Countdown to Beltane, Day 1

Today is April Fools' Day. It's 30 days to Beltane, the feast of feasts and song and dance and merrymaking and lovemaking...

I am going to post a similar countdown to Beltane as I posted to Ostara, and the same goes as for Ostara countdown; if you leave comments, I'll link to your blog, or if you leave links to an interesting page, I'll link to that.

I appreciate comments, it would be enough to just say ":-)" or "thanks for posting this", if you find it hard to express your thoughts. Just give me a little word to remind me I'm not alone. :-)

I was reminded of the difficulty of reading heavy posts, so I will be sharing the information into three:
in this blog will be all the recipes and meny suggestions,
in Homes4Her will be information relevant to household, living and general holiday information and
in Need More Fiber will be all crafts, daily ornament and such.

Goddess of today is the Trickster Goddess; Loki's mother Laufey, Eris-Discordia, Apate-Fraus, Furrina and Laverna

The trickster God is one of the most misunderstood deities in the world. She is not evil. She is there to remind us of that nothing is fair, we are still animals and everything changes all the time. The world seeks from order to chaos and back again, like a pendulum. She is there to remind us not to take ourselves too seriously. "I'm full of it and know nothing. Dude." Compared to it all, just such a tiny bit of it all as the starry night sky, we are pretty small and insignificant... and yet - the center of the universe ;-)

Eris is considered to be an evil Goddess, interested in creating arguments, quarrels and fights. But... if you think about it... she didn't MAKE people to fight. That is what they CHOSE to do to "solve" the problem they were presented.
"To the most beautiful" stood on the apple she threw among the wedding guests. Naturally the Goddesses were the most beautiful, and they all were equally beautiful, but would they agree on that and let the apple lie?
Would they let it lie because they KNEW it was one of Eris' apples?
Did they agree to give it to the bride of the wedding, Thetis, who was not that much uglier than the Goddesses... and we all know the bride is the most beautiful woman in her own wedding, what ever she looks.
No. They chose to fight over it.

Eris is the Greek Goddess of Strife, Contention, Discord and Rivalry and a Goddess of War.
She is generally understood to be the same Goddess as Enyo (Warsome), who is associated with Bellona and Anatolian Ma (Hebat/Hipta/Kubaba/Kupala/Cybele).

Apate-Fraus, the Goddess of deceit, guile, fraud and lies... interestingly her male counterparts are listed as "cunning wizard God of trickery and disguise" :-Z

Apate and Eris are daughters of Night and Darkness.
(Other children of Night are Sun, Moon and Stars, Dawn, Dusk and Day, Air and Sky,
Doom, Violent Death, Nightmares, Blame, Misery, Faith, Revenge and Avengers and Insolent Pride,
Old Age and Hard Work,
Peaceful Death, Sleep and Dreams,
Moderation, Prudence, Love and Affection.
Pretty basic...)

Laverna is Goddess of Thieves and Furrina... not much is known of this Etruscan Goddess, as the Romans accepted and honored the deities of the conquered people, but didn't know much of them, but one can assume she too was Goddess of Thieves and other nightly activity, and the Goddess of Underworld. I think she might have been the Etruscan Night Mother (Nyx).

Patricia Telesco gives Laufey as the Goddess of April 1st and says

"Spring's upbeat theme continues into April, offsetting the rains with laughter.  It it's been a while since you really chuckled, consider renting a good comedy movie.  As you watch it, light a candle and ask Laufey to join you!"

Here's some information of the positive influence of laughter.
I love Marx brothers' movies and Aristocats. I still laugh when I watch it :-D Part of it is that I'm laughing at myself for laughing :-) It gets me all the time :-)

What's for dinner?
The Fool's Dinner, of course! Serve the desserts first and savoury course last, looking like each other. You could serve "chicken nuggets with peas and carrots and mash" and have a wonderful cake as "dessert". Here some other "switched" recipes and here some ideas for you to try.

You can also eat fish for the April Fish, or eat what ever you want, to honor The Fool and Trickster Goddesses.

Some side dishes for Yule :-)

Richard Corrigan's Mustard Fruits (Chutney)

250 ml water
400 ml sugar
dash vinegar 100ml
piece of cinnamon
3-4 cloves
peel of one lemon
dried cranberries
50 g dry mustard powder
200 ml mixed peel
400 g dried fruits in small pieces; figs, dates, apricots, pears...

mix all the ingredients in a pot and cook 10 minutes with the lid on.
Spoon the mixture into sterilised jars and seal while hot. Invert the jars until cool. Store in a cool dry place.
Serve Mustard Fruits with ham or cold meats. Refrigerate after opening.

