Dear Friends and Family, Thank you so much for all your prayers, Masses, cards, gifts, kind words, rides for the kids, and other support since Jim passed away in July. I am so grateful. Even if you didn't receive a personal thank you note from me, please know it was...
Here we go again, party people. Episode 2 of our liturgical lifestyle and cooking show is available now, exclusively at Formed.org. WATCH NOW Access to all the great Catholic audio and video resources on FORMED is free if your parish has a subscription. Signing up for...
I'm so excited to announce Catholic All Year's newest undertaking . . . we made a real no kidding TV show! And it's available exclusively on FORMED. FORMED provides the very best Catholic content to help parishes, families and individuals explore their faith...
As most of you will already be aware, my husband Jim passed away peacefully in our home on July 9, 2022 after a long battle with cancer. More details, as well as a video of the funeral are available on this page: Funeral and Memorial Scholarship Information. If you'd...
Yesterday, I shared my friend Emily's personal story of her mom's crisis pregnancy. See that post here: What’s to Gain by Saying No to Abortion: A Story of Teen Pregnancy, Grandparents’ Prayers, and . . . Me. I received the following comment over on Facebook. I...
Happy Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus! In honor of the day, I'd like to share why I think Friday abstinence is a beautiful and effective form of penance and also, oh yeah, that Catholics are actually STILL required to do Friday penance EVERY WEEK. Unless it's a...
It's summertime . . . . and the livin' is liturgical. As I say in The Catholic All Year Compendium, "Maybe we’ve got some extra downtime, and some time with all the kids at home, and we were going to eat dinner anyway, right? I try to find saints’ days to attach to...
Prefer to watch or listen rather than read? This post is available in video format here. Hey all! Today we’re going to talk about belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist: how to understand it, how to teach it, and how to celebrate its feast day, Corpus...
Health update: The husband's treatments are progressing and we * finally * got the test results we were waiting for and it was good news for the spine! Thanks so much for your prayers. Happy feast day! Red for Pentecost! #dontcountus #someofusareoutsick I’ve had some...
Catholic All Year has been around for (almost) a decade. In that time, I've shared hundreds of liturgical living and feast celebration ideas, liturgical wall calendars, dozens of prayer booklets for you to print, over a year of physical boxes with feast materials, and...
Health update: Not much to report. Treatments are progressing. We are awaiting test results. We are all in good spirits. Your prayers are SO appreciated. God's will be done. In case you prefer watching/listening to reading . . . this post is also available as a video....
Hey all! Father's Day is coming up soon, and I wanted to share some Catholic Dad Gift Sets we've put together for you guys, along with some free printables and our family favorite movies for the day. You'll find those at the bottom of the post. Note: Since drafting...
In case you prefer watching/listening to reading . . . this post is also available as a video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUXTwDas0vQ Hi, guys, Kendra here. Today we are getting down to basics. Today I’m hoping to answer some questions for you, that are really...
Mother's Day is coming and it seems like as good a time as any to open that evergreen can 'o worms, a topic of discussion in Catholic circles since, oh, 62 AD . . . the ever-controversial question inspired by Ephesians 5:21-33: Must Catholic wives submit to their...
Chicken Tortellini Delivery Casserole In honor of the example given to us by Our Lady in the Visitation, I always try to take this day to prepare a meal or two for friends who are pregnant, have a new baby, or are experiencing hardship of some kind. I make a...
Crème Brûlée (aka Trinity Cream) It’s probably my favorite dessert, so any excuse for crème brûlée is a good one in my book. The feast day of any French saint will do, but somehow the torching part makes it seem perfect for Saint Joan. Also, the fact that multiple...
Croque Madame (Crispy Lady) Sandwiches The “croque madame” is a French grilled cheese sandwich with ham inside and a fried egg on top. Sounds odd, but it’s SO good. It was my very favorite meal on our pilgrimage to Lourdes a few years back. THEN I realized that the...
Alvaro del Portillo Cake Shakes The husband was raised in Chicago, and our family spent a couple years living there. Portillo's Hot Dogs is a popular local restaurant chain famous for hot dogs, beef sandwiches, and . . . cake shakes. This is—yes—a milkshake into which...
Jesus walks into a restaurant and says to the maitre'd, "Table for twenty-six please." The maitre'd does a quick head count, and says, "I see there are only thirteen of you here. Please let me know when the rest of your party arrives, sir, and I’ll be happy to seat...
Also available as a YouTube video here! Well, you've done it. You AND your children have, somehow, against all odds, survived through to these last few days of Lent. Though for a while there, it looked like you might succumb to acute lack of coffee / Netflix /...
Shamrock Cucumber Tea Sandwiches Traditional cream cheese and cucumber tea sandwiches get an open-faced Saint Patrick’s Day twist for a feast day tea party. These can also be made as a traditional closed sandwich. Other Irish Tea Party favorites include round Irish...
Shamrock Surprise Sugar Cookies The surprise is that these sugar cookies get their lovely green color from . . . spinach! You really can’t taste it, honest. Cut them out using a 2 ½ inch diameter shamrock-shaped cookie cutter. They can be frosted with buttercream or...
Our Lady’s Buttermilk Waffles Because of a medieval Swedish liturgical food pun, the solemnity of the Annunciation is associated with . . . waffles! In Europe, this important feast day was known as “Our Lady’s Day” in honor of Mary. In Swedish “Our Lady’s Day” is...
Full Immersion Cheese Fondue Also works for pouring and sprinkling. Because the Baptism of the Lord is almost always observed on a Sunday, we like to invite our kids’ godparents to join us for dinner. They are spread out all over the country (and there are a lot of...
Caspar’s Potato & Pea Phyllo Samosa Triangles 2 large Yukon Gold potatoes (in ½ inch cubes (about 5 cups))1 ½ teaspoons salt (divided)1 medium onion (chopped (about 1 cup))½ teaspoon garam masala (Indian spice blend)½ teaspoon dried cumin½ teaspoon dried...
Melchior’s Ham & Cheese Pinwheels 1 puff pastry sheet (thawed (½ box))3 tablespoons Dijon mustard½ teaspoon dried dill1 tablespoon honey6 slices thin deli-sliced ham1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese (grated)3 tablespoons chives...
Balthasar’s Meat Pies 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil6 ounces ground beef (at least 80% lean)½ teaspoon salt¼ teaspoon pepper1 medium onion (diced (about 1 cup))1 medium carrot (diced (about ½ cup))½ cup frozen peas (thawed)2 stems fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried)1 bay...
Ensalada de Nochebuena “Christmas Eve Salad” in English, Mexican Ensalada de Nochebuena (ehn-sah-LAH-dah de NO-chay BWAY-nah) is a cool/sweet/tart addition to any feast day table. It can also be made in a fruit salad-style without lettuce, but this recipe is how my...
Easy Beer Bread It doesn’t get any easier than this. 3 cups self-rising flour2 tablespoons sugarPinch salt12 oz beer (1 can or bottle, any type room temperature) Preheat the oven to 350° F. Combine the dry ingredients then gently mix in the beer with a rubber spatula,...
Spätzle Kartoffelsuppe (Potato Dumpling Soup) This rustic soup is a real family favorite. We have it on Christmas Eve and sometimes also for our “all white dinner” on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, and it’s perfect for a German saint day. It’s always in the...