Edible St. Agnes Lambs

The following post was submitted by Sarah Rose, from Rose's Supposes, for the feast of St. Agnes. Thank you Sarah Rose!

St. Agnes' feast day is today, January 21st! She was a young Roman girl who promised her life to God. Because of her beauty many men wanted to marry her, but she always refused, saying "Jesus Christ is my only Spouse." One of them became so angry when she refused him, he turned her in for being a Christian. She was then tortured and killed for refusing to deny her faith. She was only thirteen years old when she was martyred. She is the patron of young girls, (among other things.) Learn more about St. Agnes here.

In art she is often pictured holding a lamb, as her name is very similar to the Latin word "Agnus" which means lamb.

So today I decided to make a healthy snack of vegetable lambs in honor of St. Agnes. 

For each lamb you will need:

• 3 toothpicks cut in half (kitchen shears work well for this)
• 1 white mushroom cap or 1 cauliflower floret
• 1 large black olive

Stick four of the toothpick halves into the bottom of the mushroom or cauliflower. These are the legs. Then stick one toothpick half in the top to hold the head. The black olives already have a hole in the middle so you can just slide them on! Serve them as is or with a dip. You could even give them a meadow of salad to frolic on.

While we were making the lambs I read a short bio of St. Agnes, and then afterwards we said a St. Agnes prayer.

Prayer to Saint Agnes

St. Agnes, although you were only a child, you believed that Jesus was always with you; help us to remember that he is also with us, and to remain true to his presence.

St. Agnes, you refused to give up your faith; help us to be proud of our faith, to love it, to be strong in it, and to give witness to it daily.

St. Agnes, patron saint of children, watch over the children of the world; keep them safe from harm; be with them in their hour of need; and always pray for them. Amen.

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Saint Felix and the Spider :: Spider Web Snacks

In honor of the memorial of Saint Felix of Nola which is celebrated on January 14th, and inspired by the newly published picture book Saint Felix and the Spider, yesterday afternoon we made Spider Web Snacks.  These delicious sweet and salty snacks were easy to make and so much fun!

Spider Web Snacks

adapted from Mom Endeavors

Ingredients: 

• pret­zel sticks 
• white chocolate/bark candy coat­ing (I used white candy melts)
• milk choco­late (baker’s, candy melts, or chips would prob­a­bly all work)
• raisins
• bag­gie or pas­try bag
• wax or parchment paper

Directions:

Lay out your pret­zels on the wax paper in “star­burst” arrange­ments of 6 or 8 pretzels. (You can place the paper on a cookie sheet for transport stability, but I just made ours on the counter.  The candy melts set up pretty quickly.) 

After melt­ing your white chocolate/bark coat­ing, place in a pastry bag or bag­gie and cut the cor­ner off. Start pip­ing your choco­late in the mid­dle of the pret­zel arrange­ment, mak­ing sure to coat all the pretzels.

Con­tinue pip­ing out­ward around the pret­zels, until you have a web. Then, place two raisins in the mid­dle for the body of the spider.  Melt your milk chocolate and pipe over the raisins. On some of the spiders I used a toothpick to add the legs from the chocolate on the body.  

Note: On the second batch I piped the legs of the spider first before adding the body and these spiders turned out the best.

Let set on the counter, or place in the fridge for a few minutes, until the choco­late is hard.  Gently peel back the wax paper and serve. 

I posted a few additional pictures over at Shower of Roses. 

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Eggnog Cupcakes with Eggnog & Rum Buttercream Frosting

Eggnog Cupcakes

adapted from Wendy Paul

Ingredients:

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 cup eggnog
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 tsp rum extract
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:

In a large bowl, beat together the cake mix, eggnog, eggs, extracts and spices for two minutes. Batter will be thick. Fill paper cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes, or until lightly golden and springs back when lightly touched. Cool completely.

Eggnog & Rum Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp rum extract
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 3-4 Tbsp eggnog
• nutmeg
• 5 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together butter and extracts until blended and creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar in, about 1 cup at a time, until frosting forms a paste. Add eggnog in between powdered sugar additions until the frosting begins to come together and make the frosting stiff yet spreadable and creamy. Blend in the pinch of nutmeg, if desired.



Frost cupcakes with eggnog buttercream and sprinkle with additional nutmeg.

Meri Meri also makes a set of 48 cute cupcake toppers for the 12 Days of Christmas. 

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Cathedral Window Cookies

December 29th is the memorial of St. Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury.  He was martyred for the Catholic Faith in his cathedral on December 29, 1170.  You can read more about this holy saint here.

Our family celebrates a name-day in our home on this day, so I usually try and serve a little treat in his honor.  One year we made Sword and Miter Cookies, last year we made a Martyr's Crown Cake, and this year I had planned to make another Cathedral Cake using this pan, until I ran across the following recipe for Cathedral Cookies!