Moroccan orange salad

Peel the oranges. Be careful to get out all the white. Slice the oranges and arrange beautifully on a plate.
Take a pommegranate, cut it half and pound all the seeds on top of the oranges
Sprinkle on some mint or flat-leafed parsley (or arugula) and onion rings, if you like onion.
Make a nice dressing of one part of olive oil, one part of vinegar, orange juice and orange blossom water, and a little sugar, salt and pepper, and sprinkle over the fruits. Dust with a little ground cinnamon.

Waldorf salad is excellent at Yule :-)

Mix some grated horseradish in applesauce :-) Wonderful to ham and roasted bird

Danish red cabbage - also wonderful to pork and poultry

Swedish browned cabbage

Don't only roast potatoes for Yule dinner - roast all kinds of roots, like sweet potato, turnips, rutabagas, swedes, carrots, celery, parsnip, beetroot, even pumpkin and squash goes well :-)
Just peel and cut the vegetables in good chunks, perfect for a mouthful, rub them with oil, salt, a little sugar and herbs, like rosemary and thyme, and roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes, then turn them and roast 15-20 minutes more. Absolutely wonderful :-)

Finnish carrot casserole (kugel)
It's slightly sweet, and in my mind goes wonderfully with meatballs and sausage, but it's too sweet to some people.
Rutabaga casserole
this is the best with pork :-)
Sweet potato casserole
(not sweet potato casserole, but potato casserole that's slightly sweet)
Beetroot casserole

Rosolli - mixed vegetable salad



What to eat with this?

Of course you could eat turkey, duck or goose for Yule, but you should be eating pork. Now, of course the pork should be from a "happy pig". Go and see your Yule ham while it's still alive and see it has a good life.

Delia Smith's Roast Collar of Bacon with Blackened Crackling


Jamie Oliver's Jerk Ham


Nigella Lawson's Coca Cola Ham

Gelatinas

This has nothing to do with Goddess and menues. Just desserts I find extremely fascinating.

Where I come from, people don't use much jellies or gelatines.
(Jello is a label and gelatin is pure gelatin, the name of the dessert is with -e; gelatine. Not that it much matters, people use all these words.)
That stuff is almost exclusively used as a thin layer on top of cream cakes or to give shine to fruits. Some amount is used to make puddings, like fridge cheese cake or bavarois and such. In the Latin world this thing is very popular, and so they have invented 100 and 1 different ways to serve and decorate this simple dessert.

If you tilt the serving dish, you get nice patterns :-)

Don't stop with two or three layers... :-D

If you take a special form and fill the cavities with different color jellos, you get nice, almost painted jellos :-)

You can also make different shapes of jellos and bed in clear jello or bavarois

Or cut holes in bavarois and fill with clear fruit jellos, and get nice decoration and taste :-)

Here the "cut holes and fill with jello" is taken to a whole another dimension:
The pistils are made with syringe and the leaves with different items, like spoons and knives and filled with syringe.
here's a video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79vhYblqqQk
and I recommend you watch the other videos associated with it :-D
You'll get the idea of how to make petals and leaves
with just a syringe with straight or bent needle.


Not all of this looks nice, but it has a lot of potential...
And think of making a jello layer like this on top of a cake. ;-)

Basic gelatine recipe

Interesing jellies

Vegan gelatin - as gelatin is meat product

Gelatin Tips and Hints

• Use 1 tablespoon or 1/4 ounce unflavored gelatin to 2 cups of water for standard firmness. Decrease or increase water for your particular needs.

• One tablespoon of unflavored powdered gelatin equals 4 sheets of leaf gelatin.

• Other liquids can be used in place of water to prepare gelatin, including juice, wine and cordial.

• Pineapple, raw figs, kiwifruit, guava, ginger root, and papaya contain an enzyme called bromelain which breaks down gelatin causing it to lose its thickening properties. The enzymes are deactivated by cooking, so canned fruits are fine to use.

• Too much sugar can inhibit gelatinization. The more sugar in the recipe, the softer the resultant gelatin will be.

• When using sugar with unflavored gelatin, mix the sugar and gelatin first before dissolving.

