A Continual Feast: A Cookbook to Celebrate the Joys of Family and Faith throughout the Christian Year

by Evelyn Birge Vitz

An ideal Christmas, birthday or shower present! A Continual Feast continues online! to follow the blog. A cookbook full of wonderful recipes and ideas drawn from throughout the Christian tradition, with suggestions about when, and why, these dishes might be served. It contains more than 275 recipes with which to celebrate all the holidays throughout the Christian year, as well as the many shared rituals that strengthen family bonds and enrich the significance of the day to day events of our lives. How these rituals, rites and feasts came about, how they are celebrated around the world, and how you can bring them into your home are described every step of the way. Includes wonderful illustrations. A Continual Feast brings new meaning to "breaking bread together." A book to cook from and learn from, it includes: menus for holidays and every day recipes for all occasions from church picnics and Sunday suppers to birthdays, namedays, confirmations, and baptisms; wonderful cooking projects for children; recipes for Christmas giving; thoughtful suggestions on taking food to others; customs associated with many great Christian holidays from Advent through Pentecost as well as various saints days around the world; traditional meanings associated with particular foods; tips on fasting and abstinence; recipes that incorporate leftovers; quotations from the Bible and various theological and gastronomic sources; many recipes of varied ethnic origins; a wealth of Christian history and thought.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Reference, Cooking, Nonfiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1985

Reviews

[Julie Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

At Pentecost a few years ago the usefulness of food for teaching religious ideas really became apparent to me. I was trying to explain to my children what Pentecost was, and their eyes were getting that glassy look that mothers know so well. I was losing them fast. Then (providential inspiration?) I declared, "We are going to bake a cake to eat on the great feast of Pentecost. How shall we decorate it?" Now, as it happens, my children love to decorate cakes and cookies. Their eyes brightened and their ears pricked up. We made a pretty wild-looking bakery item, with flames and doves and rays of light, but we all had a wonderful time, and they certainly knew what Pentecost was by the time we were through.

Evelyn Vitz goes on to give a recipe for making and decorating the Pentecost Cake, but as we can see, this is much more than a cookbook. As the subtitle says, it is: "A cookbook to celebrate the joys of family and faith throughout the Christian year." This book is perfect for the family who wants to reflect their faith in every part of their lives, including the kitchen and dining room.

The first half of the book focuses on "All the days of our lives" with meals for celebrations, daily dining, and hospitality. This is also where the section on fasting and meat-free meals is included. As Vitz points out, abstinence from meat is still required of American Catholics unless they replace it with some other form of penance or good work. And that puts it squarely in the regular part of our meal planning lives.

"The Christian Year" is the focus of the second half which is organized according to the liturgical calendar. Vitz gives good explanations of the evolution and meanings of different customs and rites. She includes sections on days of fasting and abstinence and saints days, which I know is something that families often struggle to incorporate into their busy lives. Aimed primarily at Catholic and Orthodox families there is still a lot of information for exploration by Protestant families interested in tradition. The recipes in this section include a big section for saints days and special feast days, organized by season.

Lovely drawings and food-faith quotes are scattered throughout the book in pertinent spots. Some of the recipes are simple, some complex, and they are drawn from countries around the world. All were obviously chosen a lot of care and I was impressed with the range. Most of all, though, Evelyn Vitz's warm personality and love of faith come through in every headnote for each recipe.

Here's a sample recipe that caught my eye since autumn is upon us, which means All Souls Day looms ever nearer (November 2). I want to try these.

Beans of the dead

Fave Dei Morti

Here is a recipe for Italian "soul" cookies called Fave dei Morti, "Beans of the Dead." The theme of beans suggests, among other things, the idea of burial in the ground and rebirth. Sometimes "soul" cookies are called Ossi de Morti--"Bones of the Dead"--and are made in the shape of bones. In fact, the central ingredient in all the forms of this cookis is ground or crushed nuts, which are understood to suggest bones. (This theme is also common in bakery items for this day in other countries, such as Mexico.) These perhaps morbid considerations notwithstanding, Fave (and Ossi) dei Morti are delicious.

2/3 cup blanched almonds
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces and softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Grated rind of 1 lemon

Place the almonds on a baking sheet and dry them out for 10 minutes or so in a slow oven: 200°. Reset the oven for 350‚.

Grind the almonds very fine. Place them in a large bowl. Add the sugar, and blend the mixture well with a fork. Add the flour and the cinnamon, then the butter, and finally the egg, the vanilla, and the grated lemon rind, mixing well with each addition. With a fork or floured hands, work the mixture to a smooth paste.

Break off large-bean-sized pieces of paste (about 1 inch long), and place them about 2 inches apart on a greased, floured baking sheet. [My comment ... I would use parchment paper here.] Squash each bean slightly to produce an oval shape like a lima or fava bean.

