Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #84356 in Books
• Published on: 1991-10
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 296 pages

Customer Reviews

One of my favorite and most used cookbooks
I've owned and used this cookbook for at least 13 years. It is one of my favorites not only for it's excellent explanation of liturgical feasting and fasting (What other cookbook gives you a chapter on fasting?) but also because some of my family's favorite recipes are in it. We use "Four-egg cake" for nearly every birthday, baptism or first communion. My family actually loves the recipe for "Black fruitcake," and I get frequent complements when I bring her simply delicious "Cranberry-orange sauce" to holiday dinners. And Easter just wouldn't be Easter for my kids without the "Lamb cake."

I own the hardcover edition and my chief complaint is that it is not spiral bound to lay flat while cooking.

We have tried one or two recipes that just didn't taste all that great, but were culturally interesting to try. ("Salad of the good night/Ensalada de Nochebuena" from Mexico comes to mind. Perhaps because it calls for beets, apples, oranges, bananas, radishes and peanuts together. Sounded so weird I just had to try it. But I guess it's an acquired taste.)

I still enjoy reading her comments on the feast days throughout the year. I can't help but think of her recipe for "St. John's wine" every December 27th. Simple to make (always a plus) and warms the inside when it's cold and blustery outside.

incomplete at best
There are too many gaps in this book and I find myself looking for something else to replace or complement it. For example,today is the feast day of Saint Therese the Little Flower and there is no mention of her, which is dissappointing,especially for my homeschooled daughter for whom this book was purchased. She does however very much enjoy the information in this book and would appreciate any recomendations to fill in the gaps.

Good book for family religous customs
As an Anglo-Catholic who was not raised as one, I have had many questions about customs and liturgies. This is one of the sources I reach for first when I need answers.

The focus of this book is on home practices, on customs and especially on foods. However, this is not just a collection of recipes for various Saint's days, but also includes information about each saint and about the seasons of the liturgical year, starting, quite properly, with a discussion of "Sunday" since each Sunday is a mini-celebration of Easter.

If you are raising a family and wish to do so in a Christ-centered way, you should have a copy of this book. While it is aimed primarily at Catholic and Orthodox families there is much material here that would be useful in a Protestant family, particularly one that wishes to explore the two thousand years of Christian tradition rather than "re-inventing the wheel."