variation and submitted it for publication here at Catholic Cuisine.  Thank you Lacy!  

The feast of Our Lady of Lourdes is on February 11. Last year I saw the grotto made from fruity pebbles, and I thought it was one of the most adorable Catholic feast day celebration ideas I had ever seen! I knew I had to try my hand at making one this year! :-)

I didn't actually have a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes, so we just used the Mary from our Little People Nativity set. I get that it's cute to make a grotto out of fruity pebbles or cocoa pebbles because of the play on words "pebbles", but I opted for regular rice krispies.

First I made a regular batch of rice krispie treats. Some of them were spread flat into a pan like normal, but some of it I molded for the grotto using my bunt pan.

Warm rice krispie treats are surprisingly easy to mold any which way you want to. I read somewhere that if they start to set up too fast, you can use your hair dryer to make them pliable again. (If you wanted to make a big grotto, I think you could totally fill the bunt pan and cut it in half for the grotto piece.) Then I cut the sheet of rice krispie treats into squares and built my grotto as best I could.

 

I decided it looked boring and unfinished. It needed something more. So I whipped up another batch of rice krispie treats (only with cornflakes and green food coloring- like the cornflake wreaths you can make at Christmas time) to add some greenery cascading down our grotto. This was super easy to do while this stuff was warm! Just blob it on there- it looks so natural! ;-)  It still seemed to be missing something... so I added a few roses at Mary's feet. They were also really easy to make. Just take a long skinny piece of a fruit roll up and roll it into a tiny rose. Voila!

Our Lady of Lourdes, Pray for us! 

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Recipes for February ~ Month Dedicated to Holy Family

The Month of February is dedicated 

to the Holy Family.

"Nothing truly can be more salutary or efficacious for Christian families to meditate upon than the example of this Holy Family, which embraces the perfection and completeness of all domestic virtues." ~ Pope Leo XIII

February 1st, St. Brigid (Hist.):

• St. Brigid's Bread
• St. Brigid's Oaten Bread
• Irish Soda Bread
• Irish Beef and Guinness Stew
• Irish Potato Pancakes

 

February 2nd, Presentation of Our Lord (New and Trad) also known as the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Candlemas Day (Trad):

• Fun and Fancy Folds - Napkin Folding for Feast Days
• Candle Cake for Candlemas
• Edible Candles for Candlemas
• Candlemas Crepes
• A Light Dessert for Candlemas
• An Afternoon Tea for Candlemas

 

February 3rd, St. Blaise (New, Trad.):

• Fun and Fancy Folds - Napkin Folding for Feast Days 
• Candle Cake for Candlemas 
• Edible Candles for Candlemas
• St. Blaise's Cookies

February 5th, St. Agatha (New, Trad.):

• Saint Agatha Rolls

February 11th, Our Lady of Lourdes (New, Trad.):

• Crepes for the Feast of St. Bernadette
• Blueberry Muffins for Our Lady
• A (Blue) French Meal for Our Lady of Lourdes
• A Grotto for Our Lady  
• Mary's Immaculate Conception (An all white dinner!)
• Roses for Our Lady
• Springs at the Grotto (pictured here)
• Many more ideas can be found under the label for the Blessed Virgin Mary...

February 8th, St. Josephine Bakhita (New):

• St. Josephine Bakhita

February 14th, St. Valentine (Trad.):

• Strawberry Syrup for Valentine's Day
• St. Valentine's Day - A Celebration of Heroic Love
• St. Valentine's Day Treats
• I Heart Donuts
• St. Valentine's Day Cinnamon Rolls
• Nothing Says "I Love You" Like...

February 16th, St. Paul Shipwrecked (Malta):

• Victory Vessels

February 18th, St. Bernadette Soubirous (New, Trad.):

• Crepes for the Feast of St. Bernadette
• Blueberry Muffins for Our Lady
• A (Blue) French Meal for Our Lady of Lourdes
• A Grotto for Our Lady  
• Mary's Immaculate Conception (An all white dinner!)

February 20th Bls. Francisco Marto & Jacinta Marto (New/some places):

• October 13th - The Miracle of the Sun
• Dancing Sun Cupcakes
• Portuguese Dish for Our Lady of Fatima
• Spinning Sun Cake
• Fatima Miracle of the Sun Fruit Platter

February 27th, St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows (Trad.):

• Various suggestions for Our Lady of Sorrows

Lord Jesus Christ, who, being made subject to Mary and Joseph, didst consecrate domestic life by Thine ineffable virtues; grant that we, with the assistance of both, may be taught by the example of Thy holy Family and may attain to its everlasting fellowship. Who livest and reignest, world without end. Amen.

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Saint Brigid Vegetable Soup

This post was written by past Catholic Cuisine contributor Amy.



Saint Brigid snuck up on me this year! I was already making chicken stock for soup for tonight, so I decided to do some research on how to make my broth Irish! Searching online I found one reviewer on All Recipes say how to make an authentic Irish vegetable soup.

She explained that it always starts with homemade stock (beef or chicken). You add desired vegetables already chopped. I will use onions, carrots, celery, and some red peppers (you know what ever was in the fridge!). Simmer till vegetables are tender.

I know what you are thinking… if it is Irish there has to be a potato in it, right? Right!

When the soup is served, you place a whole boiled potato in the bowl and pour the soup over it!

This is a great, quick, option for dinner tonight on the Feast of Saint Brigid! Serve with warm homemade bread for a not so quick option! There are many Irish Soda Breads around, too, including Barbara’s right here.



Also, don't forget to serve some Irish beer with dinner (for those of age, of course!).

St. Brigid’s Prayer

I’d like to give a lake of beer to God.


I’d love the Heavenly


Host to be tippling there


For all eternity.

I’d love the men of Heaven to live with me,


To dance and sing.


If they wanted, I’d put at their disposal


Vats of suffering.

White cups of love 

I’d give them,


With a heart and a half;


Sweet pitchers of mercy I’d offer


To every man.

I’d make Heaven a cheerful spot,


Because the happy heart is true.


I’d make the men contented for their own sake


I’d like Jesus to love me too.

I’d like the people of heaven to gather


From all the parishes around,


I’d give a special welcome to the women,


The three Marys of great renown.

I’d sit with the men, the women of God


There by the lake of beer


We’d be drinking good health forever


And every drop would be a prayer.

God Bless and Happy Feast of Saint Brigid!

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