How Does Your Family Celebrate Catholic Food?

[Dolores49]

I apologize up front for being old fashioned. The Way To A Man’s Heart Is Through His Stomach. That motto was followed by my maternal grandmother, my mother and continues to be followed by me. I’m in my 60’s. As a retired couple, we cook and plan our meals together. It is a never ending love fest. Of food. Of each other.

I raised our daughter in this way. Her husband-to-be remarked, “Gee, no one ever cooked for me before.” Goal! He proposed, she’s only 21 at the time – there’s more work to be done (she no longer goes to Mass; he’s kind of an atheist).

Recently, we’ve recognized a distinct disconnect of Catholics “in the world.” Another way of saying this is, Catholic women are guilty of wanting more than their mothers and grandmothers. More education, more career, more money, more furniture, more cars, more houses and on and on.

More of all of that results in less of what our ancestors gave to their children and their husbands. Less time. Less simplicity. Less holiness.

Why should celebrity chefs, upscale restaurants, cookbook authors, and cable food shows take the place of the lovely family meal??

What are you doing to keep those fires in the stove burning?? Are you deeply focused on the family meals? Do both husband and wife share the kitchen duties? Shop together? Does your family treasure the Catholic Seasons? Through food?

 

[pensmama87]

My husband’s family has Italian roots, and so there are some very traditional family foods that we eat. We’ve also revived other traditions that have been mostly forgotten in the US or borrowing from our other ethnic heritage. There are great books about celebrating the liturgical year that have helped us do this.

I do most of the shopping, cooking, and meal planning because I stay-at-home (though have worked part-time on and off throughout our marriage). My husband likes to grill on weekends and will take over cooking duty on my birthday, Mother’s Day, and on Valentine’s Day and our anniversary if we don’t go out. Baptism days mean celebrating with a special dessert and my children are old enough to help or “help.” We also do some gardening which is very much a family effort.

I like to show my love for others through cooking and food. Not everybody is really into that and I think that’s OK. I know sometimes there can be so much focus on the trappings that the reason can be lost, even if it’s homemade meals. But for our family, we love it, so we do it.

 

[Irishmom2]

Making good food for my family is/was important to me. It is my way of showing my love. Meals from scratch and our family eating together happened most nights. We eat out maybe once in three weeks. Special meals for holidays, birthdays, company. Now, because they are all out of school, or working, or off doing other things and therefore out of the house, our meals together have become more important in a way. Special requests are honored because they are links to the past, or they are memories of pleasant times.

My family has seen me do what I call my “food ministry.” Cooked meals for friends when there have been deaths in their family, or illness, or just because. They have seen me gather a group of old friends together, as well as new friends, each year for a party pretty much revolves around the food, but also sharing with friends as we have no family nearby.

It is very bittersweet now that my children are “grown.” With them away, I had to learn how to make less!

 

[Xantippe]

I apologize up front for being old fashioned. The Way To A Man’s Heart Is Through His Stomach. That motto was followed by my maternal grandmother, my mother and continues to be followed by me. I’m in my 60’s. As a retired couple, we cook and plan our meals together. It is a never ending love fest. Of food. Of each other.

I raised our daughter in this way. Her husband-to-be remarked, “Gee, no one ever cooked for me before.” Goal! He proposed, she’s only 21 at the time – there’s more work to be done (she no longer goes to Mass; he’s kind of an atheist).

Recently, we’ve recognized a distinct disconnect of Catholics “in the world.” Another way of saying this is, Catholic women are guilty of wanting more than their mothers and grandmothers. More education, more career, more money, more furniture, more cars, more houses and on and on.

More of all of that results in less of what our ancestors gave to their children and their husbands. Less time. Less simplicity. Less holiness.

Why should celebrity chefs, upscale restaurants, cookbook authors, and cable food shows take the place of the lovely family meal??

What are you doing to keep those fires in the stove burning?? Are you deeply focused on the family meals? Do both husband and wife share the kitchen duties? Shop together? Does your family treasure the Catholic Seasons? Through food?

I have to confess that I was brought up largely on WASP-y casseroles made from a lot of macaroni, a jar of spaghetti sauce, a moderate quantity of barely seasoned ground beef, and some Velveeta on top, so I can’t really relate. (There was also a version with white rice.) We also ate a lot of stuff like canned green beans. (I now think–whyyyyy? What is the point of eating canned green beans. Who actually likes canned green beans?)