• Be sure to drain all solids of their liquid before adding to gelatin to avoid watering down the gelatin.

• For 2 cups of gelatin mixture, allow 1 to 2 cups of solids, either minced, cubed, or cut into small pieces.

• To suspend fruits, meats, or vegetables in gelatin, chill until it is the consistency of cold egg whites. Then mix in the additions and chill until completely set.

• To avoid clumping, dry unflavored gelatin should be mixed with a little cold water first for 3 to 5 minutes to moisten and separate before adding hot water.

• If you are doubling a recipe originally calling for 2 cups of liquid, use only 3-3/4 cups of liquid in the doubled recipe.

• To easily unmold gelatin, spray the mold with cooking oil before filling. If you want to avoid an oily film which might cloud the surface by using oil spray, simply rinse the mold with cold water prior to filling. Or dip the mold into warm (not hot) water to the depth of the gelatin for 5 to 10 seconds, loosen edges with a knife or spatula, and unmold. Return to the refrigerator for 20 minutes to refirm.

• To easily center a mold on a plate, rinse the plate with cold water before unmolding the gelatin.

• Two hours of chilling should be enough for standard clear molds, while it may take up to 4 hours for those with additions. Layered gelatins will take longer, since each layer must be individually chilled and firmed before adding the next layer.

• Gelatin takes twice as long to dissolve when used with cream or milk.

• Firmness varies on the ratio of water to gelatin and temperature. You can successfully melt down (gently using a double-boiler) and re-chill gelatin several times before the mixture loses its thickening ability.

• Do not bring gelatin mixtures to a full boil or you risk losing its thickening properties.

• Keep gelatin dishes refrigerated until ready to serve to maintain their gelatinous state.

• Store gelatin desserts in a covered container to avoid the formation of a thick rubbery skin on the surface.

• Unprepared gelatin has an indefinite shelf-life as long as it is wrapped airtight and stored in a cool, dry place.

P.S. Marshmallows are made with gelatin :-) Here's a vegan marshmallow recipe.

Ashna and kasha knishes :-D

“Lady of Abundance”

Ezina, Eshana, Ashnan - beloved, abundance
is a Sumerian grain Goddess.
"The growing grain, the life of Sumer", "the good bread of the whole world".
He sister Lakhar is the sheep goddess.

She is also the supporter of treaties and laws by withholding abundance from anyone breaking them.



Now when the harvest season for grain gets closer and we are about to celebrate the first harvest, let's look a bit closer at cereals.

* "old world grains", that used to be called "corn" (Goddess of corn isn't necessarily the same thing as Goddess of Maize), especially barley, but also wheat and rye, sometimes even oat.

#1, #2 and #3 - Wheat, corn and rice are the most used grains in the whole world. It varies which one is on top, they are all VERY popular.
#4 is barley, thanks to beer and other alcoholic beverages. Barley is also used as animal food, because it is very easy to grow and very tolerant; it doesn't much care about lack of water, cold or heat.#5 and #6 are sorghum and millet. Many believe them to be the same, but they are not. Millet is one of the oldest grains in the world, and it sustains 1/3 of world population.
# 7 is oats, very much thanks to horses
# 8 is rye, which is very important in Northern Europe. We Finns couldn't live without our rye bread, and as far as I know the Danes and Russians have the same relation to theirs :-D Rye is nutritionally very important. Bread that is made of rye, even refined rye, keeps the eater satisfied longer than wholemeal wheat.
# 9 is Triticale - hybrid of wheat and rye, with similar qualities as rye.
# 10 is fonio, an African grain family
# 11 is teff, another African, mainly Ethiopian grain. Teff is amazing nutritionally and could easily grow everywhere in the world.
# 12 is buckqheat, which is not really a cereal.
# 13 is quinoa, which isn't really a cereal either, but has the same qualities cooking wise :-)

Then there are other grains, that might be interesting to mention:
* wild rice, the wild cousin of white rice
* amaranth, quinoa's and buckwheat's cousin
* kañiwa, quinoa's brother
* spelt, wheat's grandmother
* einkorn - single grain wheat
* emmer - one of the first grains of humankind
* durum - tetraploid wheat (it has four sets of chromosomes instead of the normal two)
* kamut - I love the story of this ancient pre-wheat :-)
* adlay, coix, "Chinese pearl barley", "Job's tears" - a maize relative from Asia. (Funnily enough, they make sort of "coix milk" which they call "Job's tear tea" :-D Reminds me of an old Finnish fairytale of bird milk :-D)

* chia isn't really a grain, it's seeds of a American salvia. It's nevertheless very nutritious, oily and very good food.
* flax seeds are another non-grain food that can be used as grain.

