Thursday, September 29, 2011

Happy Michaelmas!

Today, Michaelmas, also known as the Feast of Saint Michael and the Archangels, began with quite a bit of baking and quite a few eggs.  I believe we used 21 altogether before dinner was finished.  The first dozen went straight into the project that I was the most worried about... the Angel Food Cake.


After carefully examining my Fanny Farmer cookbook I learned what it meant to beat an egg until it was still and how to fold flour into the egg whites.  I was still a little hesitant about how it would turn out when I put the cake in the oven.


As I periodically checked on the cake I would do a little dance around the kitchen because it looked like an angel food cake.  When it was finished it looked like this:


Then my little helper came into the kitchen armed with her stool (which isn't used as a potty, although it is supposed to be one) and her beautiful apron from Maria's shop and began washing the dishes.  The aprons were actually intended to be a present for Mae's birthday... but they were just so cute that I ended up giving them to the girls today!  At least it was a feast day!


Then I set to work on the Devil's Food Cake.  Midway through I realized that I don't actually own cake tins... I've always used Nani's.  So we made a not-so-quick run to Walmart and returned to finish cake #2 and make the frosting:


Then I came up with a creative cake idea (with Paul's help).  This is how it turned out:


Now it was time for fun.  I showed the girls my Saint Michael necklace and Sadie's eyes were wide as we talked about Saint Michael defeating Satan (she followed my story with the question: "What do the other Archangels do?!?!").


We colored some coloring pages...  Sadie's favorite was Saint Michael, which she spent the most time on:


She also colored Saint Raphael:


And Saint Gabriel:


Then it was time for a dinner of Deviled Eggs, Angel Hair Pasta, and Garlic Parmesan Wings (I was going to make stuffing to, but there ended up being so much food that the fact that I forgot to start the stuffing was a good thing!).


Sadie snuck into the dining room and stole a chicken wing.  When I walked in she said "Mmmmmmm!" which I guess means that they were a success!  I even made a traditional bouquet of carrots!


Poor Mae Bae isn't quite big enough for wings yet so she settled for Cheesy Mac...


Then it was finally time for the finished cake!  But first we prayed prayers for our Catholic Home book to Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel and Saint Raphael.  Sadie thought she might die of cake-deprivation before they were finished.

The cake was decorated with blackberries, which are also associated with Michaelmas:


Not bad for my first attempt at Angel's Food Cake (and Devil's Food Cake).  Sadie and Mae were pretty excited about this part of the meal:


How was your Michaelmas?  Are you ready for the Feast of the Guardian Angels in a few days?

6 comments:

  1. I'd be lying if I said I did anything, but I'm gla to see your cake turned out so well. Too many people would have rushed straight to the Betty Crocker, absolutely-no-character cake mix. No risk, but no reward either, as they say.

    The girls are so cute, if I can say that. And I don't think Mae Bae was too disappointed by the cheesy mac, if her smirk is any indication. ;)

    God Bless you guys.
    -Z

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  2. Mine went pretty well. Went to mass at the Seminary, worked there for a while, then come home in the rain (something we haven't had in a very long time so that was good. Except... Everyone forgets how to drive in Houston when it rains and many of our traffic lights forget how to work when it rains.) Now we are having Spaghetti and meatballs. And telling you to make pound cake now has me craving lemon pound cake. :(

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  3. Love the metaphor of the angel food cake achieving supremacy over the devil's food cake!!! :)

    Marie

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  4. I love how the aprons looked on you and Sadie! It is so nice to see how much Sadie enjoys her new apron. Congratulations on your first angel food cake. I wanted to celebrate, but we are so busy packing and trying to get everything ready to sell the house.

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  5. Carrot bouquet???? How did that tradition come about?
    I'm nine months pregnant so we didn't do much. My lucky mom got to go to a lovely evening High Mass in honor of St. Micheal at her Extraordinary rite parish (Institute of Christ the King). Someday I'll get to do stuff like that again!

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  6. Oh my goodness, this looks delicious! I’m definitely making this! thanks for sharing!

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