Long time no seen...

I have been working with the family's monthly food plan... and I find it really difficult! Most of the American food blogs are full of stuff that is not usable for me - coupons here and bisquick there - and most of the Swedish food blogs are very snobbish. I really am not interested of the finer points of boiling bouillon - I use stock cubes. I am not interested in fillet mignon with chanderelles, even if that would certainly be divine, or vegetarian food made with tuna, or fancy sandwiches meant to be eaten at night after opera... and, I'm sorry, my Swedish blogging comrades, but this is my experience. Perhaps I just should find the ordinary housewives in the same position as I am :-)

Gold, Myrrh and Frankincense

Artwork: Marilene Sawaf: Blue Afternoon

Soon will be the Day of Three Kings, three wise men but in Goddess Food we'll be talking about Three Ladies, the Phoenician Three Noble Brides. These Goddesses are Pidraya, Aretsaya and Talaya.

Pidraya (Pidray, Pidrai, Pdry) bat 'Ar - Bright, daughter of Light is the Canaanite correspondence to Celtic Brigid, and frankincense. When frankincense is burned with salt, it creates white smoke and 'Ar means also 'mist'.

Pidraya is a beautiful and very curvy Lady, her light making the land flow golden honey and golden cream... She is the Goddess of fertility and lightning Goddess, bringing the spring storms and life.

Talaya (Talay, Talai, Talliya, Tly) bat Rab, Dew, daughter of Rain, is next of these Ladies. She is also a fertility Goddess, responsible for the moistness - and therefore fertility - of Canaan which lies between rivers, mountains and Mediterranean. She corresponds to Persian Ahurani and Vedic Varunani and to gold - riches - of the gifts of the Magi.

“Riches and glory, endurance and vigour of body, a long life and the shining, all-happy abode of the righteous are the boons that the devout ask from her.” Libations of water were also required. Positive words, actions and ideas are also offerings to her. She accepts wealthy donations if a follower worries they have offended her and, as a general rule, offerings could only be made during the day.”

Youngest of these Noble Ladies is Aretsaya (Arsai, Arsay, Arsy) bat Ya'abdar - She of the Earth, daughter of the Broad Land, and she corresponds to Ereshkigal and Akkadian Allatum. Ya'abdar has a lot of significance, and thus her name can refer to Underworld, irrigated fields and sickness-bringing marshes. Aretsaya is the Goddess of death, sickness and health, sorrow, the hidden possibilities and thus corresponds to myrrha - medicine, suffering...

Roscon De Reyes, Spanish Three Kings.

For the cake
3 1/4-3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 (1/4 oz) package dry active yeast = 2 1/4 teaspoons
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs

For the filling
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 cup diced mixed candied fruit, and peel
1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds

For the icing
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 tablespoon orange juice
ground cinnamon (optional)
finely shredded orange peel (optional)


1. To make the cake: In a large mixing bowl stir together 1-1/2 cups of the flour and the yeast; set aside.
2. In a small saucepan heat and stir milk, butter, granulated sugar, and salt just until warm (120° to 130° F) and butter is almost melted. Add milk mixture to flour mixture; add eggs.
3. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed for 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes more. Using a wooden spoon, stir in remaining flour until dough forms a solid mass that can be kneaded.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough that is smooth and elastic (3 to 5 minutes total). Shape the dough into a ball.
5. Place in a lightly greased bowl; turn once to coat the surface. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled (1 to 1-1/2 hours). Punch dough down.
6. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll dough into a 20xl2-inch rectangle. Spread with the 3 tablespoons softened butter.
7. To make the filling: In a small mixing bowl combine the granulated sugar and the cinnamon. Add mixed fruits and peels and almonds; toss gently to coat.
8. Sprinkle the mixture onto the buttered surface of the dough. Starting at a long side, loosely roll up dough jelly-roll style. Moisten edges; pinch firmly to seal. Place roll, seam side down, on a greased baking sheet.
9. Bring ends together to form a ring. Moisten ends; pinch together to seal ring. Flatten slightly. Using a sharp knife, make 12 cuts around the edge of the dough at 1-1/2-inch intervals, cutting about two-thirds of the way to the center. Cover and let rise in a warm place until nearly doubled (30 to 40 minutes).
10. Bake in a 350° F oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when tapped. (If necessary, cover loosely with foil after 20 minutes to prevent over browning.) Remove from baking sheet; cool on a wire rack.
11. To make the icing: In a small mixing bowl combine powdered sugar and vanilla. Stir in enough of the orange juice to make an icing for drizzling. Spoon icing over ring. Before icing dries, sprinkle with additional cinnamon and orange peel, if desired. Makes 12 servings.

