Christmas is just around the corner! Now is the time to start your holiday shopping, if you haven’t already.
You can get a good present for someone if you know one of their interests, but the truly great gifts are discovered by combining two or more. That’s when the recipient opens their gift and thinks, “Wow, this person really knows me.”
So, if you have any family or friends who are passionate about both Catholicism and food, this list is the perfect place to start shopping for them!
Food and drink
The obvious place to start shopping for a Catholic foodie is by getting them actual food or beverages. And the good thing is, there are plenty of options! Many monasteries and religious communities make and sell food and drink products to support themselves.
Besides what’s listed below, you can check your local religious communities or monasteries as well! For example, our local Trappist monastery, Mepkin Abbey, sells fresh and dried shiitake and oyster mushrooms, salad dressings, jams, and even cookbooks from the monastery kitchen.
These delicious beans have been roasted and sold by a community of Carmelite monks in Wyoming since 2007. Better yet, they will satisfy even the snobbiest coffee connoisseur — 25 of their coffees have been rated 90 points or higher on coffeereview.com. They offer coffee subscriptions or you can order individual bags from their website. Personally, I would love to try their most popular flavor, Jingle Bell Java, which has “essences of festive spice, white chocolate and bourbon.”
The Sisters of St. Benedict in Ferdinand, Indiana began selling springerle cookies at an annual German festival in their town. Later they added cookies in honor of St. Hildegard of Bingen, the twelfth-century mystic and Benedictine abbess. Their bakery now contains a variety of cookies, pretzels, and gift sets, which are available to order in their online gift shop.
Foods from Monastery Greetings
This website sells products from abbeys, convents, hermitages, and monasteries and has a huge selection of food and beverages to choose from. You can find everything from grilling marinades, to rice and soup mixes, to vinegars and salad dressings.
Also on Monastery Greetings’ website is a whole section of monastery and abbey ales, worth a mention of its own. One of their gift sets would be perfect for the craft beer lover in your life.
Cookbooks
Many foodies want to be a bit more hands-on with their food enjoyment rather than just receiving something already-made as a gift. In that case, a Catholic cookbook is an excellent gift choice, and there are plenty to choose from:
This book contains brief biographies of saints and recipes to accompany their feast days. This will keep someone cooking year round. And for that beer lover? Try the similar cookbook, Drinking with the Saints which has the same premise for cocktail recipes!
Around the Table with The Catholic Foodie: Middle Eastern Cuisine
With a title like this, how could you go wrong? Blogger Jeff Young, also known as The Catholic Foodie, shares insights on faith, family, and food with authentic recipes from The Holy Land.
Kitchen accessories
Besides food and cookbooks, a tasteful and functional Catholic kitchen accessory will make an excellent gift for your favorite foodie. Here are a few of my favorites:
You can never have too many dish towels! And the ones from The Catholic Company have no shortage of inspirational quotes and adorable illustrations. I especially like this one with the quote from Mother Teresa: “Wash the plate not because it is dirty nor because you are told to wash it, but because you love the person who will use it next.”
If you want to give something extra-special, this beautiful and functional cutting board is personalized with a family name laser-engraved right into the wood, along with the traditional prayer said before meals, “Bless us, O Lord …”
This beautiful set of acacia wooden spoons has “Give Thanks” from 1 Thessalonians 5:18 laser engraved on the handles.
This set is a great gift for those who love to grill! It contains an Alder wood grilling plank, grilling sauce and a brush, seasoning rub, and a small booklet of plank grilling recipes. The products are made by lay Carmelites to support the St. Joseph Carmelite Monastery.
Get shopping!
There you have it! Hopefully these ideas will give you some gift-giving inspiration for the special people in your life that love both food and their Catholic faith. With these gifts, you can support both their habits, and maybe even the habits of a religious community as well!
