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...
St. Lucy Eyeball Punch The stories say that the tortures suffered by St. Lucy included having her eyeballs poked out, and she is often depicted in art holding her own eyes. So, we like to make this punch in her honor on her feast day. (It’s also fun for Halloween)....
Wow! The 2022 Catholic Costume was such a success. We at Catholic All Year loved looking through each and every costume to choose the winners and honorable mentions. So, without further ado, here we go! Our email winner: Our Lady of Guadalupe & St. Juan Diego...
We did a costume contest in 2015 and it was REALLY cool. I loved seeing all the great Catholic costumes you good folks and your kids can up with. So . . . even though I’m not sure the world needs any more of my All Saints Day costume posts, I decided to do it again....
St. Martin’s Weckmänn Weckmänn means “watchman.” These little bread men have been keeping watch over the celebration of Martinmas in Germany since the Middle Ages and make a lovely accompaniment to Six-Can Soup. To help them look more like Saint Martin, bishop of...
Eggs in Purgatory This dish, originally from Southern Italy, features eggs poached in spicy tomato sauce. The sauce is purgatory and the eggs are the souls hoping to escape, although the metaphor breaks down a bit once we get to the table . . . unless our tummies are...
Bread Pudding with St. Cecilia Sauce I love recipes that are about turning unwanted or past-their-prime ingredients into something delicious, and bread pudding is a great example. This recipe is a great way to upcycle extra rolls (if only Thanksgiving came a week...
Peruvian Jugo Surtido Saint Martin de Porres was born in Lima, Peru in 1579. He served the poor, the sick, and his fellow Dominican brothers, working in the infirmary and the kitchen. He maintained an austere lifestyle, which included fasting and abstaining from meat....
Chicken à la (Christ the) King This recipe is almost the same as the one I use for Saint Bartholomew Skinned Chicken and Biscuits. It also makes a lovely chicken pot pie filling, by the way. Recipes called Chicken à la King (or the like in other languages) have...
Martinmas Six-Can Soup I first saw this recipe in one of those parish fundraiser cookbooks at my grandmother’s house in Memphis, TN. It was called six-can soup, because each of the ingredients comes in a can. I like it as a simple, tasty, easy-to-assemble meal that’s...
Soul Cakes Soul cakes are a Christian Hallowtide tradition dating to the medieval period in England, Wales, and Ireland. They were baked for All Hallows’ Eve, All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days. On those days, adults and children would go knocking door to door, offering...
Little Way Rose Pastries On St. Therese's death bed, she said, "After my death, I will let fall a shower of roses. I will spend my heaven doing good upon earth. I will raise up a mighty host of little saints. My mission is to make God loved." Her feast...
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque Oeufs à la Coque (Soft-Boiled “Eggs in the Shell”) and Mouillettes St. Margaret Mary’s last name, Alacoque, means “in the shell” in her native French. This simple in-the-shell breakfast is fancy enough for guests, but the beheading and...
Spooky Baked Macaroni & Cheese All Hallows Eve, as the vigil day of the important solemnity of All Saints, was historically a day of required fasting and abstinence. Since 1962, the fasting and abstinence is recommended, but is no longer required. Our family...
Pope St. JPII Polish Sausage & Peppers Pope St. John Paul II’s favorite food, famously, is a puffed pastry and custard cream dessert now known as kremówka papieska or "papal cream cake." (A recipe for that dessert was included in the Catholic All Year Liturgical...
Bl. Carlo Acutis Nutella Sundaes Carlo Acutis is a millennial blessed, born in Italy in 1991. He died of cancer at the age of fifteen. We know that (in addition to Mass and the sacraments) he liked playing soccer and video games, and that his favorite treats were...
Edible Rosaries To celebrate the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, we like to make an edible rosary! This can be accomplished with just about anything: mini muffins or donuts or cereal pieces at breakfast time, nuts or goldfish crackers or dried fruit at snack time,...
St. Thérèse French Onion Soup Gratinée My family loves this soup for the feast days of French saints, and it’s always one of the soups I serve at our Lenten Soup and Stations get togethers. To make it more crowd-friendly, I assemble the cheesy crouton topping...
Holy Cross Pesto Sauce There is a tradition that basil grew up around the foot of the cross, where Jesus’ blood and Mary’s tears hit the ground. St. Helen is said to have found the True Cross hidden beneath an overgrowth of basil. So for dinner on the feast of the...
Bellarmine & Galileo Sun Tea St. Robert Bellarmine was a theologian and professor, in addition to being a Jesuit priest and a cardinal. He negotiated a compromise with Catholic astronomer Galileo that allowed Galileo to continue to research his then-controversial...
St. Matthew Silver Dollar Pancakes “As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he rose and followed him” (Mt. 9:9). Two words, and Matthew gets up, leaving a pile of silver coins on the...
Rosemary Blackberry Roasted Game Hen It’s not goose, but game hen is more exotic somehow than chicken. And it feels old fashioned to have a whole bird (or half of one anyway) sitting on your plate. Game hen are easy to find at the grocery store. They take two days to...
Garlic Parmesan Asparagus Spears Get it? Because St. Michael has a spear? This recipe works with thin or thick asparagus, just adjust the cooking time as necessary. 1 lb fresh asparagus spears (trimmed)3 Tablespoons olive oil1 Tablespoon lemon juice1 teaspoon chopped...
Devil’s Spit Punch 1 bunch fresh mint leaves1 pint blackberries2 L lemon lime soda64 ounces of blackberry soda or juice1 pint berry sorbetIce cubes (optional) Combine soda and juice in a dispenser or punch bowl. Add the mint leaves and blackberries. Using a small...
The Battle of Heaven Cocktail 2 lime wedges4 mint leavesIce1 ½ ounces blackberry brandy½ cup club soda2 fresh black berries Muddle two lime wedges and four mint leaves in an eight ounce glass. Fill the glass two thirds full with ice cubes. Add one shot (one and a half...
Our Lady’s Blueberry Cornbread Mary’s is one of only three birthdays on the liturgical calendar each year (the others are Jesus’ and John the Baptist’s). Kids love a birthday party, and this is a perfect day to let them head up the decoration committee and create...
Angels on Horseback / Devils on Horseback These appetizers can be found in the classic 1888 Victorian cookbook Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management. I can’t resist them for this feast day! The “angels” are shucked oysters in Mrs. Beeton’s, but other recipes use...
St. Lawrence Grilled Peaches St. Lawrence was a 3rd century deacon of Rome. The stories say he was martyred by the local prefect for refusing to renounce his faith or to surrender the treasures of the church to the Roman government. Because he’d been rather cheeky in...
Transfiguration Toad-in-the-Hole A fun food/activity for the Transfiguration is making toad-in-the-hole. (This is the American egg-in-toast version, not the English sausages-in-batter version.) We read the story of the Transfiguration from one of the gospels and make...
Done on this Side Chicken This chicken recipe, brined and seasoned using ancient Roman ingredients and methods, is my family’s all time favorite chicken. The spice blend is based on recipes from De Re Coquinara (The Art of Cooking), a Roman cookbook from the 4th...
