The Holy Cross: September 14

On September 14 falls a feast called "The Exaltation of the Holy Cross," honoring the Cross itself as instrument of salvation of the world.

I discuss this feast in some detail in A Continual Feast (pp. 166-7), and give some recipes for dishes for this ancient feast.

But let me add a few extra images and thoughts here. Above, you see a cross-shaped cake pan (made by Wilton), and a beautiful cake that emerged from it. This sort of cake pan can also be useful for baptisms and other religious occasions.

But you can also make a cross cake by just putting together two store-bought pound cakes into the form of a cross (you'll need to do a bit of cake-surgery, of course), and frost and decorate them. This is something your children will enjoy doing!

If you want to read about the finding of the Cross--which had been lost for centuries--by St. Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, you must read Evelyn Waugh's marvelous, delicious historical novel Helena. (http://www.amazon.com/Helena-Loyola-Classics-Evelyn-Waugh/dp/082942122X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1284420813&sr=8-1) Ahh! You have a treat in store for you!

One last thing to read, if you are so inclined: the great Anglo-Saxon poem, "The Dream of the Rood" in which the Cross itself speaks (the word "Rood" means Cross). Here is a modern translation of this grand poem: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Dream_of_the_Rood_%28translation%29

Happy Feast!