Medieval Cookery: Twelfth Night Menu

Lebanese recipes
Where Phoenicia used to lie lies now Lebanon.
Fattoush, Hummush, Baba Ghanoush and other Lebanese food
Lebanese recipes collected by Abdallah Hayar

Beyond Milk and Honey - Israeli recipes

Palestinian recipes

As you can see, it's all very similar, mostly the same... :-)

Middle Eastern Recipes
Middle Eastern Recipes - there's 20 different categories, so don't forget to check them out!

Canaanite-Phoenician Basic Ritual
P.S. These Ladies prefer WATER as libation... not wine, milk or juice.

Durga Puja - Dashera

Now, most people who know I'm a Goddess believing Pagan, know that Durga is one of my favorite faces of Goddess. Now, on 21st of October is the first day of 9-days feast for Durga :-)
Nine days for Durga!

Durga Puja .org

It's traditional to serve dishes made of cereals, and every day a new kind of sweet is served to Durga, usually including rice :-)

"On the ninth day or Mahanavami day, books wrapped in silk cloth are kept before the Goddess in the form of Saraswati and worshipped. On Dusshera day the books are removed and the children are made to read or write at least one page as a mark of respect to Goddess Saraswati. Also scenes culled from various stories in the epics and puranas are displayed. The sweet dishes offered to Goddess Saraswati are different variations of milk puddings called payasam."
-- Sanjeev Kapoor
I like Saraswati as well ;-) And milk puddings :-D

Yummy Indian recipe blog :-)

Sabudana Batata Thalipeeth
Delicious tea time snack of sago served hot with chutney.
Serves 4

Ingredients
1½ cups Sago (sabudana)
4-5 Potatoes
2 tsps Red chilli powder
2 tsps Cumin seeds
Salt to taste
Ghee to fry

Wash, peel and grate the potatoes. To this add the soaked sabudana. Add cumin seeds, red chilli powder and mix well to form a smooth dough. Make small roundels of the dough. Use little water and roll it out evenly with a hole in the center. Roast on a hot tawa by applying ghee on both sides. Serve hot with curd or coconut chutney.

Coconut Chutney (Nariyal Chutney)
Serves: 4

4 tablespoons grated coconut
2 teaspoon(s) bengal gram (chana dal) roasted
1" piece ginger peeled and chopped
4 tablespoons fresh coriander leaves chopped
4 green chillies chopped
1 teaspoon(s) each of mustard seeds and black gram (udad dal)
½ teaspoon(s) asafoetida powder
4 curry leaves
1 red chilli(es) broken into bits
2 tablespoon(s) oil
lemon juice and salt to taste

1. Grind the coconut, roasted gram, green chillies, coriander leaves and ginger to a fine paste using a little water. Pour the paste / chutney into a bowl and adjust the consistency using suitable amount of water.
2. Heat the oil in a pan on medium level for about 2 minute(s) till it is hot enough. Add the mustard seeds. Let them splutter and then add the black gram (udad dal), red chillies, curry leaves and asafoetida powder. Fry briefly till the gram turns red and pour it on the chutney.
3. Add salt and lemon juice to the chutney.

Saffron and Rose Yoghurt Mousse (Rose Shrikand)

Channa Payesh
Bengali "version" of rice pudding. (The name of the cheese is written in different ways - Channar, Chenna, Chennar, Chenar... How to make Chenna and Paneer at home ;-))
Instead of chenna or paneer, you can use cottage cheese or tofu.

