A Call for Recipes

Episode 4 of The Catholic Foodie (which I hope to record in just a couple of days) will be dedicated to recipes... especially recipes for the holidays.

Do you have a recipe that you would like to share?

I plan on featuring submitted recipes on the podcast and on the blog.

Please send me a recipe at catholicfoodie@gmail.com.

More on the O Antiphons

I just came across an article posted on the Catholic Cuisine blog. It is a great article and I highly recommend it. You can find it here.

The O Antiphons

This episode is a special contribution to the Catholic New Media Roundup Advent Calendar. You can find the calendar at www.catholicroundup.com.

Today, December 17, marks the beginning of the octave leading up to Christmas. This is the high point of the Advent season. The Church marks this period by inserting the O Antiphons into Vespers each evening. Listen to this episode to find out more about Vespers and the O Antiphons.

Listen to this special episode of The Catholic Foodie below, or subscribe in iTunes or in your favorite reader.

You can also download this special episode.



Photo by Per Ola Wiberg @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/powi/3090215585/sizes/o/#cc_license

Episode 3 of The Catholic Foodie is up!

The prodigal son, some of my favorite kitchen tools, feedback, and the first ever contest on The Catholic Foodie. Join me for a "fun-vee" episode of The Catholic Foodie. Gotta love that gaaaaahhhlic, baby!

Listen to the episode to find out about the first-ever Catholic Foodie contest. The deadline for the contest is Friday, December 26!

If you haven't yet checked out Catholic Roundup's Advent Calendar, please do check it out! You can find it at catholicroundup.com. The Catholic Foodie has been invited to contribute to the calendar for December 17th. Don't miss it!

Leave a comment here or email me at catholicfoodie@gmail.com. You can also look up catholicfoodie on Skype and follow me on Plurk as well.

Listen to Episode 3 of The Catholic Foodie below, or subscribe in iTunes or in your favorite reader.

You can also download episode 3.

Beautiful Advent Mediation

Here is a beautiful and prayerful mediation that Inge Loots contributed to the Catholic Roundup Advent calendar. Check it out!

Episode 2 - Feasting on Asphalt is up!

Episode 2 of the The Catholic Foodie is up. Please subscribe in iTunes or with your favorite reader!

Also, please leave feedback at catholicfoodie@gmail.com. I forgot to ask for feedback in the podcast so I am asking for it now. Thank you!

Catholic Moments Podcast
Forgotten Classics
Franky & Johnny's
Plurk.com/alberione

You can download episode 2 or listen to it below:

A Christmas Gift Idea

Yes, we are in Advent, preparing for Christ’s coming, but we are also preparing for family celebrations at Christmas. These celebrations often entail gift-giving. I don’t know about you, but I am often at a loss about what to give certain people. When I find myself at a loss, I usually just get them something that I would enjoy. And that usually works out well.

If you are wondering what to get the foodies in your life... why not get them a cookbook? I have a particular one in mind that I can recommend to you – Alton Brown's Feasting on Asphalt: The River Run. I purchased this cookbook a number of months back when Alton came to New Orleans for a book signing.

On a Wednesday evening the whole family made the 45 minute trip across Lake Pontchartrain to Octavia Books on Octavia Street in uptown New Orleans.. My kids had been begging to go to the signing. They love Alton Brown and his Food Network show Good Eats. As a matter of fact, they usually prefer to watch Food Network than to watch cartoons. I know, I have strange kids.But just look at their father!

Anyway, we made the trip across the lake and stood in line for about an hour-and-a-half. It was not easy to wait that long with three young children, but it really was worth it. It was cool to meet Alton Brown. We spoke with him for a few moments, took a picture with him, and he signed our copy of Feasting on Asphalt: The River Run. He addressed it to the kids. And they were so excited to have met him.

We ended the evening at a little hole-in-the-wall right down the street from the bookstore. Franky & Johnny’s. It’s known as a “New Orleans neighborhood restaurant” and it’s a staple of New Orleans culture. It’s been around forever and from the outside it looks like a shack. It’s actually more like a shotgun house. Walking in the front door gets you into the bar. You see lots of wood panelling. And it’s dark. The lighting is subdued in the bar area. To the left is the bar with several beers on tap and the liquor sitting on shelves right in front of a wall-sized mirror. To the right you see an antique juke box. It plays only 45’s. There is even a little space for dancing. There are two more rooms in the “house.” You have to walk through each one to reach the back of the restaurant. The tables are covered with red & white checkerboard cloths. Franky & Johnny’s specializes in seafood, but they also serve po-boys and muffulettas. But, they are famous for their seafood-stuffed artichokes. It was an awesome night.

So why do I recommend this particular cookbook?

Well, this cookbook does more than just catalog recipes. It tells a story. It chronicles Alton’s journey along the Mississippi River (from New Orleans to Missouri), a journey he made on his motorcycle. Along his route, he stops to eat in small family-owned restaurants. In one town he even ate at a church fair. He has a love for the down-home cuisine one finds in family-owned restaurants, a love he learned from his parents when growning up.

The presentation of the book is really neat. The cover is a heavy-duty cardboard. It’s colorful. And the inside looks more like a notebook or scrapbook. Lots of pictures of the food and people he met along the way. The publishers also reproduce some of the hand-written notes that Alton made on the trip. Really cool. I learned a lot reading this cookbook. A lot about culture... and food. Look it up. Here is a link to the book on Amazon.