Sacher cake

This is the ORIGINAL Sacher torte as sold at Hotel Sacher.
The cake is pretty dense and dry, it's layered and the cover is hard: it's not ganache. It's actually made by making simple sugar syrup and melting the chocolate in the syrup.
The cake is made without any rising agents, except the egg whites. This Mary Berry gets right.
The apricot preserve is to be warmed, sieved and have a little dark rum added. It works to preserve the cake.
A Sacher can be preserved for two weeks after finishing, because of the apricots and chocolate cover.

The Demel Sacher is baked according to the recipe of the original creator, and it isn't layered.

Mary Berry's Sacher is not a Sacher.
Delia Smith's Sacher is absolutely not a Sacher!

Sacher Cake (Sachertorte)
Viennese Cooking, O. & A. Hess, adapted for American use [Crown Publishing:New York] 1952 (p. 229)

This is the original recipe, obtained through the courtesy of Mrs. Anna Sacher.
 
3/4 cup butter
6 1/2 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
3/4 cup sugar
8 egg yolks
1 cup flour
10 egg whites, stiffly beaten

2 tbls. apricot jam

icing:
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
7 oz. semi-sweet chocolate

Beat butter until creamy. Melt chocolate. Add sugar and chocolate to butter; stir. Add egg yolks one at a time. Add flour. Fold in egg whites.
Grease and butter 8-9" cake tin. Pour mixture in.
Bake in 275 degree F. oven about 1 hour. Test with toothpick or straw.
Remove to board; cool.

Cut top off and turn bottom up.
Heat apricot jam slightly and spread over top.

Cover with chocolate icing, prepared as follows:
Cook sugar and water to thin thread.
Melt chocolate in top of double boiler.
Add sugar gradually to chocolate.
Stir constantly until icing coats the spoon.
Pour on top of cake

Note: If desired, split cake into 2 or 3 layers. Fill with apricot jam or whipped cream.

Indian and Rye bread from Victorian times

1 tablespoon is 3 teaspoons
1 fluid ounce is 2 tablespoons
1 gill is 4 fluid ounces; 8 tablespoons or 1/2 cup
1 cup is 2 gills or 16 tablespoons
1 pint is 2 cups
1 quart is 2 pints
1 gallon is 4 quarts





The American Pictorial Home Book or Housekeeper's Encyclopedia, by Mrs. Harriet Almaria Baker Suddoth (1883) (pp. 215-216)

INDIAN AND RYE BREAD.

Indian Rye Bread.
—Four pints of corn meal, 4 pints of rye flour, 1 1-2 pints of milk or water, 1-2 tablespoonful of salt, 1 cup of good, fresh yeast.

After sifting the rye flour and meal together add the salt and pour the milk scalding hot on the mixture and stir it very hard until all are well-mixed. If the dough is too stiff, add some warm water, let it stand until it becomes milk-warm, then stir in the yeast. Knead the compound into a stiff dough for 30 minutes, then cover the pan with a thick cloth folded several times, that has been warmed; and set it in a warm place or before the fire to rise; when the dough is quite light and cracked on the top, take it out of the pan and put it on a tray and knead it again for 10 or 15 minutes, divide it into 2 loaves, then set it near the fire cover it, let it remain for 30 minutes. Having the oven ready, put in the loaves immedi­ately and bake 1 1-2 hours. If the dough is sour, sweeten it by adding 1 teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a little hot water.

Indian Wheat Bread can be made in the same manner by using wheat flour instead of rye. A little Indian meal is a great improve­ment to homemade bread, as it keeps it moist and sweet.

