Fantastic Desserts For The Season!

I dont know about you all, but over here in my edge of the woods, spring is blooming! When this happens, I get all sorts of antsy for summer, and for the summer vegetables, and summer bbqs. But then I am reminded of what fantastic foods spring may bring! And since we are in the midst of the celebration of Spring Equinox, eggs are the main ingredient to these desserts. I like to start the season with some simple, but delicious desserts. The days are longer, sunsets more beautiful, and the foods--lighter, but just as comforting.

Strawberry Clafoutis-
For this classic french dessert, Raspberries, strawberries, or cherries may be used.

1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tbl sugar
salt
3 large eggs
3 tbl butter, melted
zest of one lemon
1/4 cup plus 2 tbl milk
3 cups of fruit
Confectioners sugar, for dusting.

Preheat the oven to 350. Butter a 9 inch gratin dish. In a bowl, whisk flour, sugar, and a pinch of salt. Whisk the eggs, butter and lemon zest until smooth. Add the milk and whisk until light and very smooth. This may take about 3 minutes. Pour the batter into the gratin dish and top with fruit. Bake for 30 minutes, until set and golden. Let cool slightly. Cut into wedges and serve.

Baked Vanilla Custard

3 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 to 1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. skim milk, scalded
Ground nutmeg for garnish

Combine first 4 ingredients, beating well. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly. Pour into 6 (6 ounce) custard cups. Sprinkle with nutmeg.
Place custard cups in a large baking pan; pour hot water into pan to a depth of 1 inch. Bake at 325 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between center and edge of cup comes out clean. Remove cups from water and cool. Chill thoroughly.

Eggs are such a large part of Spring Equinox, so celebrate and cook some lovely desserts!
Just dont what I did the first time I made custard, and spill the water into all of the cups..making it into lovely egg soup.

Ostara, aka, Spring Equinox!

As I write this blog, I am officially listening to the Saturday Night Safety Dance on 1st Wave Sirius. It is awesome and plays The Smiths more than I care to listen to, which makes me happier than I can imagine. Who cant love The Smiths, really? I know that perhaps some people find this time to be sacred and are in mindful meditation and ritual, but for me, dancing and happiness is sacred, and cooking with these emotions make for some excellent food! Before I get into, please remember this blog will be longer than most days, because it is a sabbat today.
This sabbat is one of my favorites. Basically because I get to dye eggs. Yes, the Christian Easter did come from this sabbat, tis true, but my favorite part of celebrating Ostara is that I dont actually hard boil the eggs..rather, I blow out the insides of the egg by making two small pricks with a sewing machine needle on the top and bottom of the egg, and fill them with lavender, lilac, rosemary or sage if you wish. (Even confetti is cool!)
After doing this, I dye them. And yes, it is with the Easter Egg colors! But you can do it naturally!
Egg Dye Recipe
Yellow: yellow onion skins
Pink: Beets
Blue- Blueberries
Lavender- Blackberries
Orange-Carrots
Green-Kale or Spinach
Mince 1 cup of any of these vegetables, and boil with about 1 cup water for twenty minutes. (Separately) Strain out vegetables and add 2 tbl of vinegar per each cup of water. Dip your egg until it becomes the color you desire. If you use a wax crayon, you can draw designs on your eggs and then dip them.

How much I love this! It reminds me of being little and trying to get rosemary leaves into VERY small holes, while my older sister laughed hysterically at me.
Ostara is a time of rebirth, and just like in Buddhism, I was taught that Druidism believes that our souls jump from place to place. After death, we are constantly being reborn; we can be a rock, a tree, a monkey, a dog, a boy, a girl...etc...etc..you get my point. Therefore, Ostara is used as a time to give thanks for life. It acknowledges and honors all life. Pagan alters are adorned with flowers, potted plants, candles, incense and any sign of life. Eggs, a symbol of fertility and new life, are decorated. With its very special shell, all archetypal connections humanity has ever had are displayed: life, death and life renewal. Back in the day, hens would start to lay more when more light came from the sun (aka spring), and therefore, as the world bloomed, an abundance of eggs could be found, and thusly, celebrated because it symbolized the beginning of spring. And a what celebration Ostara can be!
My mother always taught me it was incredibly important to give thanks to each of the four directions for the gifts they offer while cooking for this festival. The directions are deosil (clockwise). East symbolizes the beginning of everything, South-fire, as it rules healing and destruction, West- connotes water and the womb, and it rules emotion and the subconscious mind, and last but not least North- as it symbolizes the earth, and it rules the earth and material gains. You can say thanks by cooking, taking a meditative walk, planting herbs, or perhaps doing art--anything creative.
Herbs and flowers associated with this sabbat are as followed: Acorn, celandine, cinquefoil, crocus, daffodil, dogwood, gorse, Easter Lily, honeysuckle, iris, jasmine, narcissus, olive, peony, rose, strawberry, tansy, woodruff, and violet.
The foods, (YAY!), that are used, according once again, to MY family, (which means they may vary) are milk punch, hot cross buns, leafy green vegetables, honey cakes and foods made with flowers.
Because of this, I will be posting my favorite recipes for Equinox Quiche and Elder Flower Sweet Cakes:

