Family Food for Feast and Feria

New Liturgical Food Blog

2008-04-23T19:51:12-04:00

There's a terrific new food blog for cooking in the Liturgical Year called Catholic Cuisine. It's already filled with great ideas, recipes, and wonderful photos. This is a collaborative effort, and such a wonderful group of contributors. I'm quite honored to be rubbing elbows with these ladies!

Visit today and visit often! Enjoy!

Triduum and Easter Plans

2008-03-20T10:19:16-04:00

I've been neglecting my food blog. I visit here often, because I have found it so convenient to print out my recipes, and not have to search around. But I haven't been very creative in the kitchen, so I haven't added to the blog.

But for those that are tired of seeing blueberries on the top venue, this post is for you. ;-)

I have to mention that I've decided blogging is the best thing for me. Why? Because when I write down my plans and/or the events of the feast days, I can remind myself next year what I did. It was nice to see last year's events, and easy for me to remember what cake recipe I actually did make for the lamb.

I'm keeping meals at basic for the Triduum. After seeing Joanna Bogle on Feasts and Seasons, it made me want Hot Cross Buns, which I may buy from the grocery store. I preferred her recipe which had a flour and water cross, but the whole bun had a sugar glaze. The local ones just have icing crosses, which seem less penitential. But Mrs. Bogle said having the buns on Good Friday, even with their spicy sweetness makes that day special. It's a special food only eaten on that day (although she did mention some serve the buns on Easter morning, too).

She also mentioned something about being in the kitchen more during holydays, such as Holy Week than the rest of the year. I've been feeling guilty that I bake only during these times, that it's not a good representation of my life, and I worried I was detracting from the feast. But she said just the opposite -- spending the extra time making these treats for the holy days marks the time and food as special, unique. She said it more eloquently, but it made me feel more confident to continue.

Tonight I'm serving roast beef and mashed potatoes. We'll rushing out to get a good seat for the Mass of the Lord's Supper, but we'll try to do similar to last year.

We're spending Easter Sunday at my mother's. Her meal will be roast beef, mashed potatoes, corn, asparagus, green salad, rolls, and I will bring the Lamb Cake for dessert.

I'm making two cakes, one allergy safe for my son. I can't praise enough the mixes from The Cravings Place. These are the best egg, dairy, and gluten free mixes ever. Trust me, I can't make something this good from scratch. We've now had the brownies and chocolate cake mix. Yummy, even for those who don't have to abstain from certain foods.

Easter Monday, part of the Octave of Easter, when each day is Easter Sunday all over again. I'll be serving up Ham with Spirit Glaze. I love serving ham. It makes me feel frugal, when I can whip up several meals and lunches from one ham. It also is one of my son's favorite meals.

And now to work....

Blueberry Meringue Pie

2007-07-23T10:57:09-04:00

Here's an entry for The Virtual Kitchen's Blueberry Bash.

This is an easy recipe from my mother-in-law, and I do believe this was her mother's recipe, also. The pie shell is a meringue crust. For my husband this recipe is a must (and comfort food) for Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day. It means summer is here, and evokes all sorts of cozy family summer memories.

The shell isn't pure meringue, as the crackers and nuts add some texture. The contrast of the crunchy shell and sweet smooth whipped cream and blueberries makes a delicious summer treat.

Shell:
3 egg whites, beaten stiffly
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
pinch salt
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup rolled soda crackers
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup nuts, chopped

Filling
1/2 pint whipping cream
2 teaspoons powdered sugar, to taste
flavoring vanilla, cognac, other liqueur (optional), to taste
1 quart fresh blueberries (or other berries)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat egg whites and cream of tartar and pinch of salt until stiff peaks form. Gradually beat in sugar, a little at a time, continue beating until stiff peaks form again.

Fold in vanilla, soda crackers and nuts.

Pour into buttered pie pan. Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool

While baking, whip heavy cream (with sugar and flavorings). Add blueberries, mix through the cream. Chill.

After pie crust has cooled, pour filling into pie crust.

Chill until ready to serve.

Finding an Old Treasure

2007-07-17T16:03:45-04:00

I've mentioned several times that Cooking for Christ is my favorite cookbook, especially in my liturgical year cookbooks.

I do believe that cookbook was the first of its kind in America. I have searched and searched and haven't found an American cookbook on Liturgical Year cooking that predates 1949.

I have run across mention and quotes from Florence Berger in other Catholic materials, such as the National Liturgical Week of 1952, discussing the implementation of the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday evening, instead of the morning.