Versagrain is a really good site with all the information one can need

So - everybody loves k'nishes :-)

Kasha knishes

Dough:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons ice water
2 eggs; lightly beaten

Filling:
1 egg; lightly beaten
1 cup kasha; whole roasted
1½ cup chicken broth
1 large onion; small dice
5 tablespoons schmaltz
salt & pepper; to taste
3 eggs; lightly beaten

(Kasha is buckwheat groats, schmaltz is chicken fat)

DOUGH FILLING SOURCE: "Love and Knishes" by Sara Kasden 1956

PREHEAT OVEN TO 400 degrees F.
Place the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; mix well. Make a well in the center and add the oil, ice water, and eggs. Mix with a spoon, incorporating the wet and dry ingredients to make a smooth dough. Turn out onto a board and knead for 2 minutes. Place the dough in a bowl, cover with a damp towel and let stand at room temp. for 30 minutes.
On a lightly floured surface, divide the dough into 4 balls. Slightly flatten each ball to make a disc shape. Divide each disc into 4 equal balls. Cover with a damp towel and let sit at room temp. for 10 to 15 minutes.
Roll each ball out into a circle about 3 1/2 inches in diam. Cover the dough circles with a damp towel until ready to fill.

In a bowl combine 1 beaten egg and the kasha, stirring to coat each grain with the egg. Heat a large non-stick saute pan over high heat. When the pan is hot, add the grain and cook, stirring constantly, over moderate heat for 4 to 5 minutes, or until the kasha kernels are separate and smell nutty. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook, covered, for about 20-25 min. or until liquid has evaporated and the grains are tender but chewy. Cool at room temp.
Meanwhile, saute the onion in the chicken fat over high heat for 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until soft.
Add to the kasha and season with salt and pepper. Add the 3 eggs and mix well.

Place 2 rounded T. filling in center of each circle. Pull the edges up around filling, completely enclosing it and pinching the dough to form a tight package. Turn the packages over, place seam side down on a lightly greased baking sheet, and brush the surface with an egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 T. water).
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until light golden brown. Serve hot.

SERVES: 8
Kasha and mushroom filling

1 cup onions, diced
1 tablespoon safflower oil
3 cups mushrooms, coarsely chopped
½ cup liquid egg substitute
1 cup Kasha
2 cups vegetable broth
salt & pepper

Saute onions in oil in a large skillet until lightly browned. Add mushrooms & cook until mushrooms are lightly browned. Set aside.
Place egg substitute in a bowl & toss the kasha in it. Place tossed kasha in a large skillet with a tightly fitting cover. Over high heat, flatten, stir & chop the kasha with a fork until the grains separate. Remove from heat.
Bring broth to a boil. Slowly pour broth over the kasha, cover skillet, & cook over low heat until the liquid is all absorbed, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
Stir in onion-mushroom mixture, salt & pepper. Cool to room temperature

from "Vegetarian Gourmet" Issue #11

White bean, chard and emmer soup
about farro/emmer...

To dessert I suggest Carnelians of Babylon

Mix 8 ounces of cream cheese so that it's soft. Mix in 4 ounces of finely ground cashews, 2 ounces of raisins, 4 tablespoons of white wine (or lemon juice, or rose water), zest of a lemon and 1/2 cup of powdered sugar.
Sandwich about a tablespoon of this cheese mixture between two dried apricots. It should be enough for about 32 apricots :-)
Sprinkle more powdered sugar on top, if you like.

You can also use almond and cranberry ricotta :-D

This is emmer :-)
Yes... it really HAS that color. Only the hull, though ;-)

Ancient Grains from A to Z: 26 Things to Know
18 Grains and How to Cook Them
Grains of ancient truths

Ceres and porridge

Ceres is a Roman goddess of agriculture, grain crops, fertility and motherly relationships. Her name means "bread" or "grain". The Romans melted most of the Greek Demeter (Earth Mother) cults and traditions with their Ceres.

