December 31: New Year's Eve and the feast of Saint Sylvester

Pope Sylvester I
Sylvester is the first, and major, pope of the Church as it emerged from underground—from the catacombs. Of this important 4th century Bishop of Rome little is known for certain—though legends abound. He was Pope for 21 years, from 314 to 335, during the reign of the Emperor Constantine—the time when the situation of Christians changed fast and dramatically: the Church went from being forbidden and persecuted, to being tolerated; soon afterwards, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. Sylvester was apparently an advisor to Constantine. Under Pope Sylvester’s pontificate, many great churches were built (previously there had been no churches since Christianity was illegal); among them are the Lateran basilica and baptistery, the basilica of the Sessorian palace (known as Santa Croce), the original St. Peter’s in the Vatican, and several churches over martyrs’ graves. Also under his pontificate, the first martyrology of Roman martyrs was drawn up, and a Roman school of chant was established. Sylvester convened the great ecumenical Council of Nicaea. Fans of Evelyn Waugh—I am certainly one!—might like to be reminded that in his novel Helena (Waugh’s favorite work), he offers a marvelous image of Sylvester I.

Pope Sylvester I was buried in 335, on December 31—known in Catholic countries as the Feast of Saint Sylvester, Sylvesternacht, and by similar names. He was buried in the church he had built over the Catacomb of Priscilla.

For his feast day, the Viennese eat delicious doughnuts filled with apricot jam (recipe in A Continual Feast, p. 158).

And we drink a delicious punch in his honor. In A Continual Feast (p. 159) I provide the recipe for a great Polish punch—Poncz Sylwestrowy, or Sylvester’s Punch.

Happy feast of Saint Sylvester and happy New Year to you all!

An easy, seasonal, recipe for the Day of the Holy Innocents

Nigella Lawson's cookbook How to Be a Domestic Goddess includes, in good English fashion, an entire chapter devoted to Christmas. One cake she includes is a suggestion for a lovely dessert to spruce up what is otherwise a dinner consisting of leftovers. For those of us interested in continuing our Yuletide celebrations without taking on extraordinary new baking and cooking projects, it's a great cake, which I have made several times without much trouble. While Nigella doesn't connect it to the Feast of the Holy Innocents, it is a great cake for today because the cranberries give it a decidedly red color (at least on top). And it's a great way to use up extra cranberries!

Here is a link to the recipe for those who don't have her bookbook:

http://www.recipezaar.com/Cranberry-Upside-Down-cake-25988

Enjoy!

The Feast of the Holy Family--Now is a good time to bake

This year on Sunday, December 27, falls the beautiful Feast of the Holy Family--Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

Many mothers are just too busy to do much baking before Christmas—there’s so much going on! But the Christmas season is just beginning for us, so how about doing some baking now, starting with this beautiful feast focused on the Holy Family? Your family will appreciate the cookies and breads—and your children will enjoy helping you bake. You can give some of your baked goods away as gifts—it’s never too late for that!

We can bring out all our cookie cutters we have: the star, the angels, Mary, Joseph, the baby Jesus, the shepherds, the Wise Men, the sheep and the camels—the whole glorious crowd! (Many cooking stores sell cookie cutter Nativity sets.) If you have a few extra animals or other figures, bring them on too: they can all adore the Infant Jesus!

Among everyone's favorites are Old-fashioned Sugar Cookies (recipe below), but A Continual Feast offers lots of recipes for cookies and breads.

Old-fashioned white sugar cookies (from A Continual Feast, p. 95)
Ingredients:
1 cup (1/2 pound) sweet better, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:
Cream the butter with the sugar until fluffy.
Stir in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat until the mixture is fluffy. Stir in the vanilla extract.
Sift the flour with the baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Optional: Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let is rest for a few hours or overnight in the refrigerator. On a lightly floured board, roll the dough out thin—about 1/8 inch (or 1/4 inch, if you prefer), and cut into fancy shapes.
Bake on lightly buttered cookie sheets at 375 F for 8 to 10 minutes, or until cookies are a light golden brown.
Yield: about 4 dozen cookies

NOTE: The beautiful image above comes from a workshop in Mexico. You can order this painting and many other gorgeous religious hand-painted reproductions from them: http://www.artesacro.com.mx/-

Christmas isn’t over! We have Twelve Days before us—and more!

Our next few posts will remind us that, for Christians, the Christmas season is only just beginning! We have Twelve Days, until Epiphany on January 6 (which will be officially celebrated in the US on Sunday, January 3). And I think we might want to prolong the season, as people did in the Middle Ages, until the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord (or Candlemas) on February 2. Shall we do the loo-o-oong Christmas season?

In any case, we are just getting rolling!