Ingredients:
1 liter - milk
250 gms - paneer
4 tbsps - sugar
½ tsp - essence of rose
1 tsp - cardamom powder
25 gms - fried and sliced almonds
25 gms - fried and sliced pistachio nuts
25 gms - fried and sliced raisins

Method:

1. Grind paneer to a paste.
2. Mix milk with 125 gms sugar and boil over a slow fire till it is reduced to half its original quantity.
3. Mix in the paneer, cardamoms and nuts and cook till quite thick. Remove from and sprinkle rose essence on top.

another version

Channar Payesh

Ingredients:
1 litre - wholefat milk
200 gms - paneer or silky tofu
1/2 tin - condensed milk
2 tbsp - sugar
1/2 tsp - cardamom powder
15 to 20 strands - saffron, lightly crushed
2 tsp - milk masala or slivered almonds & pistachios


1. Dissolve cardamom, milk masala(save some for garnish) in 1 tbsp. cold milk.
2. Keep aside till required.
3. Put rest of milk to boil in a large heavy vessel.
4. Grate or crumble paneer, sprinkle 1 tsp sugar over it.
5. Toss to mix lightly, keep aside till required.
6. Take one tsp. of boiling milk, rub saffron into it.
7. Keep aside till required.
8. Add condensed milk, to the boiling milk.
9. Simmer on low for 12-15 minutes, stirring frequently.
10. When milk is reduced to 2/3 volume, stir in dissolved cardamom and masala.
11. Add paneer, stirring very gently, so as to keep crumbs intact.
12. Add saffron, saving few drops for garnish.
13. Simmer further 2 minutes.
14. Take off fire, pour into serving dish.
15. Garnish with splash of saffron drops, and saved slivers.
16. Serve piping hot, or very chilled.

Bengali Recipe: Durga Puja Cuisine

Indian desserts
Traditional Indian Sweets from Menu Today blog
Indian Sweets

Durga Puja recipes - not only sweets ;-)
Dassera recipes

A couple of food blogs...

101 Cookbooks
52 Cupcakes
80 Breakfasts
A Cat in the Kitchen
A Hunger Artist
A Veggie Venture
Accidental Hedonist
All Things Edible
Alpineberry
Amateur Gourmet The
An Obsession With Food
Anne's Food
Applemint
Bake & Destroy
Bake or Break
Baking Bites, former Bakingsheet
Becks & Posh
Belly-Timber
Brown Bag Blues
Brownie Points
Canadian Baker The
Candy Blog
Chef Ledarney
Cherry's English Kitchen
Chez Pim
Chocolate & Zucchini
Chopstick Cinema
Chubby Hubby
Cleaner Plate ClubThe
Clivia's Cuisine
Cloudberry Quark
Coconut & Lime
Confessions of a Cardamom Addict
Cook Almost Anything Once
Cook and Eat
Cook Sister!
Cookie Madness
Cookie Recipe Blog, The
Cooking with Amy
Cooks Cottage, The
Cracked Cauldron Spillings
Cream Puffs in Venice, used to be Cream Puffs in Venice
Culinary Concoctions by Peabody
Culinary in the Desert
Cupcake Bakeshop by Chockylit
Cupcake Frenzy
Da*xiang
Daily Tiffin
David Lebovitz
Definately Not Martha
Delicious Days
Dessert First
Dispensing Happiness
Dorie Greenspan
Eat Local Challenge
Eating Liberally
English Patis
Fancy Toast
Farmgirl Fare
Fatfree Vegan
Food & Thoughts
Food Beam
Food Blogga
Foodbeam
Foodgoat
For The Love Of Baking
Global Gastronomy
Gluten-Free Girl
Great Big Vegetable Challenge The
Green Olive Tree
Gruel Omelet
Habeas Brulee
Haverchuk
Hooked on Heat
How to Eat a Cupcake
Humble Pie
I like to Cook
Il Forno
Jaden's Steamy Kitchen, used to be Jaden's Steamy Kitchen
Jam Faced
Janet is Hungry
Jesuit Gourmet The
Journal of a Girl who likes to cook
Jumbo Empanadas
Just Hungry
Kalyn's Kitchen
Kuidaore
La Mia Cucina
La Tartine Gourmande
Lick The Spoon
Lily's Wai Sek Hong
Lobstersquad
Lucullian Delights
Lucy's Kitchen Notebook
Mahanandi
Malaber Spices
Matt Bites
Meathenge
Milk and Cookies
mmm-yoso!!!
My Dhaba
Nami Nami
Naughty Curry
News for Curious Cooks
Nordljus
Nosh With Me
One Hot Stove
Orangette
Our Patisserie
Paper Palate
Passionate Cook The
Perfect Pantry The
Persnickety Palate The
Pioneer Woman Cooks The
Puu Cooks
Quirky Cupcake
Rasa Malaysia
Real Epicurean
Rice and Noodles
Running with tweezers
Sailu's Food
Sassy Radish
Scent of Green Bananas The
Serious Eats
Seriously Good
Simply Recipes
Slashfood
Smitten Kitchen
Soul Fusion Kitchen
Sour Dough The
Spicetart
Sustainable Table
Tartelette
Tea and Cookies
Thorngrove TableThe
Tigers & Strawberries
To Short Term Memories
Tomatilla!
Too Many Chefs
Travelers LunchboxThe
Use Real Butter
Vanielje Kitchen
Vanilla Garlic
Vanille & Chocolat
Vegan Feast Kitchen
Vegetable Adventures
Veggie Venture
Veronica's Test Kitchen
Village VegetableThe
Wandering Chopsticks
Wednesday Chef
Well-seasoned Cook the
What We're Eating
What's For Lunch, Honey?
Who Wants Seconds?
World On A Plate
Writing at the Kitchen Table
Xochitl Cooks
You Are What You Eat
You Gonna Eat All That?
YumSugar
Zinfully Delicious