Bake for about 15 minutes, or until they are a golden color.

Yield: about 100 one-inch beans.

Variation:
Form pieces of dough into the shape of bones, 1 or 2 inches long.

Please Note:
I received this review copy of A Continual Feast from the good folks at Catholic Family Gifts. They've got a lot of great items there, including this cookbook and several others.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good cookbook. I quibble with the inclusion of many of the recipes. Many of the recipes are exactly what I was hoping for: traditional, symbolic, and meaningful to the particular feast. Others, however, I struggle with. Those do not seem to be truly traditional or clearly symbolic. About 30% of the recipes feel like filler. And they are not particularly great recipes. So, it feels like junk.

I hate to be so critical because I think much of this book is very useful, but I also think it’s a little bit like what Gordon Ramsey says about restaurants: reduce the menu to those dishes which are truly excellent. Leave off anything that isn’t great.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent ideas for feasting traditionally throughout the church year.

This book is definitely meant for experienced bakers and cooks as most recipes are slight on the details. In recipes where the food is to be specifically arranged or decorated, pictures would have been helpful.

And this lady sure likes her anchovies.

[Jennifer Stephens · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have owned this cookbook for many years, and rely on it heavily – not so much for the recipes per se (although they are perfectly adequate) but for the liturgical calendar details included in the text. Ms. Vitz has grouped recipes together along the following lines: recipes for days of rejoicing and celebration, ordinary daily recipes, recipes for offering Christian hospitality to others, fasting recipes (typically light and simple meals without meat), recipes and menus for the major Christian feasts of the year, and traditional recipes that honor the great saints of our faith season by season. Along with the recipes, Ms. Vitz provides a detailed accounting of the history and traditions of these feasts and saints. It’s a fascinating way to beef up on our liturgical calendar knowledge and I really enjoy moving through the seasons and serving recipes that have been associated with these feasts and saints for hundreds if not thousands of years. Anyone who loves God and loves cooking with enjoy this book that marries the two perfectly. I’ve given a copy to many of my friends and it never disappoints. - See more at: http://songsofgratitude.blogspot.com/...

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all-time favorite cookbooks. I use this one regularly for birthdays, feast days, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter...anytime we want to celebrate something special.

The four-egg cake recipe is the absolute best birthday cake recipe. I've altered it some to make variations such as almond poppy-seed cake or chocolate cake and it still tastes great.

I especially love the dark fruitcake recipe at Christmas time, and the very simple, but delicious cranberry orange sauce as well.

It is spiced throughout with great tidbits about the liturgical year.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great book! Not only is it filled with great looking recipes but it also has so much helpful information on liturgical calendar.

[Siobhain · Rating 5 out of 5]

More than a cookbook! Great information on Catholic food traditions with delicious international recipes to celebrate sacraments, liturgical seasons, and saint days. Each recipe is easy to follow and most are accompanied by background information about how it is used in the country of origin. I just used this book to make a yummy batch of hot cross buns for Good Friday. Some of our favorite recipes include: four egg cake for making a cake that can be decorated for any occasion, Christollen which is a German Christmas bread, mostaccioli, the favorite cookies of St. Francis of Assissi, pesto for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, and St. Michael's bannock I highly recommend this book for the Catholic family that wants to bring the faith alive at home!

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was OK. This was published in 1985 and there are better resources on liturgical living/cooking out there now. I copied a handful of recipes, but not many.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wish there had been photos.

[Gwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another one of those cookbooks I come back to over and over although not so much for the recipes, which are not always simple and/or appealing (although many are perfectly fine). It's the historical context of various Catholic feast day recipes I like to read and re-read. I tried borrowing this one over and over from the library but in the end I just had to have it on the shelf.

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed it; haven't made the recipes, but the recipes look like winners. It is a very interesting read of various ethnic liturgical year traditions.

I would love to try the mincemeat from scratch.

[Emily Woodham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is worth having on your shelf if only for all the great information on different food traditions for the liturgical year, fasts and feasts! I've only made three of the recipes so far, and all have turned out well.

[Meredith Henning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent for Liturgical year planning and great recipes.

[Beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is WONDERFUL. I really, really suggest it for all Christian families, especially those who want to add the joys of liturgical celebrations to their homelife.

[LRK · Rating 3 out of 5]

More ecumenical than I anticipated (or might have liked). Not a very deep or extensive resource, but the content it does have is pretty good.

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fabulous compilation of recipes to apply to an immense variety of holidays and special days throughout the year.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good ideas for making connections from feast days to family traditions.

[Linda Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the way this book is organized around the church calendar. So many great idea.