That was my mom’s approach. Mom was a housewife, by the way, so it wasn’t a working mom issue–just a poor WASP thing My grandma (mom’s MIL) was more of a 1950s/Southern cook, so a stronger food tradition, but grandma’s cooking was a special occasion thing, and I didn’t have a lot of opportunities to see how the magic happened.

For anybody who doesn’t know, bad WASP cooking is very, very, very bad.

lileks.com/institute/gallery/

My husband emigrated as a kid, and while one of his Polish grandmas excelled in heavy Polish cooking, his later childhood involved a lot of Costco dinners.

Our own family mostly eats in the college cafeteria (it’s very inexpensive for us), but when we cook at home, we prefer to do either very simple prepared stuff or homemade Indian or Thai curries and stir fry. My husband and I both prefer Asian food to our ancestral diet, as you get better results for the same effort. Our oldest daughter is starting to cook and can do an excellent French toast that we have for dinner from time to time. We do a traditionalish meatless Polish Christmas Eve dinner (with salmon, not carp), but in terms of every day, our most “ethnic” standard meal is nalesniki (Polish crepes) with a sweet spiced ricotta cheese filling and some other toppings. Our family also does a lot of baked stuff (this is actually an area where traditional WASP cooking is pretty good). We like to make pumpkin muffins, blueberry muffins, double chocolate muffins with Ghirardelli chips. My husband also makes an excellent Hershey chocolate cake and my oldest is starting to get rather good at cake decorating. My husband and the kids also enjoy molding chocolate for special occasions.

So, there are definite inherited elements (the crepes, French toast, muffins, etc.), but our home-cooked dinners are very different from the ones we grew up with.

Also, I’ve made a point of putting my daughter in a summer cooking class a couple years in a row.

As to other elements of your OP, I have a few thoughts:

1. Lots of people in the US are super serious about cooking. In fact, that can be very daunting to the home cook. I’m never going to be as good as other people, so why bother?
2. A lot of us don’t really have an attractive traditional family cuisine to turn to.
3. You wrote: “Catholic women are guilty of wanting more than their mothers and grandmothers. More education, more career, more money, more furniture, more cars, more houses and on and on.”

I can’t speak to Catholic women as I’m a convert, but I’d like to point out that the 1950s (my grandmother’s heyday) was a pretty materialistic era in many ways. (They liked their STUFF.) You could make exactly the same critique of people in the 1950s compared to the previous two generations, and it would fit just as well.

 

[LaughingBoy1503]

I am the only Catholic in the family, and I never eat anything home cooked that does not take more than 5 minuets to make. The best food I eat is definitely takeout Mexican food. But every once in awhile, my best friend and his girlfriend invite me over for home cooked Mexican food. Oh yeah, we are Mexican Americans.

The term “Catholic food” sounds very strange, for the record.

 

[utah_rose]

Our family was Czech but my husband was German, so I did bake a lot of both traditions at one time lime strudel, kuchens, banks, and a lamb cake for Easter. I still do this occasionally, but since were empty nesters we usually eat simpler meals lime spaghetti, stews and soups. However at times I bake cheesecakes, and fruit cakes (that my son in law likes). But both of us eat less and sorry to say eat a lot of fast foods when we’re busy doing household projects. And, I can never seem to bake as well as my mother or grandmother.

 

[Lily_Bernans]

I don’t see any difference in Catholic food than in Protestant food.

I grew up with nuns, and I helped them in their garden, so I grew up with fresh vegetables and very, very plain food. We ate to stay alive, we didn’t live to eat. So today I eat what is supposed to be healthy - fresh, organic fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds, tuna and salmon. Very, very little junk food or empty calories. No red meat! None. I never had a soda growing up, and can’t stand them now, so if I feel like something sweet I usually drink coconut water. I will have two cookies over the weekend, oatmeal or chocolate-peanut butter, and I’ll eat a piece of cake or pie on Thanksgiving or Christmas. Maybe on Easter That’s it. I don’t cook for anyone but myself, but if I did, they’d eat the same things I do or they’d have to go elsewhere.

But what is Catholic food? I’ve never heard that expression before.

 

[Faxero]

Catholic food?

What’s considered Catholic food?

.

The term “Catholic food” sounds very strange, for the record.

I don’t see any difference in Catholic food than in Protestant food.
But what is Catholic food? I’ve never heard that expression before.

Catholic Food = Food that Catholics often enjoy eating.

It does seem like a strange term, but there’s no special meaning behind it.

 

[pensmama87]

But what is Catholic food? I’ve never heard that expression before.