Ceres is depicted usually with a grain (corn in the meaning "old world grain"; barley, wheat, rye)

Ceres husband is Liber (the Free One), associated with husbandry and crops, and they have a daughter, Libera. (Sometimes the name is used of Ceres.)
As Ceres' daughter, Libera was also called Proserpina. Not "first snake" but from "proserpere - to emerge".
This triad of deities is essential for agriculture and also bound to other cycles of life and death.

Libera is not considered to be the same Goddess as Libertas, though I can easily think they are the same. Libera Proserpina was celebrated in the middle of March... The jump to Lady's Day; Spring Equinox; Easter/Ostara; Pesach, isn't long, and what is Easter anything but the festival of freedom and liberty?
The Pagans welcome Libera Proserpina back from her "incarceration" with Pluto, underground, and bring offerings of grain and spring flowers to Her and Her Mother. The seed has been sleeping in Her grave and now bursts out from Her dark jail, to grow and bring life to Her subjects.

One could also get "all metaphysical" here and think about our life, our incarnation, as a period of freedom in our spiritual life. When we are dead, we are like angels, without free will. Depending on the culture, we might just sleep, or be tortured, or just wander around as willess spirits, shadows, ghosts, or perhaps we are in heaven praising God in eternal glory or merge into the Great Spirit and become one with it. I cannot remember any spiritual belief system where "life after death" means you continue "living" as you did in life, making your own choices, having goals, experiencing things, participating in life just as you did before. I suppose zombies get close, but zombies are considered being dead and not doing this "life-thing" of their own free will and choice. Also, in some reincarnational beliefs "life after death" is seen as some sort of preparing period, where you can "catch up" with what you didn't do in you "real life".
This is just a thought I got right now, so this thesis is not researched or considered at all :-D I would be interested in your thoughts, though :-)

I was checking out my "commitment" - I haven't been baking much anything the whole year, except some Danish Rye.

The "Bread Baking Babes" have been baking things. Among others Austrian Strietzel. That is not the same thing as Streusel, even though they sound very similar. Streusel is one of my favorites, how ever you make it :-D It means basically "baked goods with crumble topping".

Here's a "killer blueberry pie" - because it is blueberry season here in Sweden :-)
and here's blueberry crumble cake, made with strawberries (and I would use forest strawberries, because there's an ocean of them in the forest around here too... they are a bit overdone now, and would suit well to crumbles.)

These are absolutely perfect recipes for Lammas, that's in only two weeks from now, and suit well to be frozen, if you make a lot. It's not the best season to bake, though, as it's so darn HOT! But, dog days. Summer King has lost and is angry, so he makes everyone suffer.

As food, I suggest grits, polenta, farina - corn porridge in different shapes :-) It is really nice during the hot days, and eaten a lot in Southern Europe and Southern USA and Mexico.

Sofkee, Safki, "Indian Pudding", corn pudding, maize pudding
(you can also make this by leaving out the "sweet stuff", and have savory pudding. Or boil a coffee pot of water and mix in roughly ground corn - about the same amount as coffee - let it boil a little more, and then pour the "soup" in a cup - that's a bit different kind of sofkee. Here's a couple more safki recipes. It's really wonderful camp fire cooking :-))

Here's creamy polenta, that you can serve with osso buco, short ribs or oxtail stew. All these can be made overnight, when the electricity is cheap and the heat not so horrible :-) Also, stews can be easily taken with to potlucks and camping :-)

Here's pan fried farina. (if you leave out cheese, mustard and eggs, you have farina porridge)

Moroccan Farina (bread)

about grits :-)
(the Swedish word 'gryta' means a stew or a pot where the stew is made in.)

shrimp and grits - breakfast for dinner Now, shrimps might not be a good idea during the dog days, but if you are sure of the condition of your shrimps and like them, why not :-)
Here's sort of the same recipe, but upped ;-) creamy corn custard and deviled shrimps
You can use grits - or corn custard - for any meat.

Chili dusted pork chops with strawberries and grits
bigfoot barley wine braised pork belly with chevre grits
baked sausage and creamy white cheddar grits
chicken roasted in a pot

Here "spicy, cheesy grits" and "grits and quinoa with spicy pink beens" for vegetarians, and "vegan grits with greens", "tempeh bacon grits" and "tomato and grits" for vegans

* all about porridge

Happy Ostara :-)

When I was young, there was a restaurant chain in Finland called Rosso. They still exist, BTW, but the food I ADORED they have no more :-( It was called "Pasta Americana" - "kana" is chicken in Finland. 

