December 16, 2009

Catholic cookbook offers recipes, spiritual food for thought

By Julie Filby

Meals with meaning—that’s what a new Catholic cookbook offers families.

“Recipes for Life: A Catholic Family Cookbook” combines the biographies of more than 80 saints with easy-to-follow recipes to help families build faith while preparing delicious meals.

“I think (the cookbook) is something that could change the way families make dinner,” said Marian Frentz, coordinator of the TASTE Program, who produced the cookbook. “And it helps integrate faith into day-to-day life.”
Recipes include Jerome’s Lion Claws, Bernadette’s Almost Candy Bars and Margaret’s Spinach Balls.

“St. Margaret was not very well liked because she looked different—but the townspeople came to love her,” according to Frentz. “Similarly, spinach is a vegetable not particularly liked by children, but the recipe is delicious.”
The book encourages families to come together once a week for “saint night”—a designated night when kids help make dinner while parents teach about a particular saint.

“Spend time building excitement over what saint they’ll pick to have dinner with each week,” Frentz suggested. “Encourage the kids to make decisions, as well as compromise on what others want too. You might learn a thing or two while teaching them.”

She emphasized the importance of participation, as well as patience.

“Children are a gift and lent to us for a very short period of time. Don’t waste precious time—let them help,” she said. “So what if they spill a little milk? It gives them confidence and shows them that Mom and Dad believe in them.”
Following each biography, the book gives tips to help parents teach their children how to imitate that particular saint’s virtue.

“There are suggestions on how to become a saint, the process of canonization, a ‘get connected’ page and Eucharistic quotes sprinkled throughout,” Frentz explained. “The book is chocked full of goodness!”
In all, the book includes more than 300 recipes, including suggestions for meatless Fridays.

The cookbook was compiled by members of the TASTE program (Taste And See Take…Eat), a women’s group representing 28 parishes in the Baltimore and Washington D.C. areas. The group meets every Thursday—the day Jesus instituted the priesthood—to listen to speakers, learn more about the Catholic faith and pray for priests.

“Our mission is to empower women to really know and understand their faith as well as to nurture priests,” said Frentz, who founded the group in 2007. “It’s a place to know you’re being taught the truth and it encourages women to share their faith with others.”

The idea of a cookbook was proposed in 2008 as a way to raise money to cover expenses and help expand the TASTE program.

“We presented the idea and everyone, including priests, started turning in recipes,” she said. “Our first printing was just for our parish but we sold out in a few days.”

After selling 750 copies, they decided to go national—including making the cookbook available as a fundraiser for schools and parishes.

“God has a sense of humor in making the cookbook a success with our name being what it is,” Frentz said.

Cookbooks are available to schools and parishes at a wholesale price. The seller can then determine what price they charge for the books. Retail price is $20.

“We have a responsibility to evangelize so we’re offering the cookbooks at a very low cost to help Catholic groups earn money,” Frentz said. “It’s a great fundraiser for those wanting to spread the Gospel—and make money.
“Our goal is to get a cookbook into every Catholic home,” she said.

TASTE held a book launching party on Nov. 18 at the Catholic Information Center in Washington, D.C. For more information on the TASTE program, visit www.tasteprogram.com or email marian@tasteprogram.com.