Buddhabodhiprabhavasita

LOL Yes, yes, I know... this is the Goddess Patricia Telesco gives for today, July 8th.
Who is this Buddha Bodhi Prabha Vasita?

"Personifies spiritual regeneration and the power of light to overcome any darkness in our lives.
She has the ear of Buddha, making her a mediator and teacher of universal truths.
Go through your living space making lots of noise to banish negativity within.
Turn on all the lights to literally "turn on" this goddesses power to overcome any problems, tensions and residual bad feelings.
Wear something yellow to invoke Buddhabodhiprabhavasita's insight within yourself.
Use any wheel as the focus for your prayers. {write your needs on your car tires, or attach to bicycle spokes so that each time the wheel goes around, your prayer goes out to Buddhabodhiprabhavasita!"

Buddha and Bodhi are basically the same - Bodhi means enlightenment and Buddha The Enlightened
Prabha is the Universal Light and one of the names of Lakshmi
Vashita is the Goddess of Air and communication - she controlls the senses and thus can make you see and hear what ever she wants. (Vasitas are minor Buddhist Goddesses)
So Buddhabodhiprabhavasita is one of Lakshmi's aspects, the Light and Air that carries communication - that makes communication possible.

I find it very interesting that the rune for wheel, Rad, stands for travel of mind and body - communication, advice, council...

---------------

Tibetan food is similar to Chinese, but because Tibet is so high in the mountains, it's always warm and warming :-)

Here some Tibetan recipes. Don't forget to try the Butter Tea.
Milk products and meat are very important in Tibet, perhaps because there isn't much else to eat. Most old style Tibetan's don't eat "grass" - vegetables.
In Tibet the meat is most often cooked whole, pot roast.
Here's a couple more of Tibetan recipes and here yet a couple. Here's quite a many, among them desserts.
Recipezaar has 9 recipes claimed to be Tibetan.
Here's a vegetarian suggestion for the roast.

Then I suggest you make some doughnuts, which really have nothing to do with Buddhabodhiprabhavasita, except that they are round and very good ;-)

Columbia and Libertas

It's the American Independence Day. I doubt ANYONE can miss that little piece of fact... so I present two Goddesses especially important to Americans.

Columbia is USA personified, Libertas (Lady Liberty) is the personification of freedom.

There are several personified countries as Goddesses - The Maiden of Finland, Mother Svea in Sweden, Britannia and the French Marianne. There are several pictures with these national personifications depicted in different situations, like the painting of Libertas Marianne leading the revolutionary people by Delacroix, or several cartoons with the Mother of the Country either disciplining some politician or being bashed by the enemies of the country etc.

Libertas is the most commonly used Goddess to "double" as the National Personification among countries that have fought for their independency.

So - what to eat on the USA Independence Day?

It is tempting to concentrate on junk food - the fatty, salty food, high of refined carbs, white wheat flour and sugar... The American food is sweeter than food anywhere else. But the truth is that even though USA made fast junk food world famous, that's not all what the American cuisine is about. USA has a wonderful food culture, and it's a pity that has been buried under hamburgers, pizza and French fries. (No, not "Freedom Fries". That's just STUPID!!!)