Boston Rye and Indian Bread.
—Eight cups each of corn meal and rye flour, 2 cups of good, strong yeast, 1 cup of molasses, 1 dessert spoonful of salt.
After sifting, mix the meal and rye flour with the salt in a large wooden bowl or tray; have ready 1 cup of warm, but not too hot water; mix the molasses and stir in the yeast. Make a hole in the center of the meal, then with a spoon stir in all the flour that surrounds the hole till it forms a thick batter; put the compound in a pan and sprinkle the top with rye meal; place a thick cloth over the pan and set it in a warm place to rise. In 3 or 4 four hours it will be cracked all over the top ; in this case it is light enough ; then open the middle and gradually pour in two cups of warm water; as you pour in, work it till the whole is so mixed as to become a round mass of dough. Then flour hands and work it for 30 minutes until the dough ceases to stick to your hands ; turn it over, then sprinkle it again with rye flour, and again set it in a warm place to rise. Have your oven at a proper heat, so that the bread may be put in as soon as it rises the second time. When light the dough will stand high and the surface cracked all over.
This will do for a medium loaf. Put it directly in the oven and bake it for nearly or quite two hours. The bread will fall if not baked immediately. When done, wrap it directly in a coarse, wet towel and stand it upright till it is cold. It should be baked in a deep iron pan. If the dough should be sour, restore its sweetness by adding a teaspoonful of soda or salaratus dissolved in a little water, then knead it in the dough.
Premium Rye Bread.—One quart each of Indian meal and rye flour and wheat flour, i teaspoonful of yeast, i one of salt. Make a thick batter with warm milk; pour into pans and let it rise. Bake till well done.

Premium Bread
—Take 3 gills each of new milk and boiling water and stir into this flour enough to form a batter; set it by to rise in a warm place ; when sufficiently risen add flour enough to make it thick enough to work with the hands, and for baking. Set to rise in half an hour; then bake in a moderate oven, with a thin piece of paper over it

Superior Bread without Yeast.
—Take cold or ice water, the colder the better, and into this stir coarse corn meal to make a stiff batter; stir quickly, adding the meal, so as to introduce all the air possible. Put it into small patty-pans or cake tins; bake in a very hot oven for half an hour or longer. Baking is the most difficult part of the operation.

Mrs. Gen. R. E. Lee's Bread.
—Take 1 quart of best family flour, put in 1 egg and sweet lard the size of an egg, 2 large table-spoonfuls of yeast (by her recipe), 1 tablespoonful of salt and 1 of sugar.
By this rule bread can be made and the dough kept for 3 days and sufficient taken off to bake for each day. Mrs. Lee says if kept cold in winter or in an ice-house in summer, it will lie dor­mant and may freeze without injury. If frozen hard enough to cut with an ax it will not be damaged, and will rise readily as soon as placed near the fire. If made in this way, to save, and a change of temperature causes it to rise, it must be worked immediately. It is only in this state that it can be injured or become sour.

1) The American Frugal Housewife, by Lydia Maria Child (1832). (pp. 76-77)
―Six quarts of meal will make two good sized loaves of Brown Bread. Some like to have it half Indian meal and half rye meal; others prefer it one third Indian, and two thirds rye. Many mix their brown bread over night; but there is no need of it; and it is more likely to sour, particularly in summer. If you do mix it the night before you bake it, you must not put in more than half the yeast I am about to mention, unless the weather is intensely cold. The meal should be sifted separately. Put the Indian [meal] in your bread-pan, sprinkle a little salt among it, and wet it thoroughly with scalding water. Stir it up while you are scalding it. Be sure and have hot water enough; for Indian [meal] absorbs a great deal of water. When it is cool, pour in your rye; add two gills of lively yeast, and mix it with water as stiff as you can knead it. Let it stand an hour and a half, in a cool place in summer, on the hearth in winter. It should be put into a very hot oven, and baked three or four hours. It is all the better for remaining in the oven over night.


2) The Philosophy of Housekeeping, by Joseph B. Lyman (1869). (pp. 168-170)
―A variety of bread quite common in the Eastern States, and, when well made, surpassed by none for its palatable and nutritive qualities, is a combination of rye meal  and corn meal, called rye-and-indian, or Boston brown bread. For persons of sedentary habits and dyspeptic turn, no food is more wholesome, yet it is by no means easy to produce this article for perfection.
Of unbolted rye meal sift one quart, of unbolted corn meal three pints; to the corn meal add, say, a tablespoonful of salt and half a pint of molasses. Pour upon this, boiling milk or boiling water, till the corn meal is thoroughly scalded. Now add cold sour milk or butter-milk with your rye meal, and soda enough to correct the acid  in the milk and in the molasses. If you have stewed pumpkin or mashed Irish potatoes, a half pint added will improve the flavor of the bread. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly with the hand. It needs no time to rise. Bake in a hot oven for two or three hours. This will make a large loaf; and it is better to put it into one pan than to divide the dough. A very thick and hard, tough, and palatable crust is formed, which some find their teeth strong enough to masticate. A mode of cooking, preferred by some, is by steaming in an ordinary pudding-pan, with a tube running up through the middle, after the manner of a cake-pan. Put the dough into such a dish, cover lightly and place in a kettle of boiling water, where it should remain and boil constantly for four hours. As the water evaporates, supply from a boiling teakettle. Cooked in this way, no crust is formed, and the bread has a delicious flavor, and remains moist for a couple of days.

