Sweet Mums

When I saw these beautiful creations over at Jessica's place, I knew exactly the kind of flowers I wanted for Mother's Day!

Aren't they beautiful? And so easy! Even my teenager enjoyed participating in this little food craft. He was the only one brave enough to use the red hot cinnamon sugar sprinkles! We're gonna make him eat that one later.

Sunshine and BigBoy had the idea to try and make some with pollen.

And then we got crazy with the colors and just had fun! What else would befit a cappuccino chip cupcake with white chocolate peppermint frosting?

I hope you are all having a wonderful Mother's Day whether you are a mother now, hoping to be someday or acting as spiritual mother. Happy Mums Day!

Happy Feast of the Archangels

Our rodent situation is only partially taken care of (they travel in pairs, you know?), so we won't be doing a pinata today, not even a paper bag one being as the only place to hang one is in our garage... where the mice are. Grrrrr! BigBoy was very disappointed. I didn't realize how much he loved that little tradition. I will have to find a way to incorporate a pinata into another feast day in the future.

But we are planning to enjoy an angel food trifle today. Since my kids aren't very fond of real blackberries, we opted for the gummi version!

Check out the recipe over at Catholic Cuisine!

And don 't forget the coloring pages! 
St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael

St. Michael and all the Mighty (insert fist pump here) Archangels, protect us!

Good Shepherd's Garden Party ~ Week 3

The Heavens Tell

God’s Glory

This Week’s Good Shepherd’s Garden Party Menu

Sun Cupcakes

Whipped Creamy Clouds

Talking Rain Sparkling Ice

Thunder and Lightning

Windy Cakes

Rainbow Kabobs

Crushed Ice

Decorating Ideas

Lightning Bolt Straws

Pinwheels

By Jessica at Shower of Roses and Charlotte at Waltzing Matilda

Recipes and Suggestions
*Please feel free to modify and be creative with these plans to suit your family!

15. The Sun   Psalm 19:1-6
Frost cupcakes with yellow frosting. Arrange candy corn, pointy end out, around edge of cupcake. Use 2 chocolate chips for eyes.

16. The Cloud   1 Kings 8: 2-11
A big creamy cloud of whipped cream either frozen or for dipping the fruit in.

17. The Rain  Matthew 5: 43-48
Jessica finds these at Costco but if you don't have them in your area any sparkling flavored water would work just as well.

Talking Rain's Sparkling Ice

18. The Lightning   Job 28: 20-26
I made some lightning bolts to cut out and tape to a straw for an easy representation of this day's sticker. You can find them below.

Lightning Straws

And/or you can try this recipe for a pasta main dish called Tuoni e Lampi (Thunder and Lightning). The "lightning" usually refers to the broken bits of pasta at the bottom of the bag, but you can use any kind of pasta.

Thunder and Lightning

1-16 oz can Chick Peas, drained
1 lb Elbow macaroni
2 tbsp Olive oil
1 tbsp Basil
1 tbsp Parsley
Olive oil for drizzling

Cook the macaroni in a large pan of boiling water, lightly salted for 10 minutes, or until just resistant to the bite. Drain.

Sauté the garlic in a large skillet in olive oil for a few minutes. Add drained chick peas & macaroni. Mix in the basil & parsley. Cook over a very low heat, stirring occasionally, until the flavors are absorbed & the mixture is heated through. Season with salt & pepper; serve hot.

19. The Hail    Job 38: 28-30

Provide a bowl of crushed ice to serve with the drinks.

20. The Wind    Ezekiel 37:  7-10

The pinwheels that you decorate with can be used to represent the wind or we thought Hostess Cup Cakes would work nicely. You can either purchase the Hostess variety or decorate half of the sun cupcakes with windy swirls.

21. The Rainbow   Genesis 9: 12-15

Rainbow Fruit Kabobs

Strawberries, oranges, pineapple, green grapes, blueberries and purple grapes.

You can download and print all of these ideas and recipes with a shopping list here.

Share the pictures from your Good Shepherd's Garden Party at Catholic Cuisine on April 26th!

Easter Bread

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! We started our morning with some bread nests that turned out so yummy. I suspected they would since I was using a fool proof recipe. A dear friend helped walk me through altering Karen's St. Lucia Bread to make these.

There really wasn't much altering involved. On Holy Saturday night, I whipped up the dough and then after the first rise, I shaped it into four medium size rounds, inserted a colored but uncooked egg into the center and placed them in the fridge to stall the second rise. They baked up in the morning after a quick rise in a warm oven and were delicious for our early morning breakfast before Mass.

