Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe

We are celebrating with an impromptu and simple Coffee, Tea and Thee as we prepare to celebrate tomorrow's Holy Day with some new friends!

We are reading from A Catholic Child's Illustrated Lives of The Saints which is The Professor's favorite book of saints. Full page stories and beautiful illustrations, this book is a must have! (You can read a little about St. Maximilian here too.) In addition to our nightly decade we are going to say the Chaplet of St. Maximilian. We don't actually own one, so we made our own. Using this description, I made a drawing of St. Max using the picture above which the girls colored along with a picture of The Assumption of Our Lady. We made 15 beads out of paper and strung them together with a crocheted chain.For a special, treat, a friend recommended kiffels. They sound delicious, but every recipe I found required overnight refrigeration (not conducive to impromptu). So, since I am insisting on simple here were are going to make an American version of a Polish candy called Ptasie Mleczko which are basically chocolate covered marshmallows.

Our version:
1 can chocolate frosting
1 bag of large marshmallows
chopped peanuts and/or almonds

Warm the frosting in the microwave (or on the stove top) to make it soft (30 second increments, stirring in between), but not runny like glaze. Dip the marshmallows to coat using toothpicks or skewers. Allow excess to drain off. Dip the bottom of the marshmallow in chopped nuts and set (nut side down) on waxed paper to finish cooling.I'll bet a fondue pot would be perfect for making them if anyone still has one (and if you do, is it harvest gold? My mom's was.) just watch out for little fingers and open flames! Why yes I am a worry wart. I would love to try these someday using homemade marshmallows, but for today, Jet Puffed will have to do!

If you are interested in trying Polish style coffee here is what I found on a website:
The Poles make coffee very strong, like the Greeks. A tall flat bottomed glass has a large spoonful of grounds placed in it. Then boiling water is poured over the coffee and a little or a lot of sugar is added. My grandfather occasionally said that he liked his coffee, "As black as the Devil's Heart and sweet as a stolen kiss." It is definitely not traditional in Poland to add either milk or cream.
We will stick with our kid-friendly cafe au lait since I can't seem to find a tea that all of my kids like. As always, suggestions welcome! Have a Happy Holy Day tomorrow!

4 comments:

  1. My husband had a harvest gold fondue pot when I married him!! Very...um, ugly.

    I'm holding out for a beautiful new stainless steel jobbie. Until then, there it sits on the shelf in our basement.

    Happy Feast Day! We love you, St. Maximillian!

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  2. Happy Feast Day!

    St. Maximillian is one of my all-time favorites!

    Love the marshmallow idea!

    Enjoy!

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  3. Those marshmallows look delicious!!

    Stash tea sells a decaf chocolate hazelnut dessert tea. Maybe the kids would like that one?

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  4. In many parts of the world they mix sweetened, condensed milk with tea. mmmm. That's how I got my kiddies to drink it. Try making chai - you can get recipes online. My niece grew up in Kenya and there was always a pot of chai on the stove for visiting children (and adults!)

    BTW a French study just proved that women who drink 3 cups of coffee per day for most of their lives, have almost NO incidence of Alzheimers!!!!

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