So - I'll give you just one link - to my "Holidays" group in Care2, and the American Independence Day thread there... If you are not inspired and positively surprised by the fact that there's a LOT more than fat and sugar in USA, then you are probably American ;-) :-D

Have a lovely Independence Day, Yankees and Dixies :-)

Benzaiten and Bento

Benzaiten or Benten is a Japanese Goddess, associated with Goddess Saraswati. She's the Goddess of Music, Poetry, Learning, Art and the Sea and Protector of Children, the only female among the seven lucky Deities. She is associated with snakes and dragons.

"Her temples and shrines are almost invariably in the neighborhood of water -- the sea, a river, or a pond. She is the patroness of music, the fine arts (dancing, acting, visual), and good fortune in general, and is often shown carrying a biwa (Japanese mandolin) or playing a lute. She is often represented as a beautiful woman with the power to assume the form of a serpent, or shown seated on a dragon or serpent and playing a lute. In fact, the snake is almost always associated with Benzaiten, who was originally a Hindu deity (Sarasvati) who represented learning, music and poetry. Such artistic learning and wisdom often bring prosperity, hence her inclusion in the Japanese group of seven luckies. She also has a jewel that grants desires. Some say it is a jade, while others say it is a pearl."
-- http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/benzaiten.shtml

I think the Bento boxes fit perfectly with Benten - Bento is Japanese lunch box, usually seafood and often made for children, and the name reminds also of the Goddess :-)

Visit Bento Corner, a blog committed to Bentos :-)
Also, you can admire the imaginative Bentos at Flickr

Sakurako Kitsa's Jaws Bento

Cooking Cute, a site about Bentos with recipes, gallery and bento suggestions.
and Bento Box is a really cute and concise site :-)

Some hot dog cutting instructions

Saint Agnes - Annis the Black Hag

"Some say that the legend of Agnes sprang from the cult of the Danish goddess Yngona."

Angrboda
St. Agnes by Shonnie Scarola
St. Agnes by Catherine Fournier

One of the biggest insults the Christianity has offered to Paganity is "Christening" the Pagan Gods. Annis, a strong and independent Virgin Goddess was made on the one hand into a hideous blue-faced crone, and on the other into this innocent and pure child. Both ways made that the Pagan Goddess was reduced.

Interesting little detail here is that in Swedish, the place where all the witches go to dance on Beltane is called "Blåkulla" "Blue Hill". "Kulla" also means "girl". In Finland this hill was said to be made of glass and so polished only virgins could get up there. So there's a nice correlation between the Agnes, protector of innocent girls, and the hideous blue witch Annis. I'm sure to anyone who was trying to violate virgins, a meeting with Annis was horrifying experience, and afterwards the reason to the meeting was played down, and the hideousness of the avenging and protecting Goddess was played up. And, sure, if you don't know that a person is being punished for rape, the punishment might seem unfair and evil.








nnis day feast



Perfect Entertaining: Six Course Rack of Lamb Menu
Hinamatsuri - Girls' Day in Japan

Taillte's Lammas

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, Áenach 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:
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

Pancakes:
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

To make the syrup:
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" :-)

Old World Lammas Feast

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.

Serve over with hot pudding.

Beltane with The Great White

Bealtaine, the Bright Fire, the Feast of White Goddess.
Beltaine is the last of the three spring fertility feasts and the last day of spring, and the first day of summer.

Here's a French site about Beltaine :-)

In Finland mild mead is made a week or two before Beltaine, and then doughnuts are fried on the evening of Mayday, which is called Vappu in Finnish.

It is a nice idea to eat food with flowers and fresh herbs.

Got Mead's mead recipes

Finnish recipe for Mayday fritters (dropbread) and mead (sima)

Mayday rolls à la Tallyrand

About Mayday celebrations in Germanic countries and a recipe of maywine :-)

Beltane Cakes - notice where the recipe is... ;-)

About Beltane and a recipe of Beltane chicken

Goat cheese and spinach turnovers
Asparagus with chives and blossoms

Creme brulee :-)

Cream pie

Beltane Marigold Custard

Flowers as Food
Flowers for Food
Edible flowers and recipes
working with flowers and food

Birthday with Rangda

Image after Matt Wyatt

Wednesday was my birthday, and Patricia Telesco's "365 Goddess" gives the Balinese witch Goddess Rangda as the Goddess of my 19th of April. It suits me very well :-)

Wikipedia tells this about Rangda:

"Rangda is the demon queen of the leyaks in Bali, according to traditional Balinese mythology. Terrifying to behold, the child-eating Rangda leads an army of evil witches against the leader of the forces of good - Barong.