Now, I'm looking for recipes for using up leftover ham. Barb's Ham and Egg Salad looks delish. Any others?

Our New Favorite Muffins

My kids love muffins of all kinds (except for the traditional blueberry) but they have really been enjoying this new recipe I've been using. Now, I have a dynamite banana bread recipe that always gets two thumbs up, but I came across this one when I was searching for a carrot muffin that didn't have pineapple in it. My kids are totally pineapple purists. Cold, not cooked and in big chunks, straight from the pineapple, please!

This recipe works up a little different than most of my quick bread recipes; you blend the oil with the sugar first, add the eggs and then alternate the dry ingredients with the bananas. I don't know why they say to do it that way, but it works. These muffins are always light and fluffy, never dense and flat! I'll post the recipe below with my notes in color.

Carrot Banana Bread

1/3 C. veg. oil

1 C. sugar (I use less, maybe 1/2 to 3/4 C.)

2 eggs

2 C. all purpose flour (1 C. all-purpose, 1 C. whole wheat)

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon (I use 1 tsp.)

1 C. mashed ripe bananas

1C. grated carrots (I usually chop mine in the food processor.)

1/2 C. chopped pecans (optional)

In a mixing bowl, combine the oil and sugar. Add egg; mix well. Combine the rest of the dry ingredients and gradually add to the creamed mixture alternating with the bananas. Spoon into greased muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Cool before removing from pan to wire rack.

Good Shepherd's Garden Party ~ Week 2

Welcome to
the Lord’s Table!

This Week’s Good Shepherd’s Garden Party Menu

Lamb of God Rolls
Sparkling White Grape Juice
Ice Cream Sundae Bar with Easter Candy Toppings
Honey Butter

Fruit Salad

Decorating Ideas:
Set the Table
Decorate the Chairs with Streamers

By Jessica at Shower of Roses and Charlotte at Waltzing Matilda

Recipes and Suggestions

*Please feel free to modify and be creative with these plans to suit your family!

8. The Table: Genesis 43: 26-34

Set the table with a pretty tablecloth, maybe some flowers or candles too!

9. The Chairs: Genesis 18: 1-8

Decorate the chairs with streamers or pretty fabrics!

10. The Bread: Ruth 2:8-14

Any type of Bread or Rolls would work well for this symbol. We’ve decided to make the Lamb of God Rolls from Catholic Cuisine. Guest author Lara says, “This Lamb of God can be made with any suitable (read: yeast) dough. If you’d rather not make your own dough, frozen bread dough will work just fine.

Lamb of God Rolls

11. The Wine: Isaiah 55:1-2

The bubbles from the lemon-lime soda cling to the grape "ice cubes" giving this refreshing beverage lots of sparkle.

Sparkling White Grape Juice

12. The Milk: Deuteronomy 26:8-10
We thought this would be a good way to help finish off all of that lingering Easter candy!

Ice Cream Sundae Bar with Easter Candy Toppings

13. The Pot of Honey: Mark 1:4-6

We thought that some Honey Butter would represent the “Pot of Honey” very well and go perfectly with the Lamb of God rolls. To simplify this even further, you could purchase some pre-made Honey Butter or Creamed Honey.

Honey Butter

14. The Fruit: Song of Solomon 4:16

Any type of fruit or your favorite families favorite fruit salad would be perfect for this menu item. Here is a recipe from Catholic Cuisine for a Twelve Fruit Salad in honor of the twelve fruits of the Holy Ghost.

Fruit Salad 

This one includes:
Strawberries, Blueberries, Red Grapes, Green Grapes, Kiwi, Pineapple, Mandarin Oranges, Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Honeydew, Peaches, and Apples

You can find the entire menu and directions with a shopping list available for printing over at Scribd or for viewing over at Jessica's.

Share the pictures from your Good Shepherd's Garden Party over at Catholic Cuisine on April 19, 2010!

Good Shepherd Garden Parties ~ Week 1

Good Shepherd’s Garden Party Menu:
Week One

The Good Shepherd's Pasture

Mini Shepherd Pies

Shepherd’s Crooks

God’s Sheep

Graham Cracker Gates

Ewe and Ram Cupcakes

Lamb’s Wool  (beverage)

This beverage, quite common in England from the high Middle Ages, was enjoyed on various festive occasions including the Christmas season. Unlike the wassail, it was a cold drink and it was simpler in contents, consisting of the juice of roasted apples mixed with spiced ale.

Wolf Paw Cookies

Decoration ideas: 

Lindt Chocolate Lambs or any lamb related items (candles, butter, statues,etc...)

