Collection: All Products

All the saint of the day images for the month of August!

Our Lady promised to give a sign that could be seen by others, and boy did she deliver! To a crowd of tens of thousands of onlookers, it’s reported that the sun broke through rain clouds and began to dance across the sky. This creamy smoothie is liquid sunshine, encapsulating the splendor of the amazing “Miracle of the Sun” that happened back in 1917!

As the old Irish rhyme goes, “Boxty on the griddle, boxty on the pan, if you can’t make boxty, you’ll never get a man.” Maybe irrelevant by today’s standards, but what remains important is that it’s a popular dish across Ireland. So what exactly is it? Boxty are fluffy potato cakes that are pan-fried like pancakes and served at breakfast. Perfect for St. Patrick’s Day–or any day, really! Just grab some freshly made or leftover mashed potatoes to get started.

King cake gets eaten for breakfast at our house, so we need a dessert after dinner. And in our family we’re going to be giving up all treats and desserts throughout Lent except for special treats on Sundays and solemnities, so we need to get all that stuff out of the house. To kill both of those Fat Tuesday birds with one stone, we have Boeuf Gras (boof grah), or “fattened ox”, Sundaes.

In Poland, Easter Monday means Śmigus-dyngus, a country-wide water fight. It’s also called Lany Poniedziałek, the Polish for “Wet Monday.” Folks in Polish neighborhoods in the United States call it Dyngus Day. It goes back all the way to the fourteenth century! On Easter Monday in Poland people spend the day chasing each other around with buckets of water. In solidarity with weird Catholic traditions, we like to have backyard water balloon fights and a fun water-themed dessert or afternoon snack. This traditional Italian cake is light, fluffy, and great if you happen to be out of (or avoiding) eggs and dairy. Add cocoa powder, espresso powder, cinnamon, fresh herbs, and/or citrus zest for a punch of flavor, but it’s tasty as is!

Send some snail mail to let your grandparents know that you’re praying for them on the feast of Saints Anne and Joachim!

I think you guys already know where I stand on whether you should be eating actual locusts/grasshoppers for the nativity of St. John the Baptist. (Spoiler alert: I think you should.) But you might ALSO like to serve this fun ice cream version of a Grasshopper Pie.

Our quick and easy version of this fancy Italian dessert omits the raw eggs traditionally found in tiramisu but, really, you won’t miss them! It requires no baking, comes together in about fifteen minutes, and is sure to impress. (Allow a few hours for it to set in the fridge before serving.) Kids can definitely help. This recipe uses crispy lady finger cookies as the base. These can be found in the cookie aisle of many grocery stores, ordered online, or made from scratch. If you have access to actual espresso, you can use that, or substitute strong coffee or decaf.

A novena to Saint Anne can be prayed for any intention, but her intercession is frequently invoked by those seeking a spouse or hoping for a child.

Saint Isidore would surely appreciate the ease and flexibility of this casserole. Substitute bacon or sausage, try other cheeses, add diced peppers or mushrooms. Make it the night before and store it in the refrigerator to bake in the morning. Great for family brunch, or as breakfast meal delivery to a new mom.

In Sweden, Saint Lucy saffron buns (also known as lussekatter) are eaten throughout Advent and especially on the feast of Saint Lucy. The curled S-shape with two raisins, reminds us of St. Lucy’s eyes. This dough comes together easily with a stand mixer, or by hand if you’re willing to work for it! If you don’t have vodka on hand to soak the saffron threads, just add them to the milk instead. All-purpose flour can be substituted. Kids love to help roll the dough, shape the curled-S eyes, and add the raisins.

To celebrate the feast we like to remember Matthew’s counting table and have silver dollar pancakes for dinner. This recipe makes great pancakes of any size.