It is suggested that Rangda may be derived from the 11th century Javan queen Manendradatta who was exiled by the king, Dharmodayana, for allegedly practising witchcraft against his second wife. The tale surrounding this is that she proceeded to take her revenge by killing off half the kingdom, which by then belonged to her and Dharmodayana's son Erlangga, with plague before being overcome by a holy man. The name Rangda means "widow".

Rangda is important in Balinese culture, and performances depicting her struggles with Barong or with Erlangga in that tale are popular tourist attractions as well as tradition. She is depicted as a scantily clad woman, with long and unkempt hair, and claws. Her face is traditionally a horrifying fanged and goggle-eyed mask."

She sounds like a combination of Lilith, Hel, Kali and Medea, all my favorites :-)

The thing with Demon Queens is that people usually don't understand what it is all about. People don't like things like getting consequences for their actions - that Lilith was hunting men who were being nasty to women, or rescued children getting abused or neglected, that's a little detail often ignored. People just talk about how the children vanished and what horrible things happened to the men. If someone even cares to ask "why?" the answer is immediate: "Because Lilith is an evil bitch!" It's like with Lorena and John Bobbitt... he is an abusive asshole, but when he gets what's coming to him, she gets charged and the police goes out immediately to find the cut off penis - which they don't do when a child or a dog has been thrown from a car... Interesting priorities the society has... :-D

Well... as long as the society has these values, as long will the Goddesses like Rangda, Kali, Lilith and Hel be needed.

Now, the dinner with Rangda... is for witches and bitches, of course. No men are allowed. Have a round, red dinner, decorated with yellow flowers.
As this is a birthday dinner, the desert will be a cake, and I love chocolate, so it will be a red velvet cake with chocolate frosting. Not with white frosting. It might be good, but this is not Christmas. You can also make Devil's Food Cake (with chocolate frosting, of course).

To begin the dinner we'll have watermelon balls with ham... ;-) Usually a cantaloupe or honey melon is used, as they are not as juicy and sweet as watermelon, but watermelon has the same melon taste, and is very good with ham too. You can also use any smoked, salty meat, like turkey or... uh, now I have forgotten what the salty, dried beef thing is... it's not prosciutto, but it reminds it a lot. :-)

And as main course... Spaghetti with a lot of fricadellis :-D Do it by your favorite recipe, and make the meatballs just as you like them, and have a good tomatosauce with it, and eat as piggy as you wish. (You can try to make it Balinese by making this tomato sambal and making the meatballs with lamb and spicing with garlic, chili, ginger and coconut...;-))

Here's some other Indonesian recipes:
http://www.indo.com/restaurants/recipe.html
http://www.baliguide.com/balifood/basic_recipes.html
http://www.99bali.com/food/recipes/

Find a rainbow day with Iris

Iris is the Goddess of rainbows and has given name to the rainbow within us all - the iris of the eye.

This picture of Iris is by Josephine Wall. I like her art very much.

Iris is there to remind us all of that all colors matter, not only those on the rainbow, but also the gray clouds, without whom the rainbow would be rather dull indeed... So - try to remember that the sad moments of our life are there to make the happy moments mean more.

There's quite a lot written about the colors, color therapy, chakras and colors' influence in our lives.

Foodways color has been found to be rather important - if you eat all the colors of the rainbow, you can be certain of that you get all the necessary vitamines and minerals your body needs. Also, the human physiology is so created that we eat more when there are all kinds of colors on the plate - our body tries to get to all the vitamines and minerals there are by wanting to eat all the colors.

Eat red tomatoes and sweet pepper, yellow corn, greens, blueberries and grapes, purple aubergine, brown bread and potatoes, white milk... look at the colors of the food you eat. The more colors the better. (Just as long as they are natural colors LOL)

Think about it a little... why is there so little true blue food?


Eat Your Colors
- a scientific answer to the question "isn't the color food idea just pseudo science?"

