Samhain Approaches

Samhain, celebrated on October 31, is a festival of the coming of darkness in balance with the Wheel of the Year and the celebration of Beltane, the coming of light. In honor of our beloved ancestors we light bonfires and invite our ancestors, friends, pets and others who have passed on to join us in our ritual, feasts and activities.

Light a single candle and place it in your window to help guide the spirits to your ritual. Place an empty chair at your feast for an unseen guest.

Decorate your altar with photos your loved ones who have passed. Of course, the traditional and common colors are black and orange. Use a black altar cloth and bright orange pumpkins.

Although not a common Samhain food, I am making Ajoblanco with grapes which is a very traditional Spanish cold soup made by pureeing blanched almonds with bread and adding cold water.

• Ajoblanco with Grapes

9 oz raw almonds, peeled
2 garlic cloves, peeled
4 oz bread crumbs
5 fl oz extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp sherry vinegar
1 quart ice-cold water

coarse salt

9 oz muscatel grapes, peeled and seeded

Preparation:
Soak the bread crumbs in water. Pound the peeled garlic cloves and salt together in a mortar. Squeeze off any excess water from the bread crumbs, then add them to the garlic/salt mixture. If you are making it by hand, continue using a mortar or a round bowl. Otherwise, only use a blender from this point onward. Add the almonds and blend to a smooth paste. Slowly add the oil so that it emulsifies. Now add the vinegar and continue blending until the paste is spongy. Finally, stir in the ice-cold water until you achieve the desired consistency.
Chill until serving time. Before serving, check the seasoning and add more salt or vinegar if needed. Pour into the serving dish and garnish with the muscatel grapes.

Recipe from Spain GourmeTour Magazine

• I am sticking to a tapas type menu and along with the soup we are having blue cheese stuffed olives, roasted red peppers mixed with feta, cured ham, assorted cheeses warm bread and mead. Yum.

Mabon - Autumn Equinox

September 21 is Mabon, the second harvest festival. Food made with corn and grains are eaten and cider is used in celebration. As we prepare for the cold winter months ahead, all herbs and flowers should be brought inside and dried for use throughout the winter. Gone is the Maiden of Spring and Mother of Summer, we now celebrate the Goddess as the Crone. Decorate your altar with the colors of fall, oranges, browns, reds, and gold. Gemstones are carnelian, sapphire, and yellow agate. Use leaves and acorns to adorn your altar as well.

This recipe comes from the Almond Board of California and is a perfect snack for Mabon.

Jalapeno Almonds

1/4 cup salted butter

1/3 cup hot pepper sauce

1 Tbls. Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. dry mustard

4 cups whole natural almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter over low heat and stir in pepper sauce, Worcestershire sauces, garlic powder, salt and dry mustard. Toss almonds in mixture and place on large roasting pan. Bake 40 to 50 minutes stirring occasionally until all the liquid is absorbed. Cool. Store in an airtight container.

Lughnasadh August 1

This is the first of the Pagan harvest festivals. It heralds the end of summer and is often celebrated with baking breads, having outdoor parties and craft fairs. At this time we honor the Goddess as the Earth Mother. Decorate your altar with sunflowers, and corn husks. Use light browns and greens mixed with golds and yellows to symbolize the harvest. Again, think of what is harvested this time of year: oats, grains, nuts, squash, apples, blackberries, lamb, etc. Another wonderful treat is a sweet blackberry wine. Try checking out some local vineyards and wineries in your area, they often have this type of harvest wine that is produced locally! If you are lucky enough to live in Kentucky check out http://www.wildsidevines.com/ in Versailles, they have a wonderful blackberry wine as well as a cherry wine and a sparking apple cider that is so good for this time of year!

• My garden is currently overrun with acorn squash plants. My husband and I love them and are always looking for new ways to make them. Here is a recipe that is wonderful for your acorn squash. By the way, if you have grown lots of acorn squash it will keep long in to the winter if you store it in your basement or anywhere cool and away from light.

