The Cure for Catholic Guilt

4 parts coffee, 2 parts Irish whiskey, 1 part cream, 1 tsp brown sugar, and a dash of cinnamon. Any Irish Catholic knows that this is the first thing that they want after a long mass. After a solid hour of kneeling, standing, being scolded, and struggling to keep your eyes open you need a shot in the arm to regroup.

So why after attending a Presbyterian service do we find ourselves drinking Irish coffee? The lingering guilt of not attending Catholic mass. We know that someone, somewhere is tsking us from their grave on our egregious Sunday morning error.

What brought us to a Presbyterian service on this snowy Sunday morning? Could it have been the promise of coffee and doughnuts? Could it have been curiosity? Could it have been our love of birth control and quest for world peace? Maybe it was the desire to attend a religious service that doesn’t make us feel entirely hopeless because we are already on the fast road to hell.

Being raised Catholic has molded us into religiously conflicted adults. Although we are vehemently opposed to many of the Catholic Church’s teachings on women’s status within the Church, the Church’s view on family planning, and the forced celibacy of priests we can’t help but to feel the teeniest bit guilty when Sunday morning creeps around and we have once again not graced the wooden pews with our sweet asses. Even the promise of wine at communion is not enough to make us pass through those harrowing wooden doors.

Rachel feels particularly conflicted after serving out a sentence in a Catholic high school. It is her thought that she will resume attending the Sunday morning flogging once she becomes engaged to be married so that she can butter up the priest and be married in a Catholic church. She would like to note that her attendance is just not an excuse to drink Irish coffee on a weekly basis. Sarah would be perfectly happy being married in a cave because she suffered through 4 less years of intense Catholic indoctrination.

The threads of guilt are woven through the fabric of our daily lives. We apologize for everything constantly, even if we are obviously not at fault. We are too good at “sucking it up” and internalizing our true feelings so once again we find ourselves sitting here needing second cups of Irish coffee.

Santa, you're an a$$hole!

When it came to starting our own blog, we just did not know how to get this bitch started. After much consideration, we'd like to take a moment to introduce you to two fine ladies. We are Sarah and Rachel, two twenty something sisters with witty rants, tasty recipes, and unique views on life. We became inspired to start this blog after a great holiday season with our parents and after attending what will be our absolute last candle party.

Why are our views of the world unique you ask? Our parents. (Hi Mom and Dad!) Our conservative Catholic upbringing juxtaposed against our free-for-all adulthoods has brought us to an interesting crossroad.

As children, we spent our days sled riding and drinking hot cocoa in our quaint Pittsburgh neighborhood; always being reminded of our manners and our need to eat a well balanced meal. We went to Catholic school, church on Sunday mornings, and were tucked into bed by 9:00PM.

Something changed as we entered adulthood.

Our entire nuclear family underwent an evolution. Our parents suddenly became people. They were no longer manners police or judgmental disciplinarians, they were all at once far from it. We changed as well. As we sit in our Ikea-centric apartments, sipping beer, and baking cookies we have come to the realization that we are NOT the sweet children that we once were.

This is not to imply that we are not wonderful people, but it has given us our quirks. So, we hope that you'll stick around for our many adventures in the kitchen and elsewhere, as the dynamic duo guides you through the mess that we call life.

Welcome. Sit back, fix yourself a drink (a stiff one), and enjoy the ride!