I married a Danish Chef :-) He made an effort to recreate the dish and I think he managed quite well :-) 

Tagliatelle for 4 people 

Blue Cheese, 150 gr strong Gorgonzola type (not sheep/goat) + 150 gr medium Bavaria type 

2-4 pieces of chicken breast - 400-800 grams - diced (thumbnail size), sauteéd. 

200-400 gr of canned pineapple rings in juice, chopped 

3-5 dl whole cream 

half the juice from the pineapple. 

fry chopped chicken, season with salt and coarse ground black pepper 

chop pineapple 

sautee in a generous knob of butter in a wide pan/pot 

add cream and pineapple juice

crumble the cheese in and let it melt 

take off the heat when the cheese has melted.

mix chicken into the sauce

serve with the pasta you cooked.

White Lady

White Lady, White Goddess, Weiße Frau (not Weibe Frau - the ß is German double-s, not b) is the European Goddess of death, winter and bones.

Make White Chili to celebrate her cruel beauty.
Enjoy it with milk and white bread.
Rice pudding to dessert.

Baking babes with Babes

Mrs and Mr Babe :-) Yes, "anatomically correct" - as much as bun babes can be :-D If you find this offensive, I apologize.

I am joining the bread baking babes, even though this is not bread, I think, but buns. Big buns, but nevertheless, buns. To me bread is something you make sandwiches of, with savory toppings, or eat with your food. Savory. Sweet things are buns. :-)

The challenge for this October was Tanta Wawa - bread babies. The Kitchen of the Month is Canela and Comino, a blog about the flavors of Peru, so naturally the bread recipe would also be Peruan.

The Bread Baking Babes were mostly complaining about the dough being dry - mine wasn't.
They also complained about it not rising, and I have to say that was also my problem. I didn't have the patience to bake the breads tomorrow, I allowed them to rise only for about an hour, and you see the results - both have stretch marks - the obvious sign of that the dough hasn't have time to rise enough.

I made the bread according to the original recipe, except that I divided the amounts in 4 - I made only 2 breads.

Tanta Wawa (Peruvian Bread Babies)
Makes 8

125g of whole wheat flour
1/2 kilo of bread flour
170g of sugar
25g of fresh yeast (we used 38 g instant yeast)
6g of salt
6g of ground cinnamon
1g of ground cloves
6g of sesame seeds
-----
30g of shortening
30g of butter
1 egg at room temp
1/2 dl of milk
3/4 dl of water
1/8 teaspoon of vanilla
----
1 egg yolk (for painting)

In a bowl, mix the flours, sugar, yeast, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and sesame seeds. Make a well in the center and add in the shortening, eggs, butter, milk, water and vanilla. Mix well then turn out and knead for 10-15 minutes. (Add extra water as necessary to moisten all the dry bits.) Cover and let the dough rest for 20 minutes.
Divide dough in two. Form them into ovals the size of your hand. Cover and let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
Stretch each dough ball and shape as desired. Place them on baking sheets which have been greased and floured. Cover with plastic and let the dough babies grow to three times their size. (I left mine for 3 hours)
Preheat the oven to 180C, Brush the egg yolks over the dough babies. Bake at 180C for 30 minutes, till an instant read thermometer reads 190 deg.

Also, I didn't have 170 grams of sugar. So I took all the sugar I had (about 70 grams), all the brown sugar I had (about 70 grams) and filled with molasses.
I didn't have any sesame seeds, nor candy to decorate with.

I weighed in all the stuff, and started putting it together - then I run to some problems...
- you add the fresh yeast to the dry ingredients... I think if I'd try this again, I would do as my sensibility says, and add it to warmed up water-milk mixture.
- I had syrup too in the dry ingredients...
- the butter and shortening are to be added with the wet ingredients... but it isn't said anywhere whether they should be melted. I have learned that you ALWAYS put in the hard fat un-melted, it will aid in the rising. Also, I didn't have any shortening. I used all butter.