I am afraid to post the whole thing here since my blog is a lot narrower than Jessica's. Until I play around with that a little more, I will link you to Jessica's post and also where you can print the full menu with recipes, instructions and a shopping list over at Scribd:

Good Shepherd's Garden Party: Week One

A Mr. Linky will be posted at Catholic Cuisine on April 12th for anyone interested in sharing their parties with everyone.

St. Joseph's Food Pantry Altar

St. Joseph, pray for us!

My kids had a blast hunting for St. Joseph Altar items. For some reason shrimp was very important to them this year and we hunted high and low for a non-perishable variety. We found it as evidenced by the first picture above. All of our items will be packaged up and dropped off at the local food pantry. Can't wait to see the look on their faces when they see some of our choices. Maybe I should just drop it and run?

St. Joseph Altar Blog Fest

Got Your Irish Up?

In a good way, of course!

We've got some friends to visit tomorrow and a Saint to honor. And if you are looking for a healthy treat, my Irish Veggie Flag is a favorite around here.

 Here is an online flag to color or print off and this St. Patrick coloring page is the nicest one I think I've seen. It's was drawn by Andrea Helen Smith and is available from Catholic Heritage Curricula here along with some others. (Scroll down to Coloring Pages and Activities.)

Our days are warmer but still have a lovely little nip in the air. Hope you have a blessed St. Patrick's Day!  

May the Strength of God pilot us.
May the Power of God preserve us.
May the Wisdom of God instruct us.
May the Hand of God protect us.
May the Way of God direct us.
May the Shield of God defend us.
May the Host of God guard us.
Against the snares of the evil ones.
Against temptations of the world

May Christ be with us!
May Christ be before us!
May Christ be in us,
Christ be over all!
May Thy Salvation, Lord,
Always be ours,
This day, O Lord, and evermore. Amen.

St. Patrick, pray for us!

Ideas for the 12 Days of Christmas

Reposted from last year as a reminder to myself. Do you have any fun ideas for celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas?

Ruth had a great idea and my brain just couldn't leave it alone. She came up with gifts to give to represent the 12 days of Christmas. I thought I would try to focus on incorporating the 12 Days of Christmas song into a menu plan. It's too late for this year but I wanted to record it here to give myself a better chance of remembering it next year. I tried to avoid desserts since we don't need any help in that department this time of year but some just couldn't be helped. Feel free to add your suggestions below:

First day of Christmas: Anything with pears, how about~Poached Orange Pears

Second Day of Christmas: Chocolate Turtle Brownie Pie or Turtle Bean Soup (not sure I am up to Mock Turtle Soup)

Third Day of Christmas: French Egg and Bacon Sandwich or simply Egg Salad

Fourth Day of Christmas: Bird’s Nest Egg Salad or Bird’s Nest Pie

Fifth Day of Christmas: Onion Rings or Cinnamon Coffee Ring

Sixth Day of Christmas: If you don't feel like cooking a goose how about toast or English muffins with gooseberry jam

Seventh Day of Christmas: probably more involved that the other recipes but sooooo cute~ Swan Crème Puffs

Eighth Day of Christmas: milkshakes, of course!

Ninth Day of Christmas: Dancing Chicken on the Grill or Dancing Lemonade Chicken if you don't have beer on hand (don't forget Dancing Spaghetti~ this is a science experiment)

Tenth Day of Christmas: Lord Baltimore Cake or you could make Lord Woolton Pie. If you do, please tell me what "swedes" are. (Melanie B discovered that swedes are rutabagas or yellow turnips!)

Eleventh Day of Christmas: You could make your own Pirouette cookies (they look like little pipes) or let Pepperidge Farm make them for you and serve with piping hot cocoa!

Twelfth Day of Christmas: Oven Fried Chicken Drumsticks or any other drumstick recipe

Husband and I had lots of fun looking up recipes and tossing around ideas. We found it funny that just about every character in the song could be made into an alcoholic beverage. Turtle Punch anyone? No? How about a Hot Piper?

An Orange Veggie a Day

UPDATE...don't miss these from the combox:
Katherine comments on Gingered Carrots and Butternut Squash Soup
Elizabeth offers her recipe for Stuffed Butternut Squash
April has a few suggestions for sweet potatoes including roasting them along with your chicken
Maurisa offers her method for making Sweet Potato Hash Browns


With the illness we have been enduring prior to and after Shortcake's birthday celebration, (but thankfully, not on!) I took note when Elizabeth mentioned her attempt to feed her family one serving of an orange vegetable a day. She even linked to some delicious looking possibilities. I've read about increasing orange vegetable consumption to stave off illness during the winter months before. It got me thinking about the recipes we love that call for orange veggies and noticing how limited they were. How many times can a kid eat pumpkin bread before they turn into a pumpkin? I would have also asked about raw carrots, but The Professor has proved to me that he could eat almost an entire bag of baby carrots and not get sick of them!

