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Yesterday, all three of our children were crazy, happy, silly about our oldest receiving First Holy Communion.
In fact, before Mass began, Luke bounced up and down, jumped on me, squeezed me in huge hugs, offered me kiss after kiss, and proclaimed, "I am so excited! I am so excited!"
And, after Mass, he beamed with joy!
Since I wanted the day's focus to be on the sacrament, Luke and joy, I did not want to fuss with difficult meal and dessert preparations nor risk picky-eater meltdowns at Luke's celebration. Thus, I went with old favorites prepared in new ways for our gluten-free, casein-free First Holy Communion celebratory dessert:
Juice Wiggler "Wine" with "Hosts"
Inspired by a post at Catholic Icing, in the morning, Nina helped me make juice wiggler "wine". We put one cup of organic grape juice in a bowl and sprinkled it with four envelopes of Knox Gelatin. Meanwhile, we boiled another three cups of juice. Then, we mixed all that together, stirring until the gelatin had dissolved, let it cool just a bit and poured it into eight disposable golden wine glasses. We popped these into these into the fridge to cool.
After our main meal, I just cleared the table and put these out with a round gluten-free cracker atop each one to represent the host. (Not that we are supposed to dip the host into wine, but the children thought it was fun to have them together like this.)
"Holy Host" Coconut "Ice Cream" Wafers
After Mass, while the kids changed into their play clothes, I took a container of So Delicious Vanilla Bean Coconut Dairy-Free Frozen Dessert out of the freezer to soften. Then, when it was dessert time, I simply cut the container open and sliced the "ice cream" into "communion wafers". I put each slice on its on plate and then carved a small cross into each with the tip of a knife.
Cookie Cross
Luke does not care for frosting and many of our relatives do not relish gluten-free cakes, so rather than fuss with cake-making, I simply put some Lucy's Allergen-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies, (which Luke, Nina and Jack love) into the shape of a cross. (Yes, I could have made my own cookies, but I was all about the ease with this celebration!)
This easy-peasy dessert spread made the perfect ending to our perfect day! A beautiful and meaningful Mass, a fun and easy celebration with extended family and a finger-licking good dessert. We are so blessed!
Nina is already asking for a repeat of the dessert as she anxiously awaits her First Holy communion day next spring.
Praying all of this year's first communicants everywhere continue to grow in wisdom and stature as they are strengthened by the Eucharist. May any family celebrating this special occasion be blessed with as ideal a day as we had!
What are your favorite First Holy Communion celebration recipes and ideas?
