Blackberry wine, dandelion wine, and old-fashioned ginger beer

Posted by Jessica Jewett No Comments »

>These are technically Pagan recipes but they really could be enjoyed by anyone. We eat (well, drink!) these things at Mabon, which is the fall equinox, typically between September 20 and 23. I don’t see any reason why they could not be enjoyed throughout the fall season all the way through Samhain (Halloween) to Yule (December 19-22). Wines and ginger beer seem to taste better when you put the work into making them yourself.

Please refer to this blog for information about Mabon in general: http://jessicajewettonline.blogspot.com/2011/09/mabon-sabbat-of-fall-equinox.html

Blackberry Wine

3 pounds of blackberries
3 pounds of sugar
1 gallon of boiling water

Wash berries, put in large bowl and pour over them the boiling water. Stir well, then cover the bowl and leave for ten days. Strain liquid through muslin, add the three pounds of sugar and stir well. Cover the bowl and leave for three days, but stir daily. Put into bottles and cork, loosely at first. The wine will be ready to drink in six months.

Even though this recipe takes six months from start to finish, it is worth it. Blackberry season peaks in June in the South and July in the North, so my advice is to get your fresh blackberries and start making the wine around Mabon to be enjoyed the following Mabon. Sometimes the best things take the longest time to come to fruition!

Dandelion Wine
2 quarts dandelion flowers
3 pounds sugar
1 ounce yeast
1 lemon
1 orange
1 gallon boiling water

Pick the dandelions on a sunny day. Pick just the heads until you have two quart jugs full. Wash flowers and put into a large bowl. Slice orange, lemon thinly and add to the flowerheads. Pour boiling water on top of them, stir well. Cover bowl, leave for ten days, no more. Strain liquid into another bowl, stir in the 3 pounds sugar. Spread the yeast on a piece of toast, and float on top. Cover the bowl and leave for another 3 days. Remove the toast, strain again, and bottle. Cork loosely at first. The wine will be ready to drink in 3 months.

Dandelions typically grow in the spring – or year-round in warm climates – so my advice is to gather your dandelions in the spring to enjoy the wine for Mabon.

Old-Fashioned Ginger Beer
For The Starter:
1/2 Ounce Yeast
2 Teaspoons Sugar
To Feed The “Plant”:
7 Teaspoons Ground Ginger
7 Teaspoons Sugar
To Flavour:
1 1/2 Pounds Sugar
Juice Of 2 Lemons

Mix starter ingredients with 3/4 pint of warm water in a glass jar. Stir, cover and leave in a warm place for 24 hours. This is your starter “plant”. Feed the “plant” with 1 teaspoon each of ground ginger and sugar each day. After 7 days strain through a fine sieve. Dissolve the sugar in 2 pints of water. Add the lemon juice and the liquid from the “plant”. Dilute with 5 pints of water, mix well and store in corked bottles for at least 7 days.

Use strong bottles as pressure may build up which will cause thin bottles to explode. For the same reason use corked bottles rather than those with a more secure closure that will not ‘give’ under pressure.

The amount of sugar in the final stage can be varied according to taste.

Read More

Dark Mother Bread with Spiced Apple Butter

Posted by Jessica Jewett No Comments »

>These are technically Pagan recipes but they really could be enjoyed by anyone. We eat these things at Mabon, which is the fall equinox, typically between September 20 and 23. I don’t see any reason why they could not be enjoyed throughout the fall season all the way through Samhain (Halloween) to Yule (December 19-22). Breads are very comforting and these ingredients are very reflective of the fall season. Nothing says fall more than a jar of apple butter!

Please refer to this blog for information about Mabon in general: http://jessicajewettonline.blogspot.com/2011/09/mabon-sabbat-of-fall-equinox.html

Dark Mother Bread

At Mabon, we celebrate the goddess in her aspect as the crone, or the Dark Mother. She is Demeter, she is Hecate, she is the wise old woman wielding a scythe rather than a basket of blooming flowers. This honey wheat blend is a delicious way to celebrate the end of the harvest and say farewell to the fertile months of summer. Serve warm with herbed oils for dipping, or with a big scoop of Apple Butter.

