Collection: St. John Paul the Great

Ring in the Catholic New Year with this fun, bubbly treat! Make it alcohol free by using sparkling grape juice or cider instead of champagne.

The story goes that after his attempted assassination, Pope John Paul II, while recovering in the hospital, requested pierogis to eat. The doctors tried to persuade him that this was not a wise meal to have after surgery, but the Pope’s persistence wore them down; and it turns out that pierogies are just the thing for recovering from an attempted assassination.

What’s better than a charcuterie board for a New Year’s Eve party? One that’s liturgically themed! Put together a fun snack (or dessert!) board that has all the colors of the liturgical year to celebrate a new year. You’ll need foods that are purple, green, red, and white. Bonus points if you add just a couple pink — or, rather, rose — foods!

On a visit to his hometown of Wadowice in 1999, Pope John Paul II casually mentioned how fond he was of the cream cake or kremówka that he and his school friends had often pooled their funds to buy. The next day, he was swimming in gifted cream cakes, already renamed Kremówka Papieska or “Papal Cream Cake” by the residents. This dessert of vanilla pastry cream sandwiched between layers of puff pastry and dusted with powdered sugar is delicious, if a bit messy.

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.” Other than that, he was known for eating whatever was placed before him, and not making his food preferences known. I’d like to think that the Polish nuns who did his cooking might have occasionally made him something like this one-pan kielbasa skillet dinner!