Almond Joy Oatmeal {Happy Halloween!}

Happy Halloween! This is a busy week for us - Halloween is just the beginning of the "mini-triduum" of Hallowtide: All Hallow's Eve, All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day. Lots of fun and devotion and proper attention to death are planned. (For more info on how and why Catholics celebrate Halloween, click here!)

(Digital download of this coloring sheet available at Someday Saints Designs)

Almond Joy Oatmeal

A special request for "coconut oatmeal" and an abundance of Halloween candy staring me down all day inspired this recipe. Enjoy!

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 15-ounce can coconut milk
2 cups water
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
dash of salt
1/2 cup shredded coconut (I used unsweetened, but you could use the sugary coconut!)
1/2 cup sliced almonds
Sweetener to taste (I used maple syrup, but honey, coconut sugar, brown sugar, or stevia would work!)

Put the oats, coconut milk, water and salt in a saucepan over medium-high heat, and cook until almost done (5-8 minutes). Add the rest of the ingredients, mix well, and serve! (For an added boost of protein, and to cool it down quickly for little people, I stir in a dollop of greek yogurt.)

Angel Food Cake with Fresh Raspberry Cream {St. Anne Day!}

We are up at the lake in Michigan for the last time this summer, our last bout of (planned) family travel before little sister makes her big entrance. Today we celebrated the feast of St. Anne, mother of Mary and grandmother of Jesus, and my oldest girl's namesake! It was an absolutely perfect day, warm and sunny and filled with laughter and family. This was the first time I've remembered Anne's name day was coming up soon enough to plan ahead and make something special for dessert!



Since I'm not at home, I wanted to keep it simple. What is simpler than a cake mix that only requires you to add water? Enter Betty Crocker angel food cake. So delicious, and not perceptibly different from making it from scratch, which requires beating and beating and beating a dozen (a dozen!) egg whites forever.

And you guys, did you know that you can whip cream with a blender? It's not as fluffy as if you whip it in a mixer with a whisk, but it takes approximately 20 seconds, so it works in a pinch! I folded a pint of smashed raspberries and a little bit of sugar into 2 cups of cream, and served it alongside the cake as a topping.







Since I didn't have the proper equipment, and I made a lousy judgment call trying to revive it before serving, mine was a lot more like sauce, where I was originally going for fluffy pink clouds. The taste was still amazing. And it made a certain little girl very happy. :-)

Guinness Chocolate Cake

Laetare! With three weeks left until Easter, we get a little taste of rejoicing, like a runner eating one of those sugary gel packs during a race, to give them a boost toward the finish. We also, handily, got a little taste of spring weather to get us through whatever the late-winter lion is going to throw at us. All the snow has melted in Chicago (miracle!), and GREEN THINGS ARE GROWING OUT OF THE GROUND. Toddlers are getting reacquainted with things like fresh air and dirt. The world is a nice place to be in again.

This weekend we were privileged to be part of the baptism of our friends' brand-new baby son, and I thought how right the timing felt - another little taste of joy this weekend, along with a renewal of the promises we made at our own baptism. Do you reject Satan? YES! Do you believe in God? YES!



We also brought some dinner over to other friends who just had a baby. I gave them really overcooked corned beef and cabbage! Aren't I nice? I felt bad until I realized I also brought cake. See? That's why you bring cake! Even better if it's dark, dense, beer-infused chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting. I like how the frosting looks (like the frothy head of a pint), but I think I prefer the cake without. It's just so moist and perfect on its own!



Guinness Chocolate Cake

(12 servings)

For the cake:

1 cup Guinness
1 cup (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into small slices
3/4 unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

For the frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan, line with parchment paper, and butter the paper.

In a wide, shallow saucepan over medium heat, heat up the beer and butter until the butter melts. Remove from heat and stir in the cocoa powder and sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together sour cream, eggs, and vanilla until smooth; add to beer mixture and whisk to combine. Add the flour and baking soda and whisk until incorporated. Pour into the prepared pan and bake 45-60 minutes, until the cake springs back when lightly touched, and the sides are beginning to come away from the pan.

Allow to cool completely before removing from the pan. While the cake cools, make the frosting. Whip the cream cheese until smooth, then add the sugar. Whip to combine, and then add the cream and whip again until fluffy and spreadable. When the cake is completely cool, remove it to a cake plate, and top with the frosting. The white topping resembles the frothy head on a pint of Guinness. Sláinte!

Our First Michaelmas!

Last night we celebrated Michaelmas (the feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael) for the first time! There are so many different ways to celebrate it, and I had a hard time choosing. A friend of mine from our parish did a bonfire on the beach a couple of years ago, so we teamed up together this year to recreate it.



We reserved a fire pit on the beach, and the weather yesterday was absolutely ideal. As we drove up, I  rolled down the windows and enjoyed the 78-degree sunshine and the few leaves that were starting to turn. A few blocks from the beach, though, a cold burst of wind started blowing, a layer of cloud settled over the lake, and the temperature dropped about 20 degrees in 15 minutes. While I would have preferred one last warm evening on the beach, you can't deny the appropriateness of such a drastic shift on a night when you're celebrating the changing seasons, among other things.









Each child received a cape of light, which I made the day before by dyeing white silk scarves with turmeric (I followed the instructions here). The capes are symbolic of the courage and strength needed to stand up and fight against evil. All of the kids in our group are under 7, so we didn't say much else about them - just tied the capes on and let them run around. It was great. Then we gathered around our bonfire and said the St. Michael prayer together, which I printed out on quarter sheets using this lovely download from Kendra.



We had such a wonderful time around the fire, enjoying each other, talking and eating s'mores. It was one of those rare, sweet times when I feel like I am living just the life I want to, and giving Anne exactly the childhood I dream for her.


St. Michael? Are you on your way to help?