Cookie Balls

Originally from Pinoy American Recipes, but there's something wrong with that blog

Mundus with Morta

24th of August is one of the Roman days of Death, the hole to Underworld was opened this day so that the spirits could visit this world.

Morta was the third of the Roman Fates, the one, who cut the silver cord of life. Don't be afraid of Her, She knows what She is doing, even though you don't. No-one dies before their time. Everyone dies exactly when they are supposed to die. It might seem to us it was too soon, that there was so much to do, so much to achieve, so much to experience, so much life... but there really isn't.
I wish you would learn to know Morta as the kind and gentle sister of Pacithea, Rest. Death is The Big Sleep, the Eternal Rest, where nothing bothers you, nothing harms you, nothing hurts you and nothing pains you.

Have a Silent Party to all your loved ones. Serve their favorite dishes, and set the table for the invisible guests who are passing by your life. All the ancestors who care about you, all your friends and relatives who have gone by, all those who were your soulmates when they were alive... You could also serve a dinner to someone you wish would come and visit you... Who is that? Whom would you like to meet from all the people who are dead today, whom would you serve a dinner? Marie Antoinette? Elvis? C.S.Lewis? Sokrates? Julius Caesar? Mata Hari? Marilyn Monroe?

Come Dine With Me

One of my favorite shows on television is Come Dine With Me. What I don't like about it is the belittling, sarcastic and deliberately offensive narrator, and the fact that those who made the show are trying their very best in creating clashes. What that makes, though, is that it makes it impossible to not see what makes a person a good guest/host.

The episodes I like most are the ones where the competitors get well on with each other, enjoy their time, really like the food - and the food is good, well-made and beautiful - and give points generously and there are only a couple of points between first and last.

I like least the episodes with... uh.

The purpose of a dinner party is that people enjoy eating together.
It's not for you to teach new habits, preferences, opinions, information or anything to your guests.
It's not for you to show off.
It's not for you to lecture, it's not for anyone to mock the others or the food, or criticize, or shame or...
Your job is to do your best to make everyone feel good about themselves, you and the food.

I know Come Dine With Me is a competition, but keep your criticism to the point giving.
In what way will telling the host, for example, that the plates are cold change anything? Is he supposed to take the plates back to kitchen and warm them up? No. You are just showing off and making an ass of yourself. The food won't get warm because you point out it's cold. You will also give an unfair edge to the other competitors as you tell them to watch out with the plates - something they might have missed as well, as most people don't warm up the plates for an informal dinner at their homes. So what you have done is caused unnecessary sorrow for the host.

One thing that really irks me with people and food is the terrible intolerance people have. I'm not picky, I know what I like and what I don't like. I don't like seafood. It smells and tastes bad, and the consistence is weird. I have eaten seafood, and I will eat it if I ever has to, but I don't like it.
I don't like onions (onions, leek, chives, garlic etc.) In small amounts, correctly made, in right company, these can be really nice, but 90% of time people use too much, wrong and in everything, so it's better to avoid getting disappointed and having to eat stuff that smells and tastes like rusty nails in sweaty woolen socks.
I don't like mushroom, because they taste dirt.
I don't like asparagus, brussel sprouts, saffron, coriander, coffee and several other things, just like I don't like purple, daisies, ladybugs or Hugh Grant. It's a question of preferences, not that I'd be spoiled, immature and whiny.
It really is not your job to "convert" me. Serving me seafood is just as faux pas as serving meat to a vegetarian.
The worst thing you could do as a host of a dinner party is trying to trick your guests to eat things they have expressed they don't like. I would eat shrimp with aioli and say I like it, because I have manners, not because I liked it.
(P.S. You don't know why people don't like certain foods, and it really is none of your business. Show a little tolerance and respect, and set your guests' comfort before your own.)

Now, there are foods many people don't like. Try to choose food most people will be able to eat.