5 A Day The Color Way
- more practical site - with examples of all the color groups and with recipes and menus

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Crostini with goat cheese and red and yellow tomatoes

Curried Chicken and Vegetables with yoghurt sauce

Colorful fruit soups to dessert



© What's your Inner Goddess Color?? © Jen

Ostara

Ostara by Cynthia Rudzis

I would like to make Easter Tarot deck... you know, like the Halloween tarot by another great artist, Kipling West.

Ostara is the Western aspect of the Great Goddess Astarte. Another aspect of this Goddess is the Jewish Ester, who is celebrated around Ostara, on Purim. Purim is on the 15th of Adar month, which this year was on 14th of March - about a week ago.

Ostara is called "The Lady Day" as well, and the Xians call Virgin Mary's Annunciation to Lady Day too. It's 25th of March - about a week after Ostara. The Xians started to celebrate Annunciation in the 5th century of the reckoning, and at that time Ostara was about that date, so it's clear that it's just Ostara in disguise.

So - what would the Lady like to eat with you? Ostara is a feast of liberation and life. The land is liberated from snow and new life is born everywhere. From green leaves and grass to yellow ducklings and chiklets and fuzzy little bunnies and lambs. The colors of Ostara are yellow and green - and all the bright, light pastel colors. The classic Ostara food is eggs and sweets.

So - nine course meal to celebrate Ostara.

We start with an alcoholic aperitif :-)
This is Easter Bunny by "Tiggerwildcat"
You shake three parts Creme de Cacao and one part vodka with ice and strain that on an old-fashioned glass. The you float one teaspoon chocolate syrup over that, and one teaspoon cherry brandy over that. Chocolaty sweet drink to get you going.

You could also take an Easter Egg - pour one part Chambord raspberry liqueur in the class, top that with one part Tia Maria coffee liqueur and on top of it all one part cream. *yum*

You can also make an eggnog.

As hors d'oeuvre
deviled eggs :-) You can also try these baked eggs.

Soup with wild nettles - or use spinach if you can't find nettles.
You can have these bacon - brown sugar -crackers to go with the soup.

Pan-Roasted Salmon With Citrus-Balsamic Vinaigrette
Eat it with selected greens - asparagus is good with salmon, but so are almost all green things - the different lettuces, spinach, herbs, bok choy, endives, cabbage...
Here's a nice recipe "Salmon with Wilted Greens"

As entrée, cold chinese chicken salad

Lamb roast - in Greek way - with potatoes and artichokes baked with the lamb.
You can also serve Moussaka with the lamb.

Then a little salad here in the middle
Watercress, pecan and blue cheese salad

3 C watercress, trimmed and washed
2T lemon juice
3 T olive oil
1/2 C toasted pecans
1/2 C crumbled blue cheese
Serves 6

Place watercress in a large bowl and toss with lemon juice and olive oil. Divide among 6 plates and garnish with toasted nuts and blue cheese. Add salt and pepper if desired, but taste first as watercress tends to be naturally peppery, and the blue cheese may provide all the salt necessary.

Then some cheeses and fruits.

Dessert: Of course Paschka! It is VERY HEAVY - so just a little bit is very satisfying.

Coffee and maybe some easter candy, if anyone has any room left LOL Maybe you could make some cute petit fours?

Eat like an Egyptian with Isis

In the beginning of the year Isis is being celebrated. Isis is one of the best known Goddesses. She is the main Egyptian Goddess, who was worshipped all over the Roman empire, and who is the main model of Virgin Mary mother of Jesus. Isis is a foremost symbol of motherhood, wifehood and sisterhood, and thus she is the Goddess of Women. Some women don't like the submissive trait in Isis, and choose to worship another face of Goddess. But there is a lot more about Isis people would need to know and find out...

"Isis rules life, magic, fate, civilization, spells, motherhood, maternal love, Nature, Egypt (especially the Nile Delta and the city of Alexandria), growth, decline, decay, regeneration, spirituality, laws, wind, rivers, sleep, dreams, serpents, daytime, moisture, storms, thunder, lightning, secrets, initiation, agriculture, orchards, cycles, war, peace, necessity, navigation, seaports, anchors, sea breezes, the sea, the heavens, outer space, stars (especially the northern constellations), material reality, solid form, the year, conjugal love, household arts, writing implements, medical schools, the Mysteries, and human affairs. She also rules mooring poles, travel by sea, Words of Power, breeze from the North, the breath of life, the crashing of waves, the sprouting of seeds, the unfurling of leaves, the opening of flowers, the waning and waxing of the Moon, the ebb and flow of tides, the cresting and flooding of rivers, and the entire Universe. Isis is the matron of widows, single mothers, and travelers."