Elder Flower Sweet Cakes:
1 large egg
1 tsp. orange blossom extract (can be bought where liquor is sold, but orange juice will work)
1/3 c. honey
2 tbl. brandy
1 c. flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 c. Elder Flower Heads (go to an herb store for this!)
2 mint leaves, finely chopped
juice of 1 lemon for garnish
Sweet cream (whip cream) for garnish

Mix the egg, orange extract, honey and brandy. Stir in flour and cinnamon.The batter should be thick. Stir in Elder heads, and mint. Heat a griddle on medium . Add oil or butter to it. Plop the cakes on like pancakes. When the middle bubbles, flip. Wait about two minutes. Take off. Top with the mixture of sweet cream (whip cream and lemon)

Equinox Quiche
1 pie crust (bottom will have recipe)
1/2 c grated cheddar cheese (for extra kick, mix in half swiss or havarti)
1/8 c. mushrooms
1/2 c. bacon or sausage ( can be left out)
4 large eggs
1 1/2 c. half and half
(I throw in spinach with 1/4 c. red onion,sauteed)

Pie Crust
1 3/4 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. chilled butter
2 1/2 Tbl. cold water

Mix flour and salt together. Cut in butter, using a pastry cutter, or two butter knives used in a criss cross cutting motion, until mixture resembles course crumbs. Stirring with a fork, add water, 1 tbl at a time, until mixture resembles stiff dough. Try not to over stir the dough. The more you stir, the harder it gets, and the less delicious it will be. Roll the dough into a circle, line a pie plate with dough and trim the edges.
Cover the bottom with of the crust with cheese, mix together all veggies, meats if desired, with eggs, add salt and pepper..maybe a tsp each, and pour on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Let cool 20 minutes.

So there you all be. The food is good, but making it is the best part! Hope to have you all back on here soon!

My first blog. What to say? Well, first, let me introduce myself. My name is Noxious Mae and although I am not what you would call a full Wiccan or pagan by religious preference, I was raised Paganistic my whole life and was taught how to cook in accordance with it. Since that time, I have incorporated Buddhism into my life, and therefore, am a Vajrayana Buddhist -Pagan. (And yes, you can do that with Buddhism..)
My family was both Episcopalian, and Pagan, with emphasis on Irish Paganism, similar to that of Druidism. Since I was very young, my family taught me the traditional ways to live: herbs to use for healing and keeping evil spirits and faeries away, metals to avoid to keep bad energies and magical creatures away, minerals to use in order keep energies aligned, how to cleanse a house from spirits, how to speak with them, what pagan holidays occur and what foods to make for them, and foods that cure almost any daily ailment and bring forth the Divine in our own daily life.
I was taught that all days require a special attention to what can be referred to as the Dharma of life (the basic principle of the cosmos) and thus, should be celebrated by food. My mother always baked her own bread, made home made, organic dinners, lunch, and breakfast for my family daily, and taught all 5 children to cook, bake, and understand the essence of the traditional values through spells, other world understanding, and teaching us the ability to look beyond the reality of what others see as our world. She taught us the importance of good food and how much it really brings to the world.
Because of this, since I was little, I have always cooked and baked constantly. It has been my passion for my entire life and to me, it cures, celebrates and emphasizes any mood, any feeling, any holiday, any person. I am constantly being asked for recipes, and have finally reached the point in which I figure I will just post them for all to see. My goal, therefore, is to post two recipes a week, paired with the season or festival that may be occurring within the Pagan calendar with an explanation to why they exist.

A Wee Lesson From My Family (Notice the emphasis on family, meaning that this is what I was taught, not the truth of the world.)

Within every year, there are eight sabbats, each holding a sacrosanct place on the Great Solar Wheel of the Year, also known as the Mandala of Nature. The sabbats give way to each other like the changing of the seasons. Each sabbat is celebrated with a corresponding symbol, traditional foods, herbs and sacred spaces and divinations for those who practice.
My mother always taught me that every person, every dish, and every spell is unique, so feel free to bring your own emotion, spell or addition to the recipe..what is cooking without a little experimentation? With that in mind, if using divination with these recipes, please remember that these recipes and festivals are for the good, and are used to bring positive energy to the world, not negative. You will be invoking sacredness into being while you are cooking, and therefore, I do encourage that one keep the the threefold law in the mind: Whatever you do comes back to you three times. (Do you really want to mess with that?!?!)
I will be posting recipes that include edible flowers and medicinal herbs, whose uses date back to before the middle ages, but can be found very easily withing your local grocery and herb stores. Remember that each flower and herb possess a unique characteristic that not only enhances the flavor, but also adds a sacred quality that imparts the Divine in every dish, so if you cant find something, post a comment, and I will tell you a substitute. Also please remember that if you are using dried herbs compared to fresh, halve the required measurement of fresh herbs to get the desired amount in dried herbs.
With all this in mind, I will be starting on my next post: The Celebration of Ostara, or the Spring Equinox.