Make this either in your bread machine, or by kneading it by hand.

Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Ingredients:

    2 C. warm water
    1 Tbs. active dry yeast
    1/3 C. honey
    3 C. whole wheat flour
    1 tsp. salt
    1/4 C. vegetable oil
    2 Tbs. butter
    4 C. all purpose baking flour

Preparation:

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Add honey and mix well.

Stir in the whole wheat flour, salt, vegetable oil, and butter and mix until a stiff dough has formed. Gradually work the all-purpose flour into the mix, one cup at a time.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured countertop, and knead for about fifteen minutes. When it reaches the point where it’s sort of elastic, shape it into a ball and place it into an oiled bowl. Cover with a warm, damp cloth, and allow to sit and rise until it’s doubled in size — usually about 45 minutes.

Punch the dough down and cut in half, so you can make two loaves of bread. Place each half in a greased loaf pan, and allow to rise. Once the dough has risen an inch or two above the top of the loaf pan, pop them in the oven. Bake at 375 for half an hour, or until golden brown at the top.

When you remove the loaves from the oven, allow to cool for about fifteen minutes before removing from the pan. If you like, brush some melted butter over the top of the hot loaves, to add a pretty golden glaze to them.

Note – If you’re doing this in a bread machine, remember, the recipes makes two loaves. Halve everything if you’re allowing the machine to do the mixing. If you hand mix it, you can still drop the single-loaf balls of dough into the machine to bake.

Spiced Apple Butter

This apple butter can be cooked on the stovetop or in a slower oven. Makes about 6 pints.

Ingredients:

    5 pounds, juicy tart apples, about 12 to 15
    1 cup apple cider or unsweetened apple juice
    2 1/2 cups sugar, approximately, or to taste
    3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
    1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
    1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Preparation:

Core and peel apples; cut into eighths. Put apple wedges and cider in a heavy enameled kettle over medium heat. Cook ontil soft, stirring to prevent sticking. Remove from heat. When cooled enough to handle, put apple mixture through a sieve or food mill. Add 1/4 cup white or brown sugar for each cup of apple pulp.

Return apple mixture to the kettle and stir in spices. Bring to a gentle boil; cook until sugar is melted.

You can follow directions for cooking the apple butter on the stovetop or in the oven. The stovetop apple butter should be watched very closely and stirred constantly to prevent scorching. The oven method is less apt to scorch, but might develop a caramelized skin, which can be removed.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixure has a sheen and mounds slightly on a spoon. Watch carefully and keep stirring to prevent scorching.

Or, put kettle in a 300° oven and cook slowly, stirring occasionally, until mixure has a sheen and mounds slightly on a spoon.

A jelly thermometer will be just under 220° when it is ready. (sea level)

Spoon apple butter into clean hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch of headspace for 1/2-pint jars or 1/2-inch of headspace for 1-pint jars. Following jar manufacturer’s instructions, place seals and rings on jars, taking care to keep rims clean with a damp clean cloth. Adjust seals and process in boiling water bath for 5 minutes. Remove jars and adjust rings to seal if necessary.

Read More

Mabon, the sabbat of the fall equinox

Posted by Jessica Jewett No Comments »

>

Mabon, (pronounced MAY-bun, MAY-bone, MAH-boon, or MAH-bawn) is the Autumn Equinox. The Autumn Equinox divides the day and night equally, and we all take a moment to pay our respects to the impending dark. We also give thanks to the waning sunlight, as we store our harvest of this year’s crops. The Druids call this celebration, Mea’n Fo’mhair, and honor the The Green Man, the God of the Forest, by offering libations to trees. Offerings of ciders, wines, herbs and fertilizer are appropriate at this time. Wiccans celebrate the aging Goddess as she passes from Mother to Crone, and her consort the God as he prepares for death and re-birth.

