The whole August is dedicated to Taillte, the Fostermother of Lugh, Sun God. Not much is known of her, though.
Tailtiu (Tailltiu, Tailte, Teia Tephi) is the name of a presumed goddess from Irish mythology and the town in County Meath that was named after her.
According to the Book of Invasions, Tailtiu was the daughter of the king of Spain and the wife of Eochaid mac Eirc, last Fir Bolg High King of Ireland, who named his capital after her (now Teltown, between Navan and Kells). She survived the invasion of the Tuatha De Danann and became the nurse of Lug. Lug established a festival, Ãenach Tailteann in her honour, which continued to be celebrated as late as the 18th century. She died after clearing the plain of Breg in County Meath, and Lug instituted funeral games in her honour at the festival of Lughnasadh.
Lammas
What to eat on Lammas and the rest of the August then?
Now, Lammas is the first of the three Wiccan harvest feasts, and the Harvest feasts usually are only vegetarian
- this is the hottest time of the year, and meat gets easily bad.
But if you have to have meat, try poultry. As rooster is Lugh's bird, you can eat chicken.
What is not to be forgotten from the table at any time during Lammas is bread.
Also other food made of or with grain is good.
How many different sorts of cereals did you know of?
Wheat, corn, barley, oat, rye, rice... any more?
There is buckwheat(tattari), quinoa and spelt, amaranth, sorghum(hirssi) and millet and teff,
then there is durum wheat and Kamut wheat and there is triticale (rye-wheat-cross)
http://www.switcheroo.com/FGGrains.html
Some recipes: http://dmoz.org/Home/Cooking/Grains/
Some Lammas Recipes:
Any recipes on bread
Blueberrypie, blackberrypie and anything else made with berries
Try making some beer.
Try cooking with beer
Anything with pasta, rice and noodles - try out some Jewish Kugels
Epicurious - the world's greatest recipe collection
Just search (recipes - browse - search) with "beer" "kugel" "bread" or "blueberries", "blackberries" or just "berries"
You can also search with any of the grains mentioned earlier ;-)
Recipe Source - same search words
Also All recipes gives some ideas
A Lammas bowl - blend 1 part lemonade, 1 part vodka and 1 part beer - a lot of ice
Food Network has also nice recipes
Like "Beer for Breakfast"
Janette's Buckwheat Blueberry Beer Pancakes with Blueberry Syrup
Syrup: Pancakes:
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
3/4 cup sugar-free blueberry jam
2 tablespoons blackberry brandy
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup light beer
1 egg white
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buckwheat pancake mix
1 cup fresh or frozen (do not defrost) blueberries
Combine the blueberries, jam, brandy and maple syrup in a small saucepan.
Place over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until blueberries start to pop, about 10 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice. Keep warm.
To make the pancakes:
In a mixing bowl, whisk the beer, egg white, honey, and vanilla.
Stir in the pancake mix and blueberries.
Heat a nonstick griddle or skillet over medium heat. Lightly spray the skillet with nonstick cooking spray.
Working in batches, pour in about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake.
Cook until browned on the bottom and bubbles begin to form on the top.
Turn the pancakes and cook until browned on the bottom. Serve immediately, with the syrup.
And Martha Stewart.com - Recipes
finally BBC Food - Recipes
They have even a quick link to "Rice and grains" :-)
Frytour of Erbes
salad with Blackberry Vinegar
Herbed Trout and Armoured Turnips
Covenstead Bread
Fig Pudding with a Red Wine Sauce
serve with currant or apricot wine or apple cider
Frytour of Erbes (Herb Fitters)
This recipe is from Julie R. from the Pacific Northwest.
"This is from 14th Century England. Use fresh herbs."
Makes about 3 dozen 2-1/2" fritters.
3 cups all-purpose flour
2-1/4 cups water
1/4 teaspoon yeast
1/8 teaspoon salt
vegetable oil for frying
2-1/2 teaspoons chopped sage
1-1/2 teaspoons chopped thyme
6 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 tablespoons chopped oregano
honey, to top fritters
Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup water.
Add salt to flour; when yeast is foamy, add yeast and rest of flour to water.
Let sit while you chop and ground the herbs.
Divide batter in 4 portions.
Add one kind of herb to each portion, (or add four times as much of any one of the herbs to the whole batter).
Fry in 1/4" deep oil by the 1/2 tablespoonful.
Serve with honey.
Blackberry Vinegar
Often used as a beverage this makes a nice salad dressing.
blackberries, clean and dry
malt vinegar
granulated sugar
Place berries in an earthenware vessel.
Cover with vinegar.
Let stand three days (this will draw out the juice from the berries).
To strain place cheesecloth over a bowl, pour in the mixture.
Let strain several hours.
Measure the amount of liquid you have (discard berries).
You will need 1 pound of sugar for every pint of liquid.
In a pan boil vinegar with sugar gently for 5 minutes.
Cool.
Herbed Trout
Use fresh herbs any will do but these are recommended.
4 small fresh trout, cleaned
4 sprigs rosemary
10-12 mint leaves
4 sprigs fresh thyme
3-4 sage leaves
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Place a spring of rosemary down the center of the trout.
Chop the remaining herbs and blend them into the butter along with the salt and pepper.
Coat the trout on both sides with the herbed butter.
Barbecue or bake fish until cooked through and the flesh flakes easily.
Every now and then brush the trout with the butter.
Armoured Turnips
This recipe is from Julie R. from the Pacific Northwest.
"This is from 15th Century Italy."
1 pound turnips (about 5 little)
10 ounce cheddar cheese, sliced
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Boil turnips about 30 minutes.
Peel and slice thin.
Layer turnips and cheese in a 9" x 5" baking dish.
Sprinkle each layer with spices and dot with little butter.
Bake 30 minutes.
Covenstead Bread
Printed with permission from Spirit Online
If you don't have citron available use a combination orange and lemon peels.
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup finely chopped citron
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons anise seeds
2-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan.
Add honey, citron, sugar, and anise seeds.
Stir until the sugar completely dissolves and then remove from heat.
Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices, and fold into the hot honey mixture.
Turn the batter into a well-greased 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan.
Bake one hour.
Turn out on a wire rack to cool.
This recipe yields one loaf of bread, and improves in taste if allowed to stand for 24 hours.
Fig Pudding with a Red Wine Sauce
pudding
2-1/2 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup molasses
2 cup finely chopped dried figs
grated zest of 1/2 lemon or orange
1 cup buttermilk
sauce
1/2 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cups dry red wine
grated zest of 1/2 lemon or orange
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Make the pudding: Preheat oven to 325°F.
Grease a baking pan.
Combine baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt, set aside.
Cream butter until soft.
Beat in eggs, vanilla, and molasses until fluffy.
Stir in figs, lemon zest and buttermilk.
Stir in the dry ingredients.
Pour into baking pan and bake about 1 hour or until done.
Make the sauce: Cream butter and sugar until light.
Beat in the eggs.
Stir in the red wine, lemon zest and nutmeg.
Just before serving, beat sauce over hot water in double boiler. Heat thoroughly.
