An Epiphany Tart

Thanks to the recommendation of my SIL, we have been enjoying a family read aloud called The Thirteen Days of Christmas.The children have found it entertaining and informative. The antics of the young man pursuing his true love are entertaining, but the insight into English traditions during the 12 days of Christmas have made us more than a little curious on more than one occasion... Churching Day, Adam's Day, Dancing Day and so on.

Allowing ourselves to indulge in a little Anglophilia, we were curious what the English traditions for celebrating Epiphany were. We are saving that last chapter for tonight! What we discovered was a spiced cake similar to a fruit cake which nobody was really keen on. Now, Jessica's rum cake looks divine! I could go for that! But not fruit cake. Sorry friends across the pond!

So we were pleasantly surprised when our research turned up this bit of tradition we'd never heard of but seemed simple enough... an Epiphany Tart!

I posted the recipe I used over at Catholic Cuisine, but you could also just use your favorite pie crust or shortbread recipe.

Dorothy Hartley, in her wonderful 'Food in England' describes the various designs of jam tart made (very competitively, especially for Church social events) by English housewives proud of their pastry-making skills. Skill was demonstrated by the number of different coloured jams that could be fitted between the spaces of the lattice top. One star-shaped design was called "Epiphany Tart" if it was made for this day. Done well, it must have looked like a stained-glass window. Use your favourite pastry recipe or brand, and find 13 different coloured jams, and you have it. ~The Old Foodie blog

We did not have 13 different jams, but we managed to get 6. I couldn't convince the kids to go for Tart Cherry or we would have had 7! Amaretto Peach Pecan was as crazy as they would get! It looks so pretty we almost don't want to eat it. If I can't figure out how to slice it, maybe we won't!

 

Pops for our Pops!

The girls have been intrigued by the idea of cake pops and wanted to make some for Sean for Father's Day. So I pulled out all the sprinkles and jimmies and let them go to town.

They love their Pops! Happy Father's Day, Sweetie!

Laetare Sundaes

 In looking at the Google logo for today, we learned that it was the 119th anniversary of the Ice Cream Sundae. Armed with this knowledge and a desire to "Rejoice!" as the entrance antiphon proclaimed, we decided to make some Laetare Sundaes. The best part is, you can make them however you want!
We opted to honor the rose colored vestments Father wore this morning and chose Blue Bell Strawberry ice cream. I don't care what flavor you choose, but it must be Blue Bell! It is the best ice cream in the country. Don't argue, just believe! : )
Now, technically speaking, and this is very serious... it's not a sundae if it doesn't have toppings! It's just ice cream in a bowl. Check the dictionary! We chose some strawberry and hot fudge toppings along with whipped cream, nuts and don't forget the cherry on top, unless you don't like cherries and choose a strawberry instead!

Happy sundaes! Happy Sunday!!!

Feast of the Annunciation

A wonderful Mass this morning, playing Saint Bingo with my littlest man right now... I had to say "Yes" to his sweet request (and now the girls just joined in) and looking forward to a delicious treat tonight. I hope you all have had as lovely a feast day as we have enjoyed so far. We celebrate it always mindful that we do so in the shadow of the Cross!

(It would have been easier to just write "fiat" but since my 13 year old son is something of a car aficionado, I didn't want to tempt any snickering.)

Recipe for this Bride's Cake with Blueberry Filling and White Chocolate Frosting can be found over at Catholic Cuisine.

St. Valentine's Day in the afternoon

 Of all the pretzel dots we have ever made, I gotta say that these made with plain Hershey kisses and Valentine themed peanut butter M&M's just might be our favorite. Pretzels, chocolate and peanut butter...what's not to love!? 

 The girls are cooing at how the pretzels look like hearts!

St. Valentine's Day in the morning

 Chocolate covered strawberries make an awesome breakfast treat! I'm just sayin'.

These were gifted to us and arrived on Friday. We hoped to save them until tonight but the berries got a little weepy yesterday. Breakfast to the rescue!

Past Valentine's posts here. Coloring page here.

Happy Feast of St. Valentine!

My sweet hubby...

...read my blog yesterday and...

 ... brought home a treat to celebrate our name day! 

(I say "our" name day because Charles is also a middle name that multiple male family members share!)

Isn't he sweet?

So was the treat!

This company's slogan is "So yummy you'll wish it didn't have a hole in it!" 

Oh. yeah!

 

We happy few...

...will be diving into this crisp later!

Happy St. Crispin's Day!

If you haven't seen it yet, don't miss the YouTube video of the St. Crispin's Day speech below. I love Kenneth Branagh!

St. Crispin's Apple Crisp

I'm over at Catholic Cuisine today with a recipe for an apple crisp for St. Crispin. 

This is a Crispin apple (above) and this is the famous St. Crispin's Day speech performed by the impressive Kenneth Branagh (below):

Happy St. Crispin's Day!

Pretzel Dots of Fall

Remember these Valentine Dots? And these Christmas Dots?

Pumpkin Spice and Candy Corn Kisses are at your local grocery store right now!

A quick note: These kisses are very soft and at 200 degrees melt quickly. Keep an eye on them!

Love is...

...two blueberry peach crisps sent off to an office potluck with Husband and none left at home.

*Don't forget to check out the giveaway post below!
 

Grasshopper Parfaits

These are to celebrate the Solemnity of the Birth of St. John the Baptist tomorrow. St. John is known for his hearty diet of locusts and honey (hence the grasshopper reference).

They were super easy to make! 

I posted the instructions over at Catholic Cuisine.

(We will be enjoying our parfaits this evening on the vigil since we plan to be out tomorrow.)

Sacred Heart Cheesecake

After devouring the Divine Mercy cheesecake, my kids finally agreed that fruit on a cheesecake was good, especially if it was strawberry.

Looks can be deceiving though. What happens when a distracted mommy fails to double check the recipe because she thinks she has it memorized? You get a cheesecake with no sugar in it. It wasn't terrible because the cake mix had some sugar in it. But not enough. Like I said, not terrible, but noticeable.

For anyone who looks at this and thinks that it requires special training or great skill to put together, I assure you that's not true. The recipe is a super easy one to follow, that's why it's one of my favorites. Just make sure you remember the sugar! It bakes up into a nice, firm cheesecake, not a tender, temperamental one. I have flipped it out of the pan onto my hand and then back onto a cooling rack without ever breaking one. The whipped cream goes on with a spoon and the strawberry sauce come from a can. Those flames? Hah! Just a glob of more whipped cream with colored sugar sprinkled on top and the Junior Mint cross sits on the serving plate. I didn't even anchor them to the plate with frosting which means they kind of slid around while I was taking it out of the fridge.

 

Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

A Corpus Christi Sundae

 ~White Chocolate Bread Pudding and Strawberry Wine (Syrup)~

Thank you, Miss Colleen!

The Evolution of a Cookie

(in pictures)

(The boys took charge of the sprinkles but I wasn't fast enough to snap a picture.)