Collection: Products

Cherries jubilee is an old school classic dessert that uses the technique of flambé. The tongues of fire make this dessert perfect for Pentecost or the feast of Saint Jude, as he is traditionally depicted with a tongue of flame over his head, to remind us of his presence at Pentecost, when he received the Holy Spirit with the other apostles.

The “dragged through the garden” style of the classic Chicago hot dog was an inexpensive way for working-class Chicagoans to get protein and vegetables during the Great Depression, and it still is! To this day, the people of Chicago are very particular about their hot dogs. It has to be exactly these ingredients in exactly this order. And NO KETCHUP. I’d encourage you to give it a try, though. It really is a taste sensation. My plain-ketchup-dog-loving kiddos all give them two thumbs up.

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 appeared in cookbooks since as early as 1665, mostly without specific recipes, so there’s no way to know if they are similar to what we now know by that name. There’s also no indication that anyone but me associates the dish with the feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. But there’s also no indication that they don’t . . . In any case, this is a lovely comfort food dish, great for cool evenings, and beloved by my kids and nieces and nephews. It can be served over noodles, rice, biscuits, or even waffles!

St. Augustine and St. Monica lived in the northern part of Africa. This delicious stew is a traditional dish from that area and is perfect for celebrating their feast days!

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 casserole-type dish in a foil pan and arrange to deliver it hot, or freeze it, then the recipient can heat it up in the oven whenever she would like. It’s not exactly the same as walking a hundred miles and staying for three months to help. But it’s always well-received. This chicken tortellini casserole is simple to throw together, freezes well, includes the major food groups, and is a big hit with kids. It’s also very customizable!

This is the Tierney family’s most beloved liturgical living tradition. It’s some much-needed family in the busy Advent season to prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus.

On the feast of the Transfiguration, a cloud overshadowed those on the mountain while a voice came from the cloud saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased, listen to him." In this recipe, the ice cream represents Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, and when you pour your soda over the top a cloud "miraculously" forms!

Let someone in your life know how much you appreciate the work that coaches do with this thank you card inspired by St. Sebastian, patron saint of coaches.

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.

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.

For the feast of St. John the Baptist, our favorite locust-eating saint, we recommend eating at least ONE grasshopper to celebrate! Grasshoppers are actually widely consumed all over the world, and have similar nutritional value to more traditional meats, and these Crispy Cricket Tacos are a fun and more familiar way to enjoy some crickets for today’s feast!

You could make a lamb cake . . . but those turn out creepy, like, 90% of the time. That’s kind of their charm. But you can make a slightly-less-weird-looking Rice Krispie Lamb in a fraction of the time. Everyone wins! Let a kid do the sculpting and then you won’t have to take credit for your lamb’s looks. #momhack Note: I use a large canning pot for this recipe. If you don’t have a VERY large pot, but you do have a very large mixing bowl you can pour the hot marshmallow mixture over your cereal in a very large mixing bowl. Or, halve the recipe and make a smaller lamb

You could make a lamb cake . . . but those turn out creepy, like, 90% of the time. That’s kind of their charm. But you can make a slightly-less-weird-looking Rice Krispie Lamb in a fraction of the time. Everyone wins! Let a kid do the sculpting and then you won’t have to take credit for your lamb’s looks. #momhack Note: I use a large canning pot for this recipe. If you don’t have a VERY large pot, but you do have a very large mixing bowl you can pour the hot marshmallow mixture over your cereal in a very large mixing bowl. Or, halve the recipe and make a smaller lamb.

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 name of the sandwich basically translates to “crispy lady” and I knew it was meant to be a part of our feast day celebration of Saint Joan of Arc. Gruyere is the cheese that’s traditionally used, but swiss works in a pinch.