Inspired, once again, by Alice’s amazing Liturgical Teas, we enjoyed A Tea in Honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe this past Wednesday evening, on the feast of St. Juan Diego.
Mexican Hot Cocoa with Mini Marshmallows, while praying for the many innocent lives that were sacrificed by the Aztecs.
~ St. Juan Diego’s Sombrero ~
Pringles with a little round of string cheese
My children LOVED these and they were so easy!
~ Tepayac Hill ~
I forgot to pick up Guacamole or Potato Salad as suggested and so I resorted to using a package of Idahoan Instant Baby Red Mashed Potatoes. It worked. 🙂
~ A Woman Clothed with the Sun ~
Instead of Alice’s Recipe, I made Pampered Chef’s Touchdown Taco Dip:
1 can refried beans, topped with 1 package cream cheese mixed with 1 cup of sour cream and 2 tablespoons of taco seasoning, and then topped with cheddar cheese.
(The recipe calls for green onions, diced tomatoes, and olives on the very top after it bakes, but I omitted them for the “Sun”)
~ A Mantle of Stars ~
46 stars to represent the 46 constellations that would have appeared in the sky on the night of Our Lady’s December 12th apparition to St. Juan Diego.
I found these star cookies at Target. I also ran across Star Marshmallows, Star Candies, and even Star shaped Baby Food Puffs, so there were lots of options!
Also, this was A LOT of Cookies — almost all went back in the package to save for Christmas. Next year I think I will serve only 12 for Our Lady’s “Crown of 12 Stars.”
~ Crescent Moons ~
Crescent shaped biscotti!
If I make this tea again, I would probably substitute these for small crescent shaped croissants filled with chicken salad or something, though the biscotti was perfect for dipping into that hot cocoa!
~ Supporting Angels ~
Since I used the Lindt Angels for our Jesse Tea, I purchased these for this one. Aren’t they so cute! My girls were especially thrilled and have been “saving” theirs! 😉
~ Praying Hands ~
Praying Hand shaped tea sandwiches, pointing towards the baby Jesus!
~ The Tilma of Roses ~
My children *LOVED* these!!
I did fold them up after taking photos and before serving, and let the children unfold them to find the “roses.”
~ Bishop Zumarraga’s Miter ~
These miter cookies were leftover from the feast of St. Nicholas and made such a great little addition to the tea!
~ Crushed Serpents ~
~ “Build Me a Church” ~
~ Roses from Heaven Punch ~
For the punch I just used a bottle of Raspberry Spritzer
There were quite a few sweets included in this tea, so I postponed serving the “Build me a Church” and the Roses from Heaven Punch until the next day, which ended up being the perfect time to read The Lady of Guadalupe
Prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe
Our Lady of Guadalupe, mystical rose, intercede for the Church, protect the Holy Father, help all who invoke you in their necessities. Since you are the ever Virgin Mary and Mother of the true God, obtain for us from your most holy Son the Grace of a firm faith and sure hope amid the bitterness of life, as well as an ardent love and the precious gift of final perseverance. Amen.
This is so wonderful and so crative, the ideas this circle shares is amazing……always amazing. Missed Chequita at the building of the church, I hope she was not ill……blessings.
No… Chiquita wasn't sick. If you look close, you'll find her watching in one of the pictures, and she did help place a few of the windows, but she was more interested in the movie I had turned on for Snuggles during this time. lol! She was back as soon as it was time to eat the cake! 😉
Hi Jessica,
This is a big feast day in our family. We have a tradition to sing "Las Manaitas" to Our Lady de Guadalupe at sunrise either at home or at church. There is a beautiful early (like 5am early) mass and a feast of pan dulce and Mexican chocolate or Champurado afterwards.
Here are the lyrics to the song and I'm sure you can google it to find the music. This is usually sung on birthdays, anniversaries, and feast days.
Also, I've included a recipe to some Champurrado (thick hot chocolate drink traditional in Mexico). This isn't the recipe I use often. There is my mother's recipe and my SIL's that I'll get to you soon. Those are awesome!
Las Mananitas (english translation):
These are the lovely little psalms that were sung by King David. Today we sing them to a loved one who happy will be. Wake up this early morning and the sun you will see. As the moon leaves us this morning all the birds they will sing. How beautiful is the morning that I come to share with you. We all come in celebration of this special day just for you. The day it is a dawning and the light of day has come. Awaken early this morning to see all that we have done.
Champurrado
1/2 cup masa flour (masa harina) plus 1/4 cup hot water to make a paste
2-1/4 cups milk
1-1/2 cups water
1 disk Mexican chocolate (see photo — it's made with cinnamon)
3 tablespoons piloncillo, chopped (from the cone of brown sugar sold everywhere in Mexico), or 1/3 cup brown sugar plus 2 teaspoons molasses
1/4 teaspoon crushed aniseeds (optional)
Place the water and the masa into the jar of a blender and blend until smooth. Transfer to a medium sized saucepan. Add the milk, chocolate, piloncillo (or sugar, molasses combination) and the aniseeds if you wish to use them. Bring the mixture to a simmer, whisking until the chocolate and sugar is melted and well-blended. Strain the mixture through a medium sieve (optional) and serve hot, in mugs.
Hope you enjoy!
Elizabeth
CA
Oop's so sorry, I couldn't get the photo of the chocolate. But we use the Nestle's Abuelita brand…you should be able to find in in most grocery stores.
Looks tasty!!! And building the church looks like lots of fun!
Do you have a link to the Mexican Hot Chocolate recipe that you used? I have been looking for a good and basic one to use.
Wow, beautiful job Jessica!!!
If I may…
For a Mexican style hot chocolate you can you a cube (or more) of the Abuelita's Chocolate, a Nestle item, and milk. Bring everything to a near boil, stirring constantly until the chocolate is dissolved.
I have also done the instant hot chocolate version but added a dash, or more of chili powder. It sounds nuts, but for the spicy lovers it's pretty good.
Anyhow this is what we use…
i'm am just so "in awe" of you!! seriously.
no baby? there's still a few hours…. 😉 (can you tell what date i guessed 🙂
Elizabeth ~ Thank you so much for sharing that recipe!! I can't wait to try it and I would love to try your mother's and SIL's! It sounds like you have such a lovely celebration every year!!
Erin ~ I was very uncreative when it came to the cocoa… I just used regular hot cocoa mix that I had in the cupboard and added a dash of cinnamon to each cup… Elizabeth's recipes sound much better and authentic!
Shelly ~ Nope… No baby yet! I really thought she would be here by now!
I'm not sure which is my favorite part! So many wonderful, wonderful ideas! I linked to this on my weekly roundup, thanks so much!!