7 Quick Takes -7 Quick and Easy Eats and Treats to Celebrate October's Saints

I've been meaning to link up to 7 Quick Takes  with Kelly at This Ain't the Lyceum for some time now, but haven't been able to get my act together.  First off I didn't know how to actually link up. Second, I am not blogging on any sort of regular schedule yet.  But, since Kelly is a good friend and she told me how to link up, I figured I would give it my best effort.  So, here we go, my first ever 7QT link-up:

7 Quick and Easy  Eats & Treats to Celebrate October's Awesome Line-up of Saints

We love living and celebrating the liturgical year at our house, and October is like a power-house month of awesome saints.  So this month I actually planned ahead and put everything down on paper to ensure that we would be prepared to carry out all the celebrating that I wanted to do.  I thought I would share the quick version with you guys.  You can hop on over to my blog if you want more details about the recipes or how we celebrate in more detail as each feast this month I did a full blog post on that saint and our celebrations.  

1. St. Therese of Lisieux (Oct. 1)- St. Therese Flower Cookies.  We just grab these cookies at the store, throw them (ok, set them out nicely) on a pretty platter and serve (usually with tea).
http://www.pepperidgefarm.com/ProductDetail.aspx?catID=736&prdID=112054

2. Feast of the Guardian Angels (Oct. 2)- Angel Shaped Pancakes with banana halos and whipped cream clouds 

3. St. Francis of Assisi (Oct. 4)- Animal Crackers.  Easy peasy.  We just grab a big bucket at BJ's and eat them while we read the story of St. Francis and the Wolf or watch the CCC movie on St Francis's life.  The hardest part is remembering to pick them up at the store ahead of time.  

4. Our Lady of the Rosary (Oct. 7) - 1 decade grape rosaries.  We string them up using dental floss, top with a pretzel cross, and then pull them off and eat them one at a time while we pray a decade together at snack time.  

5.  St. Theresa of Avila (Oct. 15)- We build fortresses like the fortress around the city of Avila where St. Theresa lived and talk about how we can build fortresses around our souls to protect them from sin.  And we make these easy empanadas: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/chicken-empanadas-recipe.html

My kids in their "fortress"

6.  St. Margaret Mary Alocoque (Oct. 16)- French Toast with heart-shaped strawberries.  French toast because she was of French heritage, and heart-shaped strawberries to help remind us of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus which was revealed to St. Margaret Mary.  Here is a link to a tutorial on making the heart-shaped strawberries. You can make whatever french toast recipe tickles your fancy. 

http://www.californiastrawberries.com/in_the_kitchen/detail/2013/02/how_to_make_fresh_strawberry_hearts

7. St. Pope John Paul II (Oct. 22) - Since he was from Poland and I have Polish heritage, we make the traditional Polish dish of pirogies and kielbasa.  Here is a link to a quick and easy recipe.  http://www.food.com/recipe/kielbasa-with-pierogies-caramelized-onions-493886

We also pray this prayer for all married couples, since St. John Paul II taught so eloquently on marriage and family life.  

There you have it.  7 quick and easy ways to celebrate some great saints this month.  Happy Feasting!