Food people have generally difficulties with:

offal (liver, tribe) and odd cuts, like pig feet
odd animals, like giraffe
food that looks at you. No whole fish or sheep's head.
raw fish and meat
asparagus, okra, brussel sprouts, peppers, spinach, coriander/cilantro, artichokes, eggplant, beets
garlic and other onions
mushroom
spiced food
strong cheeses, blue cheese, havarti, limburger
peas and beans
seafood, especially oysters and squid, sea urchin, roe...
(anchovies, sardines, kippers...)
seaweed
snails
frogs
ants, grasshoppers, larvae... insects
fermented food, like kimchi/sauerkraut
grits, polenta, semolina, rice pudding, tapioca

There is plenty of delicious food most people have no problems eating, so there is no need to serve any of this.

If your guest asks for something, see that she gets it, if possible. Don't roll your eyes, if your guest wants to "spoil" her dinner with ketchup or horseradish, it's her dinner, and really none of your business.

See that there is salt and pepper on the table, so that your guests can help themselves. Some people like more salty or spicy food than others. It's not an insult, so if you take it as such, you're an idiot.

There should also be plenty of clean, fresh water.

Also see that there are toothpicks on the table, and if you serve anything that is to be eaten with fingers, have bowls of water so that people can wash their hands.

Also, if you are the host, see that your toilet is in pristine condition and there's plenty of toilet paper, soap and towels. The rest of the house doesn't need to be extra super hotel standard clean, but the toilet and the kitchen should be.
See also that there is sanitary napkins visibly (but discreetly) available in case of an accident; and that there are headache pills and something to treat heartburn and upset stomach.

Don't tell people what is the proper way of cooking, serving or eating. It doesn't matter whether you're the host or a dinner guest. It's not your job to educate people of the proper way of doing anything. It's a dinner party, not a finishing school.

Don't say food looks horrible. Keep it for yourself. Most probably the others can see it too, so no need of pointing out the obvious, and if they don't see it, good for them.

Don't criticize the food in any way. If you cannot say anything good, don't say anything. If you're a guest of a competition dinner, you have the points to express your critique, if not, it's rude to criticize a gift. You don't need to eat anything.

Don't make noises or faces, don't "ew" or "yuk", don't roll your eyes, don't grin. 

Don't ever, ever, ever say the food looks, smells or tastes like poo or puke or anything else inedible. Don't even talk about poo, puke or anything else inedible.
Do not talk about disgusting things you have eaten or plan to eat, or have heard someone ate, no discussing placentas, insects, rotten food or baby animals.
Also, no medical details, no mentioning of surgeries, injuries, childbirth or illnesses.
Don't talk about anything that might make anyone feel sick.
No talk about frogs, snakes or snails, even though some people find all these things delicacies.
Just don't. If anyone starts talking about these things, put a stop to it immediately.

If you find the discussion boring, start a non-boring one yourself.

Things to discuss
- what is the best thing you have eaten, what is the best food experience, what was your favorite childhood food, what has been the best dinner experience so far, any restaurants you have visited that left a good memory (or bad)
- Is food a purely taste experience for you, or is it a health or ethical issue?
- What five things you have always in your fridge?
- If you had the opportunity to meet one person you haven’t met who would it be, why and what would you talk about? (And adapted to a dinner situation; which three people; living, dead, fictional, you would invite to a dinner, why and what would you talk about)
- any recommendations about books, movies, tv series
- what is your favorite and least favorite color and why - interesting info; what favorite colors tell about the person
- If you could change one thing about the human body, what would it be?
- If you had a super power / magical ability, what would it be?

If one or more of your fellow guests irritate you, let them. It's a question of just a couple of hours. You can keep your mouth shut for a couple of hours. You can snicker at your smart comments and responses, but don't say them out loud. Lashing out on them will not make them less obnoxious, in the contrary. You have taken the bait, it works. It will only spoil the dinner from others as well, and yours is already ruined, so take one for the other guests.

Dress up nicely. Be clean. Surprisingly people need to be told this.  

If there's a dress code, follow it. It doesn't matter if you think it's stupid or ridiculous or unflattering or something else, it's the host's party and he/she decides.

Bring a gift.
Flowers are good.
Wine is okay, even though some people don't drink it.
Chocolate is okay, even though some people don't eat it.
Other food gifts are okay as hostess gift for a dinner party, for example spiced oil or vinegar, an exciting preserve or cookies.

It is also a nice idea to give party favors. It doesn't need to be expensive or advanced. It's just a gesture. For example, a nice piece of chocolate would be quite proper.

Have some entertainment or party games.

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.

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