So I crumbled the syrup and yeast into the flours, and kneaded in the butter last. The dough was dry at first, but I have been trying to learn to make hand-pulled noodles, and that dough is pretty dry/hard too, so I just kneaded and kneaded, and the dough worked out fine.
I think it didn't rise well, because it was very hard, but looking at the "real stuff" T'anta Wawas they are very hard and dry too. It's more like the bakery picture bread dough, or salt dough, except that this dough is good to eat. :-D

(Yes, I broke the missis' leg immediately after taking the photo, and ate with butter... :-))

Samhain week - Baba Yaga

This picture is by Ivan Bilibin, a wonderful Russian Art Nouveau illustrator.
<----

First, to me Baba Yaga ("Granny Bones") was not a Goddess, but just a witch from an old Russian fairytale, riding in her house on chicken feet. But then I read some articles, and was reminded of the sad fact, that most of the witches, female monsters and saints are modeled after a Goddess.

Read this interesting and long article on Baba Yaga

Love the Goddess "papers" of the Order of the White Moon
Here's their Baba Yaga

""Come, fetch and put on the table at once everything that is in the oven. I am hungry." So Vasilissa ran and lighted a splinter of wood from one of the skulls on the wall and took the food from the oven and set it before her. There was enough cooked meat for three strong men. She brought also from the cellar kvass, honey, and red wine, and the Baba Yaga ate and drank the whole, leaving the girl only a little cabbage soup, a crust of bread and a morsel of suckling pig."
from Sur la lune fairytales

So - for a Baba Yaga dinner: cabbage soup, cooked meat, crusty bread, kvass, honey and red wine.

How to make kvass
Finnish sima (mead)
Finnish kotikalja (home ale)
Several recipes for ginger beer
brewing root beer

Russian black sourdough rye bread

"Russian" cabbage soup with tomatoes
"Full Schi" - REAL Russian cabbage soup (no tomatoes)

Russian stuffed suckling pig
You can really use any meat recipes you like, for example brisket, but pork would be the best choice. It goes well with the dark bread and cabbage soup :-)

As dessert, I suggest Charlotte Russe (of raspberry jam swiss rolls, not with ladyfingers) or Aeblekage (it should be black rye bread crumbs, not just any old bread crumbs! If you add a couple of gingerbread, it won't be bad.)

How to make Charlotte Russe with swiss rolls:

Hathor's Moon Feast

Hathor, the ancient Egyptian Cow Goddess, is a very suitable Goddess for today, as it is also the world intersex awareness day. Hathor had both male and female priests, when usually the Egyptian Deities had priests of the same sex as he/she was.
Hathor was the dance incarnated, the Mother of the Universe and Mother of Inspiration.

Today I would like you to eat milk based food and moon inspired food. The Chinese festival of moon happened only three weeks ago.

Start the day with a nice breakfast:

Make lemon curd and butter for breakfast and eat your toast round :-D
(An easy way to make fruit butter is to soften the butter and mix it with equal amount of any jam or marmalade :-))
Wash it down with pure milk, or a cup of warm milk into which you have poured a little of strong coffee, tea or cocoa :-)

Eat some milky comfort food for dinner - Hathor is the Mother ;-)

Make your macaroni-and-cheese in a round pan :-) It will look a bit like full moon, and the dish is very much Hathor-food :-D Milk, moon and comfort food all in one pan :-)

Basic Bechamel (white) sauce with variations
We use to boil potatoes and eggs, make bechamel, chop the boiled eggs in the sauce and eat on boiled potatoes... that's comfort food too! :-)

Make Clam Chowder and eat with small moon shaped crackers - or cow shaped ;-)

Indian Milk Stew or Butter Milk Stew for vegetarians

Later you can have some friends over and have

Chinese Mooncakes

Faye's Mooncake

Three layer White Moon Cake

Over-the-moon Banana Pudding

Vanilla Full Moon Crater Cookies

Moon Rocks

Jack-o-lantern moon pies (Halloween is soon too...)

A long list of custard, pudding, creme brulee etc. recipes, very suitable for this day :-)
Here's another list of custard and cream pie recipes :-D

Amish Half Moon Pie - apple pie pocket

You can drink with them Masala Milk or Butterbeer (recipes #5-8 from this list ;-))

You could also
Have a cheese tasting party :-)

You can end the evening by citing poems to the moon with a cup of chai :-D

The next night, note your dreams :-D

I joined the daring bakers...

Really scary! I am not good at keeping dates and commitments *blush*
But I am really, really interested by Daring Bakers! I am also interested in Bread Baking Babes and Sugar High Fridays, but I'm a bit uncertain of how to do that...

To add a bit of Goddess to this entry: here's A Goddess In Every Day - about listening to Goddess' voice in your life.

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 :-)