Mary Magdalene is remembered, among other things, for having been exorcized by Jesus of seven demons (Luke 8:1-3) and for being the first to see the risen Jesus, having arrived at the tomb at daybreak on Easter morning, carrying spices with which she and the other holy women planned to embalm Jesus’ body (Matthew 28: 1-10). This simple vegan recipe combines seven spices in a tasty feast day meal that’s also great for meat-free Fridays. If you’re looking to add more protein, ground beef or turkey can be added when cooking the onions (drain the excess fat before adding the spices) or cooked, shredded chicken can be added at the end before serving. Feel free to adapt the spice blend to your family’s preferences or what you’ve got in the pantry. Serve with a salad over rice, noodles, or polenta.

Display this print throughout the month of September to remember this month’s devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows. Don’t forget to pray the prayer on the back for Our Lady’s feast day on September 15th! This painting is by the late Gothic artist Absolon Stumme(d. 1499).

Celebrate Our Lady Queen of Angels by displaying your holy card and praying the prayer on the back!

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. Perhaps he would have prepared this traditional Peruvian juice for himself or those in his care. “Jugo Surtido” means “assorted juice” but we would call it a smoothie. The addition of dark beer and a raw egg makes it “Jugo Especial.” But . . . I have yet to try it like that.

At the birthday party, I serve blue food, as blue is Mary’s favorite color!

A downloadable activity to use for the feast of Saint Thomas the Apostle on July 3!

The impressive strawberry-red of these margaritas make them perfect for the feast of the Mexican Martyrs! They are fruity, tart, sweet, and refreshing. Served on the rocks, they are a delicious summer treat! Replace the tequila with a lemon-lime soda for a virgin option.

November 20 is often colloquially called “Christ the King,” but I prefer the longer, more of an absolute title “The Solemnity of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.” It’s a name that seems deserving of quite a celebration, right? Right! Because it also marks the end of the liturgical year; Advent starts the new Church calendar. For this feast, a king cake seems appropriate, but Mardi Gras season has dibs on that recipe. So, we like this deliciously tart lemon cake, made in mini bundt molds to look like little crowns. I’d like to add some universe-y decorations some day, like star sprinkles, but I haven’t tried it yet - bonus points if you do!

Your original 2" calendar medallions for the month of January!!

Pentecost is the name of the Jewish festival that was being celebrated in Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit first descended upon Mary and the disciples. It is also called the Feast of Weeks or Shavuot. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. The fruit of the salad . . . is up to you.

These amazing meatballs are one of the kids’ favorite things to cook with Gramma. They’re great with a toothpick in them as an appetizer alongside Pasta Alla Tavola, in soups, with sweet and sour sauce and veggies over rice, with marinara sauce in a meatball sub, or on spaghetti for any of the hundreds (thousands?) of Italian saints, or—for a Swedish saint—with a yummy cream sauce and served over egg noodles or mashed potatoes. If you’re going Swedish, don’t forget the lingonberry jam! They can be cooked in the oven or pan-fried on the stove. I always make triple what we’ll need. I freeze them flat on a cookie sheet, then dump them in a ziplock bag and store in the freezer. They reheat beautifully in the oven, in a pan on the stove, or right in a sauce or soup.

Your original 2" calendar medallions for the month of February!!

All the saint of the day images for the month of February!

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 them!) but it’s worth a try. And, whether or not godparents can join you, what better way to celebrate Saint John the Baptist dunking Jesus in a river, than by dunking bread in melted cheese? Right? RIGHT? Baptism of the Lord fondue party! Aldi is a great place to find affordable European cheeses.

Saint Martin de Porres is a great example to look to when practicing the Corporal Works of Mercy! Use the clues to fill in the crossword, then think of a few ways that your family can follow the example of Saint Martin de Porres and practice the corporal work of mercy together!

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 nineteenth-century recipe books refer to crème brûlée as “Trinity Cream” or “Trinity Burnt Cream” means we’d be SILLY not to make this amazing dessert part of our Trinity Sunday celebration. (According to recipe historians—a real job, apparently—the name “Trinity” Cream is a reference to its three main ingredients: cream, sugar, and egg yolks.) This is a slightly fussier recipe than I’m up for on an every-day basis, but that’s the beauty of liturgical living for me. I can get motivated to do a fancy feast day meal for an important solemnity every month or two. THAT I can manage. And Crème Brûlée/Trinity Cream can be made ahead of time, which is always a bonus. But, just in case it’s helpful . . . last time I checked, they sell little individual crème brûlées in the freezer section at Trader Joe’s.