I often wonder what has happened to this author. Where are her children? Did everyone remain Catholics and faithful, especially during the turbulent 60s? I haven't come across any answers on the Internet. I search for her name, Florence Berger, Florence S. Berger, Florence Elizabeth (Sudhoff) Berger, Mrs. Alfred Berger who lived from 1909 to 1983....not much. I did find an ancestry page. But I'm not sure if these really apply. I do know her husband's name was Alfred, she had 5 children, and some were mentioned in the book.

Today I found a delightful online reprint of an article from Time dated September 19, 1949, entitled: Christ in the Kitchen. This was a kind of press release for the book before it hit the bookstores. It's enjoyable to read, as it brings the author more to life of her more happier times.

And it intensified my enjoyment of this invaluable treasure even more.

What's On Your Cookbook Shelf?

2007-05-09T10:32:13-04:00

There's a new thread entitled Catholic Cookbooks at the 4RealLearning Forums. Liturgical Year reading and cooking is one of my favorite things to do. I admit my focus has changed somewhat since ds' food allergy diagnosis, but I still love reading the traditions and foods connected to the liturgical feasts and seasons.

While I have a series of posts planned on why liturgical cooking, I wrote this summary a while back:

Why do I do liturgical cooking? Because through food I can use symbolism, culture, history, and catechesis in all different varieties through the foods I serve at the table. Meals are natural conversation starters. They are the perfect place to start discussing the saint or feast of the day, the connections with the food, etc.

This has been done through the centuries. I'm not having an original thought. I like being I'm in touch with Catholics centuries before me in cooking for the feasts. It's follows the definition of Catholic -- it's universal, spanning the globe and time.

Some of my favorite liturgical cookbooks:

OOP Cooking for Christ: Your Liturgical Cookbook by Florence Berger, my first and favorite. A revised version is available from NCRLC, although I'm partial to the original. Why is it my favorite cookbook? I haven't done many of the recipes, but I LOVE her discussions. She writes like you are sitting at her kitchen table enjoying some coffee together.

OOP Catholic Traditions in Cooking by Ann Ball.

Feast Day Cookbook by Helmut Ripperger reprinted. You can view the .pdf file.

OOP Catholic Cookbook by William Kaufman

OOP The Cook's Blessings by Demetria Taylor

OOP Helen McLoughlin's My Nameday -- Come for Dessert, Liturgical Press, 1962. She also wrote 3 pamphlets, which are also out of print, but my some of my favorite references:

Family Advent Customs (.pdf file), Liturgical Press, 1954, 1979.

Christmas to Candlemas in a Catholic Home (.pdf file), Liturgical Press, 1954.

Family Customs: Easter to Pentecost, Liturgical Press, 1956, 1979. Her Easter pamphlet is not online in entirety. If you Google the title and author, and ask to show omitted results, CatholicCulture.org has much of her book online.

These cookbooks aren't Catholic in origin, but really cover many feast days:

Festa: Recipes and Recollections of Italian Holidays by Helen Barolini. I love reading her descriptions of Italian feasts. And the recipes are quite good.
Celebration Breads: Recipes, Tales, and Traditions by Betsy Oppenneer. Bread recipes from all over the world for different feasts. Great variety, terrific detailed instructions.

Feasting for Festivals by Jan Wilson is OOP, but there are very cheap copies available from Amazon. I think this is Anglican, but there are wonderful recipes and crafts from a British viewpoint.

I am happy to see Festive Food of Ireland by Darina Allen back in print. I bought a copy when I was in Ireland 10 years ago. It's a beautiful little book, decorated with Celtic illustrations and great photos and the recipes all have accompanying descriptions of the Irish customs.

The following have recipes, but are not dedicated cookbooks:

OOP Around the Year with the Trapp Family: Keeping the Feasts and Seasons of the Liturgical Year by Maria Von Trapp, a classic for the family liturgical living. I have uploaded the text and some graphics in this Around the Year with the Trapp Family blog and this is the text version.

OOP Catholic Parent Book of Feasts by Michaelann Martin

OOP The Year and Our Children by Mary Reed Newland (only a few recipes).

Book of Feasts and Seasons by Joanna Bogle (she also blogs).

Women for Faith and Family has some Sourcebooks with recipes

Celebrating the Faith in the Home Series by Teresa Zepeda and Laurie Navar Gill from Emmanuel Books.

I have many others, but this post is already overwhelming. I enjoy all of Brother Victor-Antopine d'Avila-Latourrette's cookbooks. Ethel Marbach (Pochocki) had a few pamphlets and Holy Housewife Cookbook that are extremely enjoyable to read. And there are two cookbooks, The Lenten Kitchen and The Advent Kitchen by Barbara Benjamin and Alexandria Damascus Vali that contain some healthy and tasty recipes for the fasting seasons.