I am very interested in ancient cooking, so Isis is going to serve an ancient Egyptian dinner to her servants.
The poor people usually ate bread, beans, garlic and beer, but Egypt was a center of culture already when Isis was openly worshipped there. There were fruits, oil and wine from all around the world - people even suspect that there was a trade route to South America, because they have found traces of cocaine in some mummies... and cocaine exists only in South America. There was a great variety of meats, cattle, mutton, camel, birds of all kinds (not chicken, though...) and a lot of fish. Even pigs were eaten at Nile delta. Milk products were also present. As Egypt was the center of wheat farming area, the baking skills were very high, and all kinds of breads and cakes were served.

Ancient Egyptian recipes
Modern Egyptian recipes

Ancient Egyptian date candy

And here's Nancy's Egyptian Resources, for more recipes, but mainly for entertainment for Isis' dinner - among other things; how to pronounce ancient Egyptian...

Japanese meal with Benten

Benten - a Hindu Goddess who invaded Japan

Benten, Benzaiten or Bensaitensama is the best known Japanese Goddess - she is even more popular as Amaterasu. She is actually Sarasvati who moved to Japan with Buddhism and was recognized as the Shinto Goddess Itsukushima Hime.

Benten is a dragon Goddess who is remembered at New Year. She is a water goddess - Sarasvati was originally mother of all rivers, but there are not so many rivers in Japan, and by emerging with Itsukushima Hime (Ichikishima-Hime) Benten become a sea Goddess. Ocean is the Mother of all things, the Universal Womb, and so is Benten. As such She is also the Goddess of all creation, and especially arts and crafts. In Japan technology is seen as a craft and all science is brought forth from arts. So Benten is also the Goddess of technology and science. Just like Sarasvati.

Benten is often seen as the creative force of Nature - shakti, as it's called in Hinduism - and this forms an idea of that the Pantheistic nature of Shinto makes it actually a Goddess religion. It has quite a lot in common with general Neo-Paganism... no holy scriptures, no absolutes, free individual moral code, Divine Couple, pantheism... there's even a "cast" of "high priestesses", mikos. "Shinto emphasizes right practice, sensibility, and attitude."
About Shinto at ReligiousTolerance.org

Then the food:
I am not very fond of Japanese food. My husband on the other hand is.

Japanese New Year's Food - osechi-ryori
A Japanese Cuisine Dinner Club Menu
Traditional Japanese Food Recipes
Japanese food by Setsuko Yoshizuka
A typical Japanese home meal - Ichiyu Sansai - soup and three

Peacock with Jana

Jana - the Goddess of the New Year

I am very fond of food blogs. I love cookbooks and books about and with cooking, and I love writing too - and then I'm a Pagan too, who loves myths and legends - and Goddess. I think this is a great opportunity to combine it all.

Jana was an ancient Roman moon Goddess. She is the "foremother" of both Juno and Diana - these two better known Roman Goddesses were born with dividing Jana into two, and adding Hera to one part and Artemis to the other.

Jana had two faces, just like her husband Janus - and she could see everything. Her animal was the peacock, with hundreds of eyes in its tail. Jana, as the moon Goddess, used also moon as her eyes, and all the reflecting surfaces, water, shining metal - mirrors. Mirrors are sacred to Jana. At New Year people did a lot of mirror magic, and the most popular entertainment at the change of year was scrying. Jana, the Goddess who sees all, was the Goddess of divination as well, and scrying from water and mirrors are her gift of vision to those who honor her.

Jana's food:

Cooking peafowl
It is interesting how the mere idea feels uneasy... I understand that a peacock is just a bird, not much different from a chicken, duck, pheasant or any other fowl - but I suppose the beauty is meant to be alive... At the medieval times, peacocks were often served with the skin put back on the roasted bird. (Here's a medieval recipe and a modern variant)

Flannery O'Connor's Peacock Chili

Recipes with Moon
It is interesting how much the moon inspires people...

Moon Cake

New Moon Pudding

Full Moon pudding

Moon pudding

Eggless Peacock Green China Grass Delight
This is a very fascinating Indian milk pudding spiced with cardamon