I assumed food made with regards to the liturgical year, but I may have misinterpreted.

I have to confess that I was brought up largely on WASP-y casseroles made from a lot of macaroni, a jar of spaghetti sauce, a moderate quantity of barely seasoned ground beef, and some Velveeta on top, so I can’t really relate. (There was also a version with white rice.) We also ate a lot of stuff like canned green beans. (I now think–whyyyyy? What is the point of eating canned green beans. Who actually likes canned green beans?)

That was my mom’s approach. Mom was a housewife, by the way, so it wasn’t a working mom issue–just a poor WASP thing My grandma (mom’s MIL) was more of a 1950s/Southern cook, so a stronger food tradition, but grandma’s cooking was a special occasion thing, and I didn’t have a lot of opportunities to see how the magic happened.

For anybody who doesn’t know, bad WASP cooking is very, very, very bad.

lileks.com/institute/gallery/

Oh my, yes. This is what I grew up on, too. When I first started going to DH’s family reunions I was amazed at what I found. Though we’ve also adopted plenty that neither of us ate growing up, too - particularly with Mexican food. We absolutely adore it, while our mothers hate it. But for us it’s no more spiritual than any other family “togetherness” activity, unless we’re tying it specifically to a religious event or holiday.

Canned vegetables are the worst. I didn’t even know frozen vegetables were a thing until I was in college, and I thought, “Wow, maybe I can like veggies after all.”

 

[Petaro]

At our home my wife concentrates on Catholic food for me. She is not Catholic so eats Anglican food. Now Anglican food might at first glance appear to be mostly fish, but anything an Angler can catch is included. Catholic food on the other hand means Universal, which is what I eat. I eat everything she puts in front of me so I think she has it in hand.
Lately, however, my wife has moved to the more heterodox meaning of Anglican, meaning coming out of cans. I have advised her against a move from the traditional format, however she says it is a middle path to those who see Anglican food as that which is to be licked. I have had to surrender to the “whole church” definition.
Very hard in lent as most people won’t allow you to borrow food.

 

[Phemie]

I’ve never thought of food or cooking in terms of Catholic…

I learned to cook by watching my mom and, as I grew up, being made responsible for part of the meals if it wasn’t a school night. Since I love food, I was a good student. We were far from well off so food was simple: stews, roasts, chicken dishes, etc. Then I went off to nursing school and learned about Indian cooking from the family for whom I babysat.

When we got married money was tight and I wasn’t inventive. My week’s dinners kind of went like this: roast chicken, chicken hash, pork roast, pork hash, roast beef, beef hash. There was definitely a predictability to the meals and they were my responsibility since I didn’t work outside the home. Once I sourced the necessary spices we started eating more and more curry.

When I went to work things changed. Oh, I still cooked but we were able to afford the occasional pizza and Chinese food. I bought a Betty Crocker cookbook which gave me a wider range of recipes. The military moved us to a remote area where, to my dismay, there was no bakery. I’d been spoiled living in the city with a wonderful Jewish bakery near our first apartment and an Italian bakery near our second apartment. So, Betty C. taught me to bake bread, something I kept doing for years. It’s still something I do occasionally but hubby prefers store-bought so I don’t make the effort too often.

Hubby had been a Scout so he’d learned to cook and wasn’t helpless in the kitchen, a good thing because now we were both working shift work around the clock and rarely did our shifts match. The meals were still home made but cooked by whoever was home and eaten alone for the most part. Once the kids started arriving and I quit my nursing career I resumed the cooking.

Now the kids are grown and living thousands of miles from home. We have no family nearby and only one set of really good friends who occasionally come for meals. Hubby is retired but I still work at a performance arts centre part time. He cooks on the days I work so he’ll often call me to ask “What would you like for supper?” My usual response, “Anything you feel like cooking, except tripe or brain.” On days when I work a regular 9-5 day and we have a 7 p.m. show it’s not worth coming home at 5 just to bolt food down and return to work for 6 when the Box Office opens. If he has cooked on those days he’ll sometimes drop my dinner off for me at work, or, if he’s busy that evening with Scouts or with meetings, I’ll simply eat when I get home.

When the kids were home dinner was always eaten at the table. Since we’ve been alone they are most often eaten in the living room in front of the TV.

 

[Xantippe]

I assumed food made with regards to the liturgical year, but I may have misinterpreted.