If you put on the "Liturgical Year Mindset" almost any cookbook can become your helper for Liturgical cooking. I love thumbing through different ethnic cookbooks to find recipes named after saints, or made especially for the feast days. So many countries the saints and feasts were tightly woven into daily, secular life, and the cookbooks reflect this pattern.

What's on your shelf? Any ones that you can recommend?

A Problem Solved!

2007-04-22T17:23:17-04:00

One of our staples in our wheat free pantry is Tinkyada Rice Pasta. We use it to replace all pasta, noodles, spaghetti, etc. It was an easy transition, and we all enjoy the pasta at our meals. I try to make extra for lunches or dinners for my son, particularly if we are out or traveling. I usually make a whole bag, which can last for two dinner meals and extra lunches.

I follow the package directions for cooking. I drain and rinse the pasta well (otherwise it just sticks together). After that I add vegetable oil or Smart Balance margarine. I reheat the noodles briefly in the microwave before serving (if I'm serving alone as a side dish -- rinsing makes them cold).

The problem is leftovers. Rice pasta doesn't always reheat well. It can get hard and not palatable. But this week I made a discovery that will revolutionize our leftover pasta dilemma! (Those who do not use a microwave can just skip this entry.) Perhaps we're the only family with this problem, but the problem is solved.

On Thursday I was reheating a half batch of noodles I had made on Monday. They were cold and hard. My first attempt at just heating them for a minute in the microwave warmed them, but did not soften then. But then I added some canned chicken stock, just a tablespoon or two to the noodles, heated for a minute or two and eureka! Soft palatable noodles, like they were just cooked. Water might work, but the chicken stock added a touch of flavor.

For a smaller batch, like an individual serving for my son's lunch, I'll cover the dish with a dampened paper towel and reheat for about 30 seconds to refresh the noodles. When you don't do sandwiches, you have to come up with some tasty carb alternatives.

Easter Ham

2007-04-13T12:34:37-04:00

Christ is risen, Alleluia! He is risen, indeed, Alleluia!

My mother hosted our Easter family celebration this year. For the main meal, she decided to have roast beef and ham, and I offered to bring the ham and bake it for her. I think I've mentioned this before, but many glazes on hams have allergens, particularly wheat. Some hams have injected juices, so it's important to read labels before buying ham.

I bought one at Costco. I follow the reheating instructions, 325 degrees at 8 minutes per pound, but I do not use the glaze packet, instead I follow the recipe from the old version of Joy of Cooking for Spirit Glaze for Ham. This is really taste, keeps the ham moist, and is my family's favorite. When serving dinner, the question came "Is this Jenn's ham? Allright!"

Spirit Glaze for Ham

1/2 to 1 cup dry red wine
1/2 to 1 cup bourbon whiskey (I use Maker's Mark)
1/2 to 1 cup brown sugar
6 bruised cloves
2 tablespoons grated orange peel

Heat all ingredients in a small saucepan until sugar is melted. Pour over the ham and baste throughout the cooking cycle, about every 15 minutes.

The best thing about ham is that it can do double or triple duty for meals. So this ham was part of our Easter feast on Sunday, then a repeat meal on Easter Monday at home. On Wednesday we had Red Beans and Rice, one of my favorites.

Easter Lamb Cake

2007-04-13T12:23:59-04:00

I had huge success for my lamb cake this Easter, and really I have to give all credit to Elizabeth Foss, since she shared her recipe on the Easter Menu discussion from the 4RealLearning Forums. I have a different cake mold than the Wilton version, but the recipe and directions worked out perfectly. I had no breakage, no floppy cake. The cake itself was firm but moist and tasty. The decorator icing was delicious...a bit on the sweet side, but that's typical for decorator icing. I used the No. 21 tip and made stars to recreate the fluffy lamb's wool. I used jellybeans for the eyes and mouth, dyed coconut green and sprinkled on the top of the base to recreate grass.

Thank you, Elizabeth, for sharing your family's secrets. I'm reproducing the recipe so I can keep it for my records (every year I forget what I did the last time).

Pound Cake:

1 1/2 cups butter
1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese
2 3/4 cups sugar
6 eggs
3 cups cake flour
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Have all ingredients at room temperature.
Beat butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat eggs, one at a time. Sift flour and add to batter. Add vanilla; mix well.
Place batter into a greased and floured pan; follow Wilton baking instructions.