So, I'm looking for more of your tried and true orange recipe favorites. Feel free to post the recipe in the combox or link me to a blog post. Here are the favorites I am sharing for anyone who wants them:

Butternut Squash Mashed Potatoes
1 medium-large butternut squash, peeled and cubed
5 pounds of potatoes, peeled and cubed
butter
milk or cream
salt & pepper to taste

Okay, this really isn't a recipe. Just add butternut squash to your favorite mashed potato recipe. I like to use one medium-large squash per 5 pounds of potatoes. Peel the squash, cube it and cook it right along with the potatoes (in the same pot!). Mash them or whip them all together with butter, milk, cream, salt, pepper, whatever you like. I personally prefer garlic salt instead of regular salt for these deliciously orange potatoes. My kids love them!


Un-Pasty Pumpkins
Make your favorite pumpkin pie recipe, but cook it in individual, greased ramekin cups. No crust! Just bake up the pumpkin pie in the cups and add a scoop of whipped cream on top. Sometimes we make these in the summer and serve them chilled.

This one IS an actual recipe from Kitchenaid but you can make it using a regular electric mixer. We usually make it with reduced sugar and no topping.

Sweet Potato Puff
2 med. sweet potatoes; peeled and cooked (I like to steam them.)
1/2 C. milk
3/4 C. sugar (1/2 C.)
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/3 C. butter or marg.; melted
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a mixer, whip potatoes for 30 sec. on power level 2. Add everything else and whip for another 1-2 minutes or until smooth; no big lumps. Pour into a greased 9 inch pie plate. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Spoon optional topping over puff and bake another 10 minutes. (Without topping just bake for 30 minutes total.)

You can double this recipe. Place in a 9x13 casserole dish and bake for about 45 minutes – 1 hour or until center is set.

Optional topping:
1/3 C. butter or marg.; melted
3/4 C. corn flakes; coarsely crushed
1/2 C. nuts; pecans
1/2 C. brown sugar

Mix together with fork.


And one more that I'm looking forward to trying someday from Allrecipes (oooooh, or maybe this one)...

Apple-Stuffed Acorn Squash

• 1 medium acorn squash
• 1 cup chopped, peeled apple
• 4 teaspoons honey
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Cut squash in half; discard seeds. Place squash cut side up in a 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pan. Fill centers with apple. Cover and bake at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes. In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the honey and butter. Cover and microwave on high for 15-20 seconds or until butter is melted. Drizzle over squash. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake, uncovered, 25-30 minutes longer or until tender.


Other ideas:
Sweet potato fries (homemade or store bought)
Pineapple Carrot Salad
Roasted Squash Medley

Apple Boats

So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders; then hoisting the foresail to the wind they made for the beach. ~Acts 27:40

Cute Food

A couple of pictures of the fun stuff we made last week for our Garden of the Good Shepherd activities...
Wolf's Paw cookies. Jessica was able to find the exact cookie used in the photo she linked to. Everything she does is just perfect, isn't it? Since they don't sell that brand around here, we ended up using Pepperidge Farm Tahiti cookies.
Lamb cupcakes. The children loved decorating these themselves. We made our own pink sugar which is why it is so pale but I think it made them look cute. That and the purple eyes. : )

08/08/08

Popping in to say "hello" and that things are getting off to a slower start than I wanted due to some illness, but they should be ramping up here quite nicely next week. Also wanted to say that we are heading off to Mass to pray for the persecuted people in China and for everyone attending the Olympic Games. We are big Olympic Junkies! It started the year The Professor was born with lots of late night nursing and no cable TV. Hockey can be very interesting... when you are a walking zombie at 3 AM. (Sorry Nutmeg!)

After Mass, the kids will be treated to donuts and cinnamon twists (they kind of look like 8's) and then Chinese food for dinner with fortune cookies for dessert. Have a lovely weekend! Let me hear you chant U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A. Bye!

Dinner with Bill Cosby

Mom is great! Give us the chocolate cake!

Oh alright, so it's Chocolate Zucchini Bread. People...there is protein, whole wheat flour and vegetables in there. The one with the frosting did not get served for dinner; it is going to the bereavement committee. Don't tell my kids. Right now, they think I'm awesome!