Acorn Squash with Pecans and Goat Cheese

2 acorn squash, halved crosswise and seeded

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons melted butter

2/3 cup chopped pecans

2 tablespoons maple syrup plus more to drizzle (use the real stuff here)

1/2 teaspoon fresh or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

4 oz. log goat cheese

Heat oven to 375F. Sprinkle inside of squash halves with salt and brush with melted butter. Turn upside down on baking sheet and bake 30 minutes.Stir together pecans, maple syrup and thyme. Turn squash upright on baking sheet. Reserving about 3 tablespoons pecan mixture, fill hollow of each squash with remaining pecan mixture. Slice goat cheese crosswise into four equal rounds. Place a round of cheese in hollow of each squash and sprinkle with reserved pecan mixture.Bake 10 minutes more. Drizzle with more syrup as desired and serve.

Witchvox

I have been getting a lot of e-mails via Witchvox concerning our Kentucky Kitchen Witch Circle! We are currently looking for new members and I would love to hear from anyone interested in joining our little group. Please e-mail me (mymysticmuse@hotmail.com) and/or come to see us at the Pagan Pride Festival held on September 20, 2008 from noon to six at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Lexington on Clays Mill Road.

Blessings,

Corwin

Zucchini Fritters

My husband and I have mistakenly planted way too many zucchini plants this year in our garden. We love them and try to come up with as many ways of preparing them. Unfortunately we still have way to many for two people to consume. I'm giving them away like candy at work right now. I experimented last night and came up with this zucchini fritter recipe.

• Zucchini Fritters

1 zucchini squash grated

2 large eggs

1 cup self rising corn meal

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

pinch of nutmeg

Canola or peanut oil

Grate your zucchini and allow to drain in a colander to remove excess water. Beat eggs, corn meal, salt, pepper and nutmeg, then add drained zucchini. Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Drop a small amount of mixture in oil to test temperature. If it immediately sizzles and begins to brown it is ready. Drop tablespoon sized dollops of batter into oil, flatten slightly. Fry on one side two minutes, flip fry an additional two minutes or until browned and cooked through. Serve with warm marinara sauce. Enjoy.

Lexington Pagan Pride Day 2008

The Kentucky Kitchen Witches will have a table set up at the Pagan Pride Festival this year on September 20, 2008! We are currently working on a COOKBOOK which we will have for sale. It follows the wheel of the year and is full of yummy recipes and magical correspondences. We are now happily taste testing several recipes to assure they are delicious! We will also have some food samples, treats, herbs and other items for sale. Please come by and say hello.

Watermelon Fruit Basket

With the heat index reaching over 100 in the summer, no one really wants to slave over a hot stove. Here is a great recipe for those hot summer days.... no oven required.

To begin, take a sharp knife and slice a small thin piece off the bottom of your melon to keep the bottom flat so it will not roll around on the counter.

Next, take the tip of a marker/pencil and draw a horizontal line in the middle of the watermelon. Then mark a strip of about 2 inches wide in the middle in the top half of the melon - this will form the handle of your basket. The marks form 2 large "wedges" on either side of the handle. Carefully cut the 2 wedges from either side of the handle. Remove the fruit from under the handle with a small knife.

Take a melon baller or spoon and hollow out the inside of the watermelon. After removing all the edible parts, take a large spoon and gently scrape out the sides of your "basket". Be care not to scrape too thinly on the handle. To avoid liquid from collecting in the bottom of the "basket" and making the fruit soggy, make small "drainage" holes in the bottom of the watermelon after hollowing it out and before filling with the fruit. Display the basket in a container filled with ice cubes to keep the fruit cold, and to catch any juice from the drainage holes.

Mix the watermelon with other ripe fresh fruits. You can decorate the bowls using your knife to cut designs as shown in the picture above. Be creative and enjoy!