I didn't need to double the recipe. The leftover batter was enough to fill one 10 inch layer to use as the base for the lamb. Next year I might double to make a layer cake. The pan cooked much more quickly than the lamb, so watch that carefully.

I didn't ice right away. From my decorating class I had the recommendation to wrap up the cake in many layers of plastic wrap and then freeze the cake. I do believe I was supposed to "crumb" the cake, which was to put a thin layer of frosting all over the cake before freezing, but I skipped that part. The freezing would make the cake firm for decorating and keep it moist.

Hazelnut Frosting

1/2 cup Shortening
1/2 cup Butter
5 cups Confectioner's Sugar
4 Tbsp. Frangelico (or more to get the right consistency)

Cream butter and shortening with mixer for 3 minutes on high speed. Add Frangelico. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. Mix on high speed for 5 minutes.

I did double this recipe and had only a little leftover. I LOVED the Frangelico addition. I think next time I might add a pinch of salt to cut the sweetness, but I'll have to think that one over.

I used decorator bags, which turned out to be hard for me to squeeze. Next year I'm going to try to use a Decorator, perhaps like the one from Pampered Chef, which will not require as much thumb movement.

Good Friday Meal

2007-04-13T12:06:44-04:00

I ran into some friends (a married couple) one Friday this Lent and we started discussing what kinds of meatless meals we served in the family. Usually a Friday meant tunafish, either tuna salad or tunafish casserole (with rice, not noodles). The husband is Italian, and his family grew up with beans and rice for Friday meals...but not the Louisiana Red Beans and Rice that I love to make, but an Italian version. I pestered for a recipe of sorts and made it this Good Friday.

Italian Rice and Beans

Marinara sauce (I followed Giada's without the carrots
Cannellini Beans (canned is an option)
Rice

First you make the marinara sauce, let it simmer, then add cannellini or any other beans. If using canned, make sure you drain and rinse the beans well. Add some water or stock and let it simmer up to an hour. Season to taste as you go along. Don't let it become too thick, add some liquid periodically.

Cook the rice separately (I use short grain), until it is about done, or al dente. Add the rice to the bean and tomato mixture. The rice will absorb the sauce so add near the end, close to serving.

This was so tasty. My only change would be to use dried beans instead of canned...or find another brand. The beans were a bit mealy, and I like them to be a bit firmer. But I know dried would require some extra steps and time.

Holy Thursday Meal

2007-04-13T14:58:09-04:00

On my other blog I've talked about planning the Holy Thursday meal. Should I or should I not have a Seder meal? I know it's a week later, but I thought I would share our menu.

I decided to not do an official Seder, but just incorporate elements that would remind us of Jesus' Last Supper, and the reading and Gospel from the Mass of the Lord's Supper.

Holy Thursday Dinner Menu:
Lamb Chops with Artichoke Hearts (Reminder of the Passover Lamb, and Christ the Paschal Lamb)
Mashed Potatoes (allergy free)
Spinach (reminder of the bitter herbs)
Applesauce (reminder of the Charoses, the bricks and mortar in Egypt)
Bread (reminder of the Unleavened Bread and the Eucharist)
Grapes (reminder of the wine and Blood of Christ)
Dessert (Because it's a festive day in the eyes of the Church)

As a family of three, with a messy 3 year old, we rarely eat in our dining room. But I set the table with a white tablecloth, our china and silver, even for our son. I made a resolution to make sure I do this more often with just us, because my son asked "Are people coming over for dinner?" when he saw the table.

Since dh and I don't really have a taste for lamb and we're a small family, I only made a few lamb chops (frozen from Trader Joe's). The recipe I used was Lamb Chops with Artichoke Hearts, without the olives and tomatoes. It was quite easy and tasty, although it didn't cover up the lamb aftertaste.

Since we were leaving for the Mass that evening, we didn't have wine. We read from the book of Exodus 12:1-20 is read —the story of the first Passover before the meal. We also washed feet, reading John 13:1-17. We also talked about the events that happened with Christ that night, using some picture books to tell the story.

This was just a simple meal, but it was wonderful in preparing our son for the Mass that evening. He recognized the white vestments, like our tablecloth, heard the bells and triumphant singing, watched as Father washed the men's feet, followed Father as he took the Blessed Sacrament to the Altar of Repose.

Was my son well-behaved thoughout? No. It was a struggle through the whole night, wanting to talk, play and wiggle. He was loud, and we had to take him out several times. Dh and I weren't able to enter very deeply into the Mass. But it still was a beautiful Mass, and a wonderful experience for ds.