Gather Together: Recipes and Reflections to Inspire Faith and Friendship around the Table

by Catherine Fowler Sample

Overview

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them,” Jesus said in Matthew 18:20.

“Making food and giving someone your undivided attention as you share what you’ve prepared elevates an act of love to a spiritual practice,” says Catherine Fowler Sample, writer and producer of the popular film The Dating Project. In Gather Together, she encourages you to get together with others to explore your faith and deepen your relationship with God and each other.

Fowler Sample offers more than forty recipes along with a dozen reflections on faith, friendship, and community for Catholics who crave authentic connection, fun gatherings, and good food.

Primarily aimed at young adults but great for Catholics of any age, Gather Together supports your faith and fellowship and encourages you to connect with family, friends, or fellow parishioners. The spiritual reflections and seasonal recipes will help you build the community you need in your life.

Catherine Fowler Sample shares her experiences of learning to trust in God’s providence, getting to know herself, and discovering how to offer support and receive encouragement within your life in thoughtful, heartfelt reflections. While these reflections get real about the challenges of building community, you’ll also see the sweet and savory rewards of this holy work. Each month has a suggested theme for a gathering, along with reflections, a prayer, and conversation starters to help your gatherings get off to a perfect start. There are recipes for each month’s theme with various courses that you can create and share. The dishes come from classics with a modern twist, traditional family favorites, and originals from Fowler Sample’s kitchen. For example, in January, you can ponder the wisdom of St. Clare of Assisi over Italian soup; and June encourages peace over perfection, as you bake imperfect sweet-potato fries and toss together a steak cobb salad.

The starters, entrées, side dishes, and desserts in this collection also offer suggestions for vegetarian, gluten-free, or lactose-free eating. Fowler Sample’s recipes appeal to both the new cook and the seasoned chef and include shortcuts for dishes and suggestions for sharing meal prep with others.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781594719721
Publisher:	Ave Maria Press
Publication date:	11/20/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Catherine Fowler Sample wrote and produced the award-winning documentary The Dating Project, for which she appeared on a number of Catholic radio and television stations, including EWTN, CatholicTV, and Relevant Radio. She is a former production executive at Mpower Pictures, where she wrote and produced two faith-based curriculums on dating and relationships, and worked on multiple films, including The Drop Box and Emanuel. Fowler Sample also has served as a writer and producer on projects for Family Theater Productions and Focus on the Family. She speaks nationally to Catholic audiences on dating and relationships.

Fowler Sample earned a bachelor’s degree in communication studies with an emphasis on film and electronic arts from California State University Long Beach.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

1 Walk On Securely 1

Soup for a Group: Sweet Pea Pesto Dip, Italian Soup, Garlic Bread, Cannoli Bites

2 The Heart of Dating 15

Sit-Down Dinner for Eight: Balsamic-Pepper Salad, Short Ribs in Tomato Sauce with Pappardelle Pasta, New Orleans Strawberries

3 A Sweet Story 25

Taco Night: Guacamole with Grilled Com and Cotija, Spicy Shrimp Tacos with Sriracha Crema, Citrus Slaw, Mexican "Fried" Ice Cream with Homemade Hot Fudge

4 Pioneers 37

Holiday Brunch: Bloody Mary Pitcher, Frittata, Curried Avocado Toast, Hot Cross Buns

5 Closer to Eden 51

Afternoon Tea: Tea, Trio of Tea Sandwiches (Cucumber on White Bread, Curry-Macadamia Chicken Salad on Sweet Brown Bread, Smoked Salmon Dill Rounds on Rye Bread), Watermelon Fruit Bowl with Lemon Curd Dip, Scones with Blackberry Butter

6 Peace over Perfect 67

Salad Day Soiree: Lemonade Iced Tea with Mint or Rosé Sangria, Steak Cobb Salad, Sweet Potato Fries with Dip, Best-Ever Chocolate Chunk Cookies

7 Waiting Well 79

Summer "No-Grill" Barbecue: Dill Dip with Mini Pumpernickel Bowls, Oven Barbecue Ribs, Mustard Fingerling Potato Salad, Nutella Banana Bread

8 Time to Gather 91

Wine and Cheese Social: Wine, Elderflower Mocktail, Charcuterie and Cheese Board, Flourless Chocolate Cake

9 Eternal Wealth 101

Back-to-School Dinner: Mandarin-Chèvre-Blueberry Salad, Honey-Curried Chicken, Garlic Rice, Brown-Butter Crispies with Sea Salt

10 Travelers 111

Fall Feast: Roasted Butternut Squash Soup, Spectacular Stuffed Pumpkin, Kale Salad with Cider-Maple Vinaigrette, Any-Fruit Crisp with Homemade Caramel Sauce

11 A Faith for All Seasons 125

Perfect Roast Chicken Dinner: Arugula Cranberry-Orange Salad, Perfect Roast Chicken, Baked Potatoes with Creamy Feta, California Carrot Cake

12 Like a Child 137

Pizza Party and Cookie Swap: Christmas Punch; Three Pizzas, Three Different Ways (Meat Lover's Pizza, Southwestern Pizza with Avocado Crema, Mediterranean Pizza with Pomegranate Molasses); Green Salad with Lemon Dressing; Gingersnap Cookies

Entertaining Tips 153

Pantry Staples 163

Tools of the Trade 167

Notes 169

Ingredient Index 173

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Gather Together encourages me as a priest and chef. It shows that more people are understanding the power of food and how it can heal, strengthen, and nourish what is most important about the food—namely, the people we serve. It’s my hope that this book becomes another recipe book, not just for a meal but a recipe to follow on Christ’s commandment to love one another.” —Rev. Leo E. Patalinghug, International speaker, author, and creator of the Food and Faith Movement

“Catherine Fowler Sample serves up story after story highlighting the blessed necessity of gathering around the table and removes virtually every obstacle to it by providing twelve full-blown menus with easy-to-follow recipes. Each chapter offers you bite-sized spiritual morsels that will whet your appetite for more of God and for more connection with those you love around the table.” —Jeff Young, Founder and producer of The Catholic Foodie blog and podcast

“Gather Together warmly celebrates the reality that nurturing our souls in community is as necessary as nourishing our bodies at mealtime. The menus of good food and thoughtful reflections Catherine Fowler Sample has crafted are a much-needed invitation to reenter into the intimacy we humans crave. Her recipes are written as a warm, approachable invitation to make good use of the gifts we’ve been given, and her stories draw us into a modern take on an age-old truth: to gather as a community is essential, to be together in the Lord is to thrive. The book is intentional, purposeful, and fruitful in more ways than one.” —Lindsay Schlegel, Author of Don’t Forget to Say Thank You

“As someone who has only recently fallen in love with time in the kitchen, Gather Together has been the perfect book to inspire cooking adventures and to make time and room for people to join us for dinner parties. I love this book because it’s filled with wonderful stories, easy and delicious recipes, and the perfect template for how to build friendships and community around a good meal. Grab your apron, fire up the oven, and get to cooking: people are coming over and Gather Together will help you prepare! ” —Katie Prejean McGrady, International Catholic speaker, author, and host of the Ave Explores podcast