Thinking food-wise: let’s not just dish out to our families leftover turkey and other tired erstwhile-treats. Let’s continue to serve them tasty dishes, and to celebrate all the highlights of this great season.

Today--the 26th--is the Feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr (for thoughts on celebrating his feast day with traditional food, please see A Continual Feast, p. 156).

And thinking of Stephen: here is the close to a sermon preached early in the 6th century on the Feast of St. Stephen by Bishop (and saint) Fulgentius of Ruspe in North Africa. Fulgentius' focus is on the power of love--that of Christ, that of Stephen, that of Paul, who, after participating in the killing of Stephen, became a Christian with the help of Stephen's loving forgiveness and prayers.

"My brothers, Christ made love the stairway that would enable all Christians to climb to heaven. Hold fast to it, therefore, in all sincerity, give one another practical proof of it, and by your progress in it, make your ascent together."

A great quotation, I think--for families in particular! (It comes from the Breviary--The Liturgy of the Hours: Advent Season, Christmas Season, p. 1257).

We will post shortly on the Feast of the Holy Family. This year it falls on December 27 and therefore takes precedence over the beautiful Feast of St. John Apostle and Evangelist whose feast is that day--and whom we will also remember: A Continual Feast, p.157.

On December 28, let’s not forget the Holy Innocents! See thoughts on them--and the red foods eaten in memory of these tiny martyrs--in A Continual Feast, on p. 158.

And we will post on the Feast of St. Sylvester, December 31.

And then we start on the New Year!

Wishing you a Blessed Christmas

We wish you all a merry and a truly blessed Christmas.

May our Christmas feasts be a foretaste of the banquet of heaven!

"I stand at the door and knock"

I stand at the door and knock, says the Lord. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and sit down to supper with him and he with me. (Rev. 3:20)

The Lord is close at hand!—the Christmas Feast

Christmas Day is right around the corner now—and the cooks among us are planning our Christmas menu.

As we welcome Christ, we might start the day with a delicious Christstollen—a beautiful coffee cake, shaped like Christ’s swaddling clothes? (Recipe in A Continual Feast, p. 114). Ah, this kind of baking is such fun! (Children love to help knead dough—to pound and thwack it.) I spent much of this past weekend baking with my wonderful daughter-in-law, Ann. We had such a good time making bread and springerles and the cranberry pudding that you will see below!

And then, let’s keep our great feast from feeling like a replay of Thanksgiving, with its turkey, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pies, etc.

We might go for a boar’s head this year—with the apple in its mouth, it does look so festive and memorable! And it would certainly be different from Thanksgiving! (The medievalist in me rather likes the idea.)
Here (to the right) is the look:

But on second thought, perhaps not.

Perhaps a beautiful roast beef (many fine recipes for roast beef are available in cookbooks and on line). You might serve the roast with roasted red potatoes, or mashed potatoes, or wild rice on the side--and of course your favorite vegetables or salads.

For desserts: steamed cranberry pudding—the recipe is below.
And perhaps pecan pie (recipe in A Continual Feast, p. 21).
And, like the Christstollen, can anything be more appropriate for the Nativity than some of those sweet little cookies called Christ's diapers? (The recipe is in A Continual Feast, p. 100.)

Between courses—or at several points during the meal—perhaps ask each member of the family or group to start a Christmas carol, and then all join in? If you don’t have singers, perhaps you can play Christmas CDs during the meal? I find I just can’t get enough Christmas music—I love those beautiful carols!

Steamed cranberry pudding (slightly modified from A Continual Feast)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2/3 cup water
3 Tablespoons sweet butter
1/3 cup molasses
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 1/4 cups cranberries
Optional: 2-3 Tablespoons crystallized ginger, finely chopped

For the sauce:
1 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
Butter generously a pudding steamer. Dust with flour.
Sift the flour with the baking soda, salt, ginger and cloves.
In a saucepan, heat the water with the butter, stirring until the butter is melted. Stir in the molasses and brown sugar. Cook, stirring, until the mixture is well blended.
Add gradually to the flour mixture, stirring until the mixture is smooth.
Add the cranberries and optional crystallized ginger and mix well.
Pour the mixture into the pudding steamer. Cover it tightly.
Place the pudding steamer on a wire rack or vegetable steamer in a large pot with a tightly fitting lid. Pour an inch or so of water into the pot. Bring it to a boil, cover the pot tightly and reduce heat to medium. Steam the pudding for about 2 hours or until the pudding is firm and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Check occasionally to be sure that the water has not boiled away.
Serve the pudding warm with hot sauce poured over each slice.

The sauce:
Combine the sugar, cream, and butter in a saucepan. Heat thoroughly, stirring frequently, until the butter is melted. Add the vanilla and serve hot.