Feast Day: St. Bernadette Soubirous

Today is the celebration of St. Bernadette Soubirous, the young Basque girl privileged to see the Blessed Mother at the grotto in Lourdes, France.  We really love this little saint who died so young, in so much pain, and yet offered it up for us all.

St. Bernadette is from the area of France where my maternal great-grandfather was born.  He was born in the mountains just above Lourdes not many years after Bernadette saw Our Lady.  What crazy times those must have been ... with the French Revolution, the secularization of much of the country and a young girl privileged to speak to Our Lady and then to relate to us all the messages of love and sacrifice. 

Millions of pilgrims go to Lourdes annually .... many non-Catholics too believe in the miracles that have occured at the waters ... miraculous healings of mind, body and soul.  My dh gave me a wonderful book about these miracles, The Wonders of Lourdes, and we have been blessed to visit the waters twice on pilgrimage with the kids (String Bean was just months old when she "took the waters" the first time). 

So tonight, I will make clafouti (recipe below), we will watch The Song of Bernadette and Bernadette and we will pray to this lovely Basque saint who continues to give such a great example of how to love completely.

St. Bernadette Soubirous, pray for us ... that we may learn how to love even our trials.

Clafouti ... Julia Child’s Version


Preheat oven to 350.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups milk

• 2/3 cup sugar, divided

• 3 eggs

• 1 tablespoon vanilla

• 1/8 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup flour

• 3 cups cherries, pitted (or any fresh/frozen fruit like apples, peaches, pears, etc – peeled and pitted)
• powdered sugar, for garnish

Using a blender, combine the milk, 1/3 cup sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt and flour, and blend. Lightly butter an 8-cup baking dish, and pour a 1/4-inch layer of the blended mixture over the bottom. Set remaining batter aside. Place dish into the oven for about 7-10 minutes, until a film of batter sets in the pan but the mixture is not baked through. Remove from oven (but don’t turn the oven off, yet). Distribute the pitted cherries over the set batter in the pan, then sprinkle with the remaining sugar. Pour the remaining batter over the cherries and sugar. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 60 minutes, until the clafouti is puffed and brown and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve warm.

Servings: 6-8 for dessert, 4 for breakfast.