As our treat for the feast of the Chair of St. Peter, I buy a small assortment of cookies and candies, and we use frosting to stick them together into little chairs. We decorate them with whatever sprinkles I have in the cabinet. It’s always fun to see how differently they can turn out, despite each kid starting with all the same materials! Nota bene: If you include round cookies with a hole in the middle, someone might end up using it for the seat, with comedic-looking results. It’s a little thing, but since this feast day usually falls within Lent, the kids are extra excited to get to have treats. Since it’s not a solemnity, we wouldn’t usually break our voluntary Lenten disciplines on this day. However, this was one of our first family liturgical year traditions, and I think it’s the first one I can take credit for inventing, so it’s grandfathered in! But if your family also abstains from treats during Lent, you could always enjoy these together on a Sunday.

There is a long history in the Church of fasting before major feast days. In fact, until 1983, the Christmas Eve fast was still binding, which meant that on Christmas Eve Catholics would eat one regular meal, and two small meals (technically called collations), all meat-free. It’s no longer binding, but we’ve found it works for us to have a collation breakfast and lunch and then a festive, memorable, meat-free dinner.

This Vietnamese-style chicken recipe is the perfect mix of sweet and tangy and is popular with all ages. Serve over steamed rice.

This burrito casserole is a long-time family favorite. Perfect with a MexiCoke for the Mexican Martyrs, it’s easily customizable and makes a great option for a meal delivery. For the chicken, substitute ground beef, pulled pork, or leave the meat out for a tasty meat-free Friday meal. For the refried beans, substitute drained black or pinto beans. Add sauteed corn, onion, peppers, and tomatoes for some veggies. Add pico de gallo, hot sauce, or diced jalapeño peppers for some heat!

My son Bobby is in charge of crepe-making at our house. This simple recipe (just eggs, milk, and flour) was passed down to him by his great-grandfather, for whom he was named. Crepes are traditionally associated with Candlemas in France, and this recipe also works well for the feast day of any French saint. Sweet or savory, they are appropriate for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!

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 earlier!) or stale breads of any kind. I can’t find any indication of why this is called Saint Cecilia sauce or where the recipe comes from, but it does show up in quite a few vintage cookbooks, and is SOOOOO tasty. If you are concerned about raw eggs, you can substitute whipped cream for the Saint Cecilia sauce, and make the bread pudding with three whole eggs instead.

Saint Joseph models the holiness of labor to us. Pope Pius XII emphasized this when he said, “. . . no worker was ever more completely and profoundly penetrated by [the spirit] than the foster father of Jesus, who lived with Him in closest intimacy and community of family life and work.” This crossword highlights his pursuit of virtue and dedication to work!

Honor Saint Paul Miki and his twenty-five companions by trying the traditional Japanese art of folding paper, or origami! As you fold, feel free to talk about the blessing of religious freedom and the persecution many Christians still face today.

While other Marian feasts celebrate events in Mary’s life, this feast commemorates the part she played in the mystery of salvation. So, after you attend Mass (today is a holy day of obligation), come home and reflect on the motherhood of Mary as you color this beautiful page!

Zabaglione (a.k.a. zabaione or sabayon) is a marvel of a dessert. With three basic ingredients—and a bit of practice at whisking over a water bath—you are rewarded with a warm, slightly boozy, cloud of deliciousness.

Retell the story of the Transfiguration with the help of some DIY puppets! Just color, cut out, and glue to craft sticks for a tangible transfiguration activity.

For the crime of being a Christian, Saint Sebastian was sentenced to death by an archer firing squad. He survived. Emperor Diocletian wasn’t impressed, though, and had him put to death again, this time successfully. In the saint’s honor, these mini-skewers are best made on arrow-shaped food picks (included in the box) but also work on toothpicks or longer wooden skewers, and are tasty as an appetizer or a meal. Put them together before serving or let kids skewer cooked ingredients themselves. Other fruits, meats, and/or vegetables can be added or substituted.