Various other names for this Lesser Wiccan Sabbat are The Second Harvest Festival, Wine Harvest, Feast of Avalon, Equinozio di Autunno (Strega), Alben Elfed (Caledonii), or Cornucopia. The Teutonic name, Winter Finding, spans a period of time from the Sabbat to Oct. 15th, Winter’s Night, which is the Norse New Year.

At this festival it is appropriate to wear all of your finery and dine and celebrate in a lavish setting. It is the drawing to and of family as we prepare for the winding down of the year at Samhain. It is a time to finish old business as we ready for a period of rest, relaxation, and reflection.

Symbolism of Mabon:
Second Harvest, the Mysteries, Equality and Balance.

Symbols of Mabon:
wine, gourds, pine cones, acorns, grains, corn, apples, pomegranates, vines such as ivy, dried seeds, and horns of plenty.

Herbs of Maybon:
Acorn, benzoin, ferns, grains, honeysuckle, marigold, milkweed, myrrh, passionflower, rose, sage, solomon’s seal, tobacco, thistle, and vegetables.

Foods of Mabon:
Breads, nuts, apples, pomegranates, and vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, and onions.

Incense of Mabon:
Autumn Blend-benzoin, myrrh, and sage.

Colors of Mabon:
Red, orange, russet, maroon, brown, and gold.

Stones of Mabon:
Sapphire, lapis lazuli, and yellow agates.

Activities of Mabon:
Making wine, gathering dried herbs, plants, seeds and seed pods, walking in the woods, scattering offerings in harvested fields, offering libations to trees, adorning burial sites with leaves, acorns, and pine cones to honor those who have passed over.

Spellworkings of Mabon:
Protection, prosperity, security, and self-confidence. Also those of harmony and balance.

Deities of Mabon:
Goddesses-Modron, Morgan, Epona, Persephone, Pamona and the Muses. Gods-Mabon, Thoth, Thor, Hermes, and The Green Man.

Mabon is considered a time of the Mysteries. It is a time to honor Aging Deities and the Spirit World. Considered a time of balance, it is when we stop and relax and enjoy the fruits of our personal harvests, whether they be from toiling in our gardens, working at our jobs, raising our families, or just coping with the hussle-bussle of everyday life. May your Mabon be memorable, and your hearts and spirits be filled to overflowing!*

Here is a Mabon blessing that you can recite over your feast before you eat.

Goddess, we thank you for your blessings and gifts

For the bounties of spring and summer and fertility of our lives and lands
For the powers of creation, which challenge us and fill us with breathtaking awe
Goddess we thank you

For the earth with its sunrises and sunsets, ocean tides and mountain peaks
For the Humanity, our shared pasts and futures, our oneness despite all differences
Goddess we thank you

For our hopes and dreams, noble causes and understanding of views not shared
For all who have worked and fought for a fairer universe and a life of dignity and freedom
Goddess we thank you

For the opportunity to learn and grow, the knowledge to teach and make choices
For the wisdom to live by hope and not fear and by our deeds not our words
Goddess, we thank you

For all that we have overlooked and taken for granted in the our daily life
For being and letting us be blessed by that being
Goddess, mighty and powerful, tender and charitable, we most gratefully thank you now.

Blessed Be

And this is a chant for the fall equinox.

The day is balanced, the night is balanced, all is balanced this day. Let Balance be our way. The God energy is balanced, the Goddess energy is balanced, all is balanced this day. Balance in all we do, think, and say. The Sun is balanced, the Moon is balanced, all is balanced this day. Balance is the divine way. The light is balanced, the dark is balanced, all is balanced this day. From balance, may we never stray.

*Adapted by Akasha Ap Emrys to share with all her friends and those of a like mind.–
Copyright © 1997-99 Akasha, Herne and The Celtic Connection wicca.com. All rights reserved.

Read More
Page 6 of 9« First...«45678»...Last »

Categories

Search This Site