May Crowning 2009

One of the things I don't like about blogging is the pressure I place on myself to come up with new things instead of enjoying the same thing year after year and planting it as a tradition in the hearts of my children. I know I am not alone! Why are we tempted to think that what has been said already can't be said again? Second verse, same as the first! On the other hand, keeping a blog has helped us establish some traditions either by helping me to remember or by helping my children remember to remind me.

We decided to do our May Crowning today on the first Sunday of May and many things are repeats traditions that our family has embraced and enjoyed.Our May Crowning tradition is to celebrate the many beautiful titles of Our Lady found in the Litany of Loreto and to pray a Memorare each night for those people who might fall under her patronage through a specific title. You can go see our list here while I dust off the forget-me-not flowers and crowns. We also sing hymns (Sing of Mary is one of our favorites), crown our three Mary statues and place flowers on our May altar. We pray the Litany of Loreto and then enjoy a feast. As for the menu today, some old favorites and some new treats were planned and prepared.

~Mother Most Pure Calla Lily Sandwiches~

A variation of these. Peanut butter inside of white bread circles and pinched at one end. A banana segment rolled in yellow sprinkles and a green swizzle stick stem completes the lily nicely.

~Mirror of Justice Bites~
We chose tuna fish (Star of the Sea) on top of Melba toast rounds served on a mirror but you could choose anything since it is the mirror that ties this in. Might I suggest a little cream cheese on the bottom of each bite. Mirrors make very slippery serving trays. Ask me how I know.

~Queen of Martyrs Cake~
I did not make this. We picked it up from the same bakery as last time. It is a Strawberry Boston Cream Cake and it is delicious! As The Professor said, "The red is for the martyrs and the strawberries on top look like a crown!" Bingo! I did decorate simple sugar cookies again with frosting forget-me-nots as part of our decorative theme.

~Tower of Ivory, House of Gold~
Mozzerella Cheese Sticks and Colby Jack cheese cubes

~Mystical Roses~
Turkey breast roses and cucumber roses. I used the leftover turkey breast from the sandwiches below and a cucumber following these instructions (kind of). For some reason that website takes a long time to come up so wait for it. I think Japanese cucumbers have smaller seed pockets and roll up easier. Mine held together only because they were impaled on toothpicks but they did look cool!

~Vessels of Honor~
My kids know that using great-grandma's punch bowl and cups is a huge honor. This year, we used 7Up, vanilla ice cream, and one small box of berry blue gelatin (unsweetened if you can find it) to make our Mary Blue Punch. Stir the 7Up and gelatin together until gelatin dissolves. Pour into punch bowl and float vanilla ice cream clouds on top.

~Morning Star~
Star shaped turkey and cheese sandwiches (because we ran out of Calla Lilly stems).

If you need more information to make one of these I'd be happy to help and I would love to see what a May Crowning looks like in your home!