Oh my, yes. This is what I grew up on, too. When I first started going to DH’s family reunions I was amazed at what I found. Though we’ve also adopted plenty that neither of us ate growing up, too - particularly with Mexican food. We absolutely adore it, while our mothers hate it. But for us it’s no more spiritual than any other family “togetherness” activity, unless we’re tying it specifically to a religious event or holiday.

Canned vegetables are the worst. I didn’t even know frozen vegetables were a thing until I was in college, and I thought, “Wow, maybe I can like veggies after all.”

Yeah.

One of the things I discovered when I met my husband was frozen broccoli. You can microwave it and it’s PRETTY (not all brown and droopy) and tastes good. Wow!

 

[Xantippe]

At our home my wife concentrates on Catholic food for me. She is not Catholic so eats Anglican food. Now Anglican food might at first glance appear to be mostly fish, but anything an Angler can catch is included. Catholic food on the other hand means Universal, which is what I eat. I eat everything she puts in front of me so I think she has it in hand.
Lately, however, my wife has moved to the more heterodox meaning of Anglican, meaning coming out of cans. I have advised her against a move from the traditional format, however she says it is a middle path to those who see Anglican food as that which is to be licked. I have had to surrender to the “whole church” definition.
Very hard in lent as most people won’t allow you to borrow food.

Very funny!

 

[Sarcelle]

I apologize up front for being old fashioned. The Way To A Man’s Heart Is Through His Stomach. That motto was followed by my maternal grandmother, my mother and continues to be followed by me. I’m in my 60’s. As a retired couple, we cook and plan our meals together. It is a never ending love fest. Of food. Of each other.

I raised our daughter in this way. Her husband-to-be remarked, “Gee, no one ever cooked for me before.” Goal! He proposed, she’s only 21 at the time – there’s more work to be done (she no longer goes to Mass; he’s kind of an atheist).

Recently, we’ve recognized a distinct disconnect of Catholics “in the world.” Another way of saying this is, Catholic women are guilty of wanting more than their mothers and grandmothers. More education, more career, more money, more furniture, more cars, more houses and on and on.

More of all of that results in less of what our ancestors gave to their children and their husbands. Less time. Less simplicity. Less holiness.

Why should celebrity chefs, upscale restaurants, cookbook authors, and cable food shows take the place of the lovely family meal??

What are you doing to keep those fires in the stove burning?? Are you deeply focused on the family meals? Do both husband and wife share the kitchen duties? Shop together? Does your family treasure the Catholic Seasons? Through food?

There’s something to be said about good home cooked meals.

Personally, I think our go, go, go lifestyle along with the demise of the family meal has contributed to a very unhealthy populace especially in the US. Worst, we seem to be exporting this high stress lifestyle to the rest of the world.

I must say however that education and good homemaking skills are not mutually exclusive. My mum has a graduate degree in finance yet she is a most excellent home maker.

 

[Xantippe]

I’ve never thought of food or cooking in terms of Catholic…

I learned to cook by watching my mom and, as I grew up, being made responsible for part of the meals if it wasn’t a school night. Since I love food, I was a good student. We were far from well off so food was simple: stews, roasts, chicken dishes, etc. Then I went off to nursing school and learned about Indian cooking from the family for whom I babysat.

When we got married money was tight and I wasn’t inventive. My week’s dinners kind of went like this: roast chicken, chicken hash, pork roast, pork hash, roast beef, beef hash. There was definitely a predictability to the meals and they were my responsibility since I didn’t work outside the home. Once I sourced the necessary spices we started eating more and more curry.

When I went to work things changed. Oh, I still cooked but we were able to afford the occasional pizza and Chinese food. I bought a Betty Crocker cookbook which gave me a wider range of recipes. The military moved us to a remote area where, to my dismay, there was no bakery. ** I’d been spoiled living in the city with a wonderful Jewish bakery near our first apartment and an Italian bakery near our second apartment. So, Betty C. taught me to bake bread, something I kept doing for years. ** It’s still something I do occasionally but hubby prefers store-bought so I don’t make the effort too often.

Hubby had been a Scout so he’d learned to cook and wasn’t helpless in the kitchen, a good thing because now we were both working shift work around the clock and rarely did our shifts match. The meals were still home made but cooked by whoever was home and eaten alone for the most part. Once the kids started arriving and I quit my nursing career I resumed the cooking.

