The Catholic Foodie

I must confess that Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year. That might sound strange to you, since I’m the Catholic Foodie. But Halloween is a Catholic feast day and celebration. Not only is All Hallow’s Eve the vigil of the Solemnity of All Saints, it also kicks off a month dedicated by the Church to remembering and praying for the dead. Perfect time of the year for it… Fall… as we prepare to enter the death of winter. For me Halloween carries with it so many memories from my childhood and adolescence. Good memories. I have Halloween and all the spooky otherworldly trappings that surround it to thank for instilling in me a deep understanding that there is something more to life than meets the eye. There is a mystery just beyond the veil of visible life. And this time of the year the veil seems to thin between the visible and invisible.  So, see, not strange at all, right? Or is it?  Today, on Halloween, I bring you a special Halloween edition of The Catholic Foodie Show. So get ready. Turn on the lights and grab your rosary and holy water if you scare easily, and join me along with a couple of Sick Pilgrims – or perhaps today we should say Stranger Pilgrims – as we dive into the Catholic weirdness of Halloween.  Jessica Mesman Griffith and Jonathan Ryan of Sick Pilgrim blog join me today for this special Halloween edition of The Catholic Foodie Show! Full show notes available at CatholicFoodie.com.

Dr. Gregory Bottaro of the Catholic Psych Institute joins me today to talk about Catholic Mindfulness and a new introduction course that he has available at CatholicMindfulness.com. The full course title is Introduction to Catholic Mindfulness: Learn how to get control of your mind by trusting God, letting go, and tuning in. I'm taking the course right now, and I am finding it immensely helpful! Do you find yourself frequently frazzled, anxious, worried? Do you try to trust in God but feel like you fail on a regular basis? Then this new Catholic Mindfulness course might just be for you. Listen to the Show Listen in to my conversation with Dr. Gregory Bottaro of the Catholic Psych Institute as he tells us what exactly Catholic Mindfulness is and more about the course that he has available. Full show notes can be found at CatholicFoodie.com.

Jessica Griffith and Jonathan Ryan are pilgrims. Sick pilgrims, to be exact. And they are on a mission to remind us all that we are pilgrims here on earth. A major part of their mission is to equip and rally together what they call servant artists, artists who draw back the veil of the Mystery through their work, which they perform in the service of the world. Jessica and Jonathan join me around the table today to talk about Sick Pilgrim, Catholic Weird, Mystery and sacrament, October and ghost stories, and, of course, servant artists. This show in particular brought me great joy. I’m delighted to have had the opportunity to hang out with Jessica and Jonathan, and I hope we can do it again soon. [Hint. Hint.] Full show notes available at CatholicFoodie.com.

Exciting show today on location at Cavan restaurant on Magazine Street in New Orleans. Joining me around the table are two lovely ladies: Caitlin Watzke from Louisiana Cookin' Magazine and Chef Ruby Bloch from Cavan, Meauxbar, and Sylvain in New Orleans. Chef Ruby is one of the six Chefs to Watch this year. In 2002, Louisiana Cookin' introduced Chefs to Watch as a way of recognizing talented up-and-coming chefs from restaurants throughout the state who show passion for traditions while delivering fresh, new concepts. This year's event is the 15th installment, and it will be hosted by Marché in the French Quarter. Caitlin talks about Louisiana Cookin' Magazine and this year's 15th Annual Chefs to Watch event: a special six-course dinner on October 20, 2016 at 6:00 PM at Marché in the French Quarter. The courses will be prepared by this year's six Chefs to Watch, including Chef Ruby Bloch who will be serving a Sweet Potato Spice Cake.  Chef Ruby talks food, cooking, creativity and inspiration with us today. And you might even hear a thing or two about desserts. ;-) She shares a bit of her story with us, and tells us how a New Jersey girl fell in love with the city and people of New Orleans.  Listen to the show for all the details. Full show notes can be found at CatholicFoodie.com. 

On The Catholic Foodie Show today we talk fall festivals in and around New Orleans (including the inaugural Fried Chicken Festival!) and the first-ever Olive Mass to celebrate food and bless the hands that make it. Fr. Leo Patalinghug (of Grace Before Meals) drops in to talk about the Olive Mass and the work of The Table Foundation. Full show notes available at CatholicFoodie.com.

On today's The Catholic Foodie Show... it's #TacoTuesday! We talk tacos and I give you recipe for fish tacos (and I tell you about the first time that I ever tried a fish taco!). I also share with you a reflection on St. Martha who was a dear, dear friend of Jesus. Her feast day was last Friday, but she is going to encourage us today in our own friendship with Jesus and in our efforts to our best in our daily lives without losing our minds. All this and more right here on The Catholic Foodie Show... where food meets faith!

In this episode of The Catholic Foodie Show I announce the new daily show themes, and I explain what exactly I mean by Wash Day Wonders. I share my recipe for the New Orleans classic dish of Red Beans and Rice, give a shout out to my newly-minted Eagle Scout son Christopher, and reflect briefly on the amazing love that Jesus has for St. Martha. All this and more on The Catholic Foodie Show! Full Show notes available at http://CatholicFoodie.com.

On the show today: Beach food and summer vacations... including the need daily to carve out time for rest and relaxation. Trust in God, a "sound-seeing" trip to Joe Patti's Seafood, and beach recipes for Jalapeno Poppers and Boiled Shrimp also on the show. A Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there! Full show notes available at CatholicFoodie.com.

Heather King – author of Parched, Redeemed, Stripped, Stumble, Shirt of Flame, and Poor Baby – joins me on The Catholic Foodie Show today to talk about her latest book Loaded: Money and the Spirituality of Enough. Whether rich or poor, most of walk through our days wounded in the area of money and finances. We fear money. We fear not having enough money. We fear what would happen if we had too much money. We fear what people would think of us if they knew how much money we make and what we spend our money on. The way that we see and use money intimately affects the people in our lives. Most books about money are written to help you make more money. But what if more money isn't the answer? What if the real source of our fear is our relationship with money? In Loaded: Money and the Spirituality of Enough, Heather King shares her own story of recovery around money. In doing so, she opens a door of opportunity for us... an opportunity to examine our own relationship to money and to open that relationship up to healing by our loving God.  "So, as you’ve now assuredly figured out, unlike so many money books, mine is not about how to make more and consume more. It’s about how to detach from the idea that our identity could possibly lie in how much or how little money we make or have. It’s about discovering that money is a means of love and service. It’s about learning that the real economy is “As you give, so shall you receive.” We get to follow the deepest desires of our heart. The money will come. And we’ll want to share it. "That hasn’t happened for me by praying a whole bunch of rosaries, holing up in my room, and hoping for the best. The solution for me and many people I know has involved clarity around numbers—how much we spend, how much we earn. It has been clarity around how we spend our time. And it’s been community—meaning friends, a realistic acceptance of the fact that we’re not going to change overnight, and laughs."

Katie Sciba from TheCatholicWife.net joins me today to talk about how Jesus is right here with us in the midst of the pot, pans, and anxiety. Jesus does not shun the grime and grit of our lives, of our hearts. Listen as Katie shares her story of finding God – of being found by God – in the midst of the ups and downs of family life. Full show notes can be found at CatholicFoodie.com.