Catholic Feast Days: A Cookbook for Connecting Faith and Food

Alexandra Greeley returns with more delectable delights from around the world, leavened by the rich histories of the feast days that inspired these iconic dishes. In her short reflections, Greeley serves up the backgrounds, symbols, saints' prayers, customs, and devotions for each season, with web sources for further exploration.

A cornucopia of mouth-watering Advent cookies (make your own Jesse Tree!), scrumptious pasta dishes (including the perfect one for the feast of the Immaculate Conception), and festive salads is rolled out for the Christmas season, along with new spins on holiday favorites, including traditional desserts such as mince pie and eggnog.

Meals for fasting times are also showcased, such as Spinach Quiche and Shrimp Tempura (learn about its Catholic roots!), and traditional Holy Week offerings, such as matzoh. Greeley also reveals how to create crepes for Candlemas Day and Shrove Tuesday, and offers a recipe for Angel Delight.

Learn fascinating details about the lives of popular saints while you enjoy Beef and Guinness Pie or St. John's Wine! Prepare savory soups, delicious fish and seafood dishes, vegetarian sides, and special breads such as Resurrection Rolls, St. Barbara's Bread, and St. Lucia Buns.

You'll relish discovering special traditions as you learn about:

• The feast days that "Waffle Day" and "Pancake Day" celebrate
• Pope St. John Paul II's favorite dessert (Do you know what it is?)
• Succulent delicacies for feasting, including Rachel's Lamb, Carne Vinha d'Alhos (meat in wine and garlic), Bartlemas Beef, and Scottish Collops
• Luscious desserts, such as Pentecost Cake, Zeppole di San Giuseppe, Michaelmas Pie, and Tarta de Santiago
• The special designs for Fave dei Morti (All Saints' Day cookies), St. Matthew Silver Dollar Pancakes, and Baklava Satchels
• Sweet treats for the feasts of Our Lady, the Three Kings, Valentine's Day, and much more!

This book is your gateway to celebrating the Church calendar with saints and culinary delights all year round.

Author: Alexandra Greeley
Publisher: Sophia Institute Press
Published: 02/17/2026
Pages: 304
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 2.32lbs
Size: 10.10h x 8.24w x 0.82d
ISBN: 9798889113102

About the Author
Food writer/editor, cookbook author, and restaurant critic, Alexandra (Sandy) Greeley lives in Northern Virginia, where she cooks, eats, dreams about food from other cultures, and writes about food from every angle and from every culture. She worked as the food editor of the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong and for Vegetarian Times magazine, and has written about food for numerous publications. She has had published 35 cookbooks, and has copyedited more than 20 cookbooks for major publishing houses. She was the co-founder of Washington, DC, Slow Food's chapter and is a member of Les Dames d'Escoffier's Washington chapter.As a Catholic convert, Alexandra started the program at St. Veronica Catholic Church called Cooking with Our Saints in 2010. Over a seven-year period, she held classes featuring Catholic speakers from various regions of the world, including Cambodia. They brought in traditional recipes and spoke about the faith in their country of origi