A Continual Feast: A Cookbook to Celebrate the Joys of Family and Faith Throughout the Christian Year (Paperback)

~ (Author) "I once asked a friend of mine who comes from a very close-knit family why they were so united..." (more)
Key Phrases: moisten lightly, cup sweet butter, tablespoons sweet butter, Christmas Eve, Good Friday, Eastern Orthodox (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Here is a cookbook to celebrate the joys of family and faith throughout the Christian year. Wonderful recipes and ideas from the Christian tradition offer suggestions on when and why these dishes might be served. 275 recipes bring new meaning to "breaking bread together." Illustrated.

Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: Ignatius Press (October 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898703840
• ISBN-13: 978-0898703849
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #42,618 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great introduction into cooking for the Church year!, March 19, 2001

By	"swift112" (Pittsford, Vermont USA) - See all my reviews

This is a really helpful cookbook, especially if you didn't come out of a liturgical tradition orginally. Evelyn Vitz has laid the book out in a calendar fashion for the most part, but has sections on days of fasting and abstinence and saints days. I really love her recipe for plum pudding and use it every year now. I had tried several other recipes before hers, but hers is definitely the best. We have also included a lot of her other suggestions in our family celebrations. This is a cookbook that I refer to frequently (especially during Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter).

This book is great for any Christian family that wants to add a bit more traditional Christian emphasis to their lives. You don't have to be Catholic or Orthodox to enjoy it and use it. You may find yourself understanding Catholic and Orthodox traditions once you've read it, however.

This book passes on traditions that some families failed to get from Great Grandmother before she died. If you are from a Christian family, it will help you get in touch with your roots (as well as give you a lot of delicious recipes to try).

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite and most used cookbooks, January 8, 2007

By	Deborah Nowak "Catholic homeschool mom" (Arvada, CO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've owned and used this cookbook for at least 13 years. It is one of my favorites not only for it's excellent explanation of liturgical feasting and fasting (What other cookbook gives you a chapter on fasting?) but also because some of my family's favorite recipes are in it. We use "Four-egg cake" for nearly every birthday, baptism or first communion. My family actually loves the recipe for "Black fruitcake," and I get frequent complements when I bring her simply delicious "Cranberry-orange sauce" to holiday dinners. And Easter just wouldn't be Easter for my kids without the "Lamb cake."

I own the hardcover edition and my chief complaint is that it is not spiral bound to lay flat while cooking.

We have tried one or two recipes that just didn't taste all that great, but were culturally interesting to try. ("Salad of the good night/Ensalada de Nochebuena" from Mexico comes to mind. Perhaps because it calls for beets, apples, oranges, bananas, radishes and peanuts together. Sounded so weird I just had to try it. But I guess it's an acquired taste.)

I still enjoy reading her comments on the feast days throughout the year. I can't help but think of her recipe for "St. John's wine" every December 27th. Simple to make (always a plus) and warms the inside when it's cold and blustery outside.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book for family religous customs, February 8, 2002

By	O. H. Taylor (Atlanta, Georgia USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As an Anglo-Catholic who was not raised as one, I have had many questions about customs and liturgies. This is one of the sources I reach for first when I need answers.

The focus of this book is on home practices, on customs and especially on foods. However, this is not just a collection of recipes for various Saint's days, but also includes information about each saint and about the seasons of the liturgical year, starting, quite properly, with a discussion of "Sunday" since each Sunday is a mini-celebration of Easter.

If you are raising a family and wish to do so in a Christ-centered way, you should have a copy of this book. While it is aimed primarily at Catholic and Orthodox families there is much material here that would be useful in a Protestant family, particularly one that wishes to explore the two thousand years of Christian tradition rather than "re-inventing the wheel."