Now the kids are grown and living thousands of miles from home. We have no family nearby and only one set of really good friends who occasionally come for meals. Hubby is retired but I still work at a performance arts centre part time. He cooks on the days I work so he’ll often call me to ask “What would you like for supper?” My usual response, “Anything you feel like cooking, except tripe or brain.” On days when I work a regular 9-5 day and we have a 7 p.m. show it’s not worth coming home at 5 just to bolt food down and return to work for 6 when the Box Office opens. If he has cooked on those days he’ll sometimes drop my dinner off for me at work, or, if he’s busy that evening with Scouts or with meetings, I’ll simply eat when I get home.

When the kids were home dinner was always eaten at the table. Since we’ve been alone they are most often eaten in the living room in front of the TV.

True story–years ago, I started baking bread because there was a new Panera’s in our neighborhood. I looked at the challahs and all the other $5 loves of bread and thought–I can do that. I got a bread machine and off I went.

When we run out of bread, my husband often pops the ingredients for bread into the machine.

(Pro-tip: keep the bread machine yeast in the freezer–it will last almost literally forever.)

 

[Sarcelle]

I am the only Catholic in the family, and I never eat anything home cooked that does not take more than 5 minuets to make. The best food I eat is definitely takeout Mexican food. But every once in awhile, my best friend and his girlfriend invite me over for home cooked Mexican food. Oh yeah, we are Mexican Americans.

The term “Catholic food” sounds very strange, for the record.

It does, doesn’t it?

I think the OP must have meant food eaten according to the Catholic calendar such as Lent, Advent, Easter.

I must admit that is highly cultural. For example, in my extended family, the observant Catholics ate a lot of bacalao, dried cod, for Lenten season. Granted, Catholics can be found in virtually every country of the world, Catholic food is well, … food.

 

[LethalMouse]

I apologize up front for being old fashioned. The Way To A Man’s Heart Is Through His Stomach. That motto was followed by my maternal grandmother, my mother and continues to be followed by me. I’m in my 60’s. As a retired couple, we cook and plan our meals together. It is a never ending love fest. Of food. Of each other.

I raised our daughter in this way. Her husband-to-be remarked, “Gee, no one ever cooked for me before.” Goal! He proposed, she’s only 21 at the time – there’s more work to be done (she no longer goes to Mass; he’s kind of an atheist).

Recently, we’ve recognized a distinct disconnect of Catholics “in the world.” Another way of saying this is, Catholic women are guilty of wanting more than their mothers and grandmothers. More education, more career, more money, more furniture, more cars, more houses and on and on.

More of all of that results in less of what our ancestors gave to their children and their husbands. Less time. Less simplicity. Less holiness.
**
Why should celebrity chefs, upscale restaurants, cookbook authors, and cable food shows take the place of the lovely family meal??
**
What are you doing to keep those fires in the stove burning?? Are you deeply focused on the family meals? Do both husband and wife share the kitchen duties? Shop together? Does your family treasure the Catholic Seasons? Through food?

The reason is because if a man posted something like this he would be labeled a sexist misogynist meanie head… the social engineering worked now we have the world we have

 

[Sarcelle]

True story–years ago, I started baking bread because there was a new Panera’s in our neighborhood. I looked at the challahs and all the other $5 loves of bread and thought–I can do that. I got a bread machine and off I went.

When we run out of bread, my husband often pops the ingredients for bread into the machine.

(Pro-tip: keep the bread machine yeast in the freezer–it will last almost literally forever.)

I have mild gluten intolerance. Is it possible to make gluten free breads in the bread machine?

 

[Xantippe]

I have mild gluten intolerance. Is it possible to make gluten free breads in the bread machine?

If that were possible, it would be a great solution. Poke around the internet a little and see what you find.

I have my doubts, though, as in my experience, the bread machine is best for conventional white breads. I’ve had disappointing results with whole wheat.

On the other hand, it may be possible to use the bread machine cycles (the kneading and rising–which it is very well suited for) for gluten free and then bake in the oven. (That’s what you do for pizza dough and challah–do the kneading and rising in the machine, but bake outside.) But, again, do some research–I bet there’s a lot of online discussion on this.

 

[Sarcelle]

If that were possible, it would be a great solution. Poke around the internet a little and see what you find.

I have my doubts, though, as in my experience, the bread machine is best for conventional white breads. I’ve had disappointing results with whole wheat.

On the other hand, it may be possible to use the bread machine cycles (the kneading and rising–which it is very well suited for) for gluten free and then bake in the oven. (That’s what you do for pizza dough and challah–do the kneading and rising in the machine, but bake outside.) But, again, do some research–I bet there’s a lot of online discussion on this.

Great idea.

Thanks.