Cathedral Window Cookies

adapted from Taste of Home

Ingredients

• 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 3 cups pastel miniature marshmallows 
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional) 
• 1 cup flaked coconut

Directions

In a heavy saucepan, melt chocolate chips and butter over low heat, stirring occasionally. Stir a small amount into the egg, then return all to pan. Cook and stir over low heat for 2 minutes. Pour into a bowl; let cool for 15 minutes. Gently stir in marshmallows and nuts.

Chill for 30 minutes.

On a sheet of waxed paper, shape dough into a 1-1/2" diameter log.
Place coconut on another sheet of waxed paper. Gently roll log over
coconut to coat sides. Wrap up tightly, twisting ends to seal.Freeze for 4 hours or overnight.

Remove waxed paper. Cut into 1/4" slices. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Yield: about 5 dozen. (I cut mine a bit thicker and made about 3 dozen.) 

Note:  I just used what I had on hand and substituted 1 cup of white marshmallows, along with the 2 cups of pastel marshmallows that were in the cupboard.  For those that don't like coconut, you could also roll the log in chopped nuts to coat the sides as well!

Let us all rejoice in the Lord, celebrating a festival-day in honor of the blessed martyr Thomas: at whose martyrdom the angels rejoice, and give praise to the Son of God. 

St. Thomas Becket, Pray for us! 

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"Drink you the love of St. John."

The following text was submitted by the editor of Advent and Christmas in a Catholic Home, Katherine Zehnder.  It is from the 1950's "Advent and Christmas in a Catholic Home" by Helen McLoughlin and includes a variation of the recipe that can be found in the archives.  Thank you Katherine! 

There is a beautiful Catholic custom for St. John's feast day - the blessing of wine. It is in honor of him remaining unharmed after drinking a poisoned cup of wine over which he made the Sign of the Cross. The father of the family can read Psalm 22 and then recite this prayer: " Lord Jesus Christ, Thou didst call Thyself the vine and Thy holy apostles the branches; and out of all those who love Thee, Thou didst desire to make a good vineyard. Bless this wine and pour into it the might of Thy benediction so that everyone who drinks or takes of it, may through the intercession of Thy beloved disciple the holy apostle and evangelist John, be freed from every disease or attack of illness and obtain health of body and soul. Who livest and reignest forever. Amen."

A toast to the love of St. John is then pledged by all the family. The father touches his glass of wine to his wife and says: "I drink to you the love of St. John" and she in turn touches the children's (watered down wine) goblets and says "drink you the love of St. John."

St. John's Wine

2 cups wine
2 whole cloves
2 pinches cinnamon
1 cardamon seed
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Boil the spices in the wine for about five minutes. Strain the wine. Serve hot.

Happy Feast of St. John!

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Podkovy :: St. Stephen's Horseshoes

St. Stephen from Saints: Lives and Illuminations and Stephen's Feast

On December 26th we celebrate the feast of St. Stephen, the first Christmas Martyr!  In honor of St. Stephen's patronage over horses, special breads filled with chopped nuts and sugar and shaped in the form of horseshoes are traditionally baked on this day in Poland and other Slavic countries.  The following recipe for Podkovy (St. Stephen's Horseshoes) is adapted from Cooking with the Saints.

Podkovy (St. Stephen's Horseshoes)

Dough Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon dry yeast
• 1/2 cup milk, lukewarm
• 3 eggs, small
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons lemon rind, grated
• 1 cup butter
• 5 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup shortening

Filling Ingredients

• 1 /2 cups walnuts, finely chopped
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• grated rind of 1 orange
• grated rind of 1 lemon

Directions

Dissolve yeast in the lukewarm milk and let stand for 10 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs until light and fluffy.  Stir in the sour cream, yeast mixture, lemon juice and rind.

In another mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt.  Cut the cold butter into small pieces.  Using either a pastry blender, two knives, or your hands, work the butter and shortening into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse bread crumbs.

Add the flour mixture to the moist ingredients and beat well.  You may need to add more flour, just enough to make a fairly soft and non-sticky dough, depending on the size of the eggs.

Knead dough briefly. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

While the dough is chilling prepare the filling.  Chop the nuts finely.  (We used walnuts, but hazelnuts or almonds would work great too!) Combine the brown sugar, egg, vanilla and rinds, then stir in the nuts.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to about 1/8 inch thickness and cut into 4x6 inch rectangles.

Brush the rectangles with some melted butte (I actually skipped this step) and spread a thin layer of filling in the middle.  Starting on the long side, roll each rectangle and form into the shape of a horseshoe.  (Note: As you can see in my pictures above, the filling did ooze out of some of the horseshoes in my first batch.  On the following batches, I made sure the dough was pinched together to prevent this from happening again.)

Place on a lightly greased baking sheet.  Bake at 375˚F for about 15 minutes or until the horseshoes are nicely browned.

Dust with powdered sugar or glaze with a mixture of lemon juice and powdered sugar if desired.

St. Stephen, Pray for us! 

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His name shall be called Jesus

Spectacular Nativity Cookie Mold and Silent Night Table Runner (also available here)

Come, sweet Lord Jesus, 

Into the hearts and lives of all our dearest

Priests, Religious, families and friends.

Wishing you all a Blessed and Joyful Christmas! 

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