Embracing Autumn: Scarlet and Crimson Treasure

As we move further into Autumn there are more and more splashes of red to be seen in the trees and hedgerows. The rowan berries are the first, in August, but as September progresses they're joined by rosehips, haws, the berries of honeysuckle, and nightshade - and of course, unripe blackberries.

Bright scarlet rowan berries hang in distinctive clusters, in contrast to the crimson haws which are distributed much more evenly amongst the hawthorn foliage. 

In the hedgerows hereabouts there don't seem to be many rosehips - but there is a huge crop of haws. Some claim this signals a harsh winter ahead of us, but I tend to think it's more to do with favourable pollination conditions back in the spring when an exuberant froth of blossom covered the hawthorns.

I often think of the hawthorn as being the epitome of spring - its bright green leaves are among the first to break when the world begins to green anew, and the appearance of its flowers usually coincides pretty well with Beltane. Yet at this time of year when its leaves have darkened to glossy forest green and rich red haws jewel the hedgerow it is a striking feature in the landscape. In spring hawthorn seems full of lively joie de vivre, perfectly matched to the festivities of Beltane. As we approach the Autumn Equinox, its energy is of quiet, benevolent dignity - and generosity. There are enough haws for both us and the birds to enjoy - take advantage of this bounty and go foraging. 

Embracing Autumn: Hawthorn Brandy

Haws can be used to make many delicious edibles - jam, jelly, syrup, chutney, wine etc. Just Google 'hawthorn recipes' and you will find lots of inspiring ideas to make the most of your foraging. One of the simplest recipes of all is Hawthorn Brandy. If you've ever made Sloe Gin it's made very much along the same lines -  but everyone makes sloe gin, so why not try something a little different instead?

After picking your haws, pick them over and wash and dry them. Put them into a plastic bag and place them in the freezer overnight (this will soften them and begin to break down the skin so that their flavour will infuse the brandy effectively). Weigh the haws and put into a Kilner jar or similar tightly-lidded wide-mouthed container. Add sugar (half the weight of the haws), a pinch of cinnamon and some lemon zest. Pour over enough brandy to completely cover the ingredients, fasten the lid on tightly and shake well to dissolve the sugar. Store the jar somewhere dark, allowing the fruit to steep in the brandy for at least a couple of months (better yet until Yule). Shake the jar regularly. When enough time has passed, strain out the haws and lemon zest and bottle the flavoured brandy. Enjoy!  

 

Winter Blessings and Beauties, Day 89: Root Vegetables

Root vegetables are perfect seasonal food during the Winter months. For one thing, they store well - depending on conditions some can be left in the ground and harvested when they are needed, and others can be kept for long periods in the right conditions (usually cool, dry and dark). Most are also a source of starchy carbohydrates which help our bodies to stay warm and fuelled throughout the cold months.

The reason root vegetables are in season at this time of year is because they are roots and tubers - the energy of the plant has withdrawn into the roots so that it can safely survive the harsh winter conditions. This is the same mechanism which allows many of the first flowers of spring (e.g. snowdrops, lesser celandines, daffodils, wood anemones) to bloom so early in the year. These flowers all grow from bulbs, rhizomes or tubers which provide a reservoir of stored energy when there's not much sun for them to use for photosynthesis. These types of plants have a valuable lesson for us about ensuring we have adequate reserves to get us through the difficult times! They are also very grounding.

Winter Blessings and Beauties: Day 89

Root Vegetables

Root vegetables are a tasty, warming, filling and versatile Winter staple. There are a wide variety to try - for example potatoes, carrots, parsnips, turnips, swede, beetroot, sweet potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, celeriac and kohlrabi.

Try them in the following:

• Root vegetable curry - their sweetness goes well with curry spices
• Mashed swede with butter, salt & pepper and chopped coriander
• Roasted root vegetables - season with garlic and chopped rosemary & thyme, or harissa paste, or smoked paprika, cumin & onion powder.
• Add to soups and stews
• Curried parsnip soup
• Home-made vegetable crisps  

     

Winter Blessings and Beauties, Day 81: Crumpets!

 

"Mary Poppins sniffed. "Then why not say so at once!" she said snappily. She crossed to the window and waved her hand to summon the Crumpet Man.

  Downstairs the front gate opened quickly with its usual noisy squeak. The Crumpet Man ran up the path and knocked at the Back Door. He was sure of an order from Number Seventeen for all the Banks family were partial to crumpets."

- P.L. Travers, 'Mary Poppins Opens the Door'

We are drawing towards the close of Winter now, there are only a couple more weeks before Imbolc and I have just realised that I've thus far neglected to mention one of the great Winter delicacies - crumpets! Hot, buttered crumpets consumed by a cosy log fire are the very essence of hygge - and a favourite of Mary Poppins, to boot.  

Crumpets - for those not familiar with them - are a kind of soft, unsweetened griddle cake made from a batter containing yeast. They are best toasted and eaten hot, spread with plenty of butter - their spongy, open texture soaks up the butter as it melts. Delicious!

Winter Blessings and Beauties: Day 81

Crumpets!

While the Winter weather justifies it, treat yourself to some hot, toasted crumpets! Ready-made crumpets are easily available in the shops here in the UK, but if you fancy making your own, there are plenty of recipes to be found online, such as here.    

Winter Blessings and Beauties, Day 59: Recipe - Curried Parsnip Soup

 

I love making soup - as I may have mentioned before. It's such a versatile dish - and a great way of using up leftovers or gluts of homegrown veggies**. One of my favourite soup recipes for this time of year is Curried Parsnip Soup. Creamy, spicy, warming, soothing - it's everything you could want from a Winter recipe. Root vegetables are grounding, connected to the deep slow pulse of the Earth. In this recipe they compliment and contrast with the subtle fire energy of the spices.

Winter Blessings and Beauties: Day 59

Recipe - Curried Parsnip Soup

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil

knob of butter

1 onion

1 tsp turmeric*

pinch of asafoetida*

1 tsp medium curry powder*

2-3 parsnips, peeled and chopped

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 medium, potato peeled and chopped

vegetable stock

½ tsp garam masala*

single cream

fresh coriander leaves

Method

Heat the vegetable oil and butter in a saucepan, add the chopped onion and fry gently for a few minutes until softened and translucent. 

Stir in the turmeric, asafoetida and curry powder, then add the chopped parsnip, carrot and potato. 

Pour over enough vegetable stock to cover the vegetables, and bring to the boil. 

Stir well and reduce to a simmer until the vegetables are soft. 

Blend until smooth with a stick blender or in a food processor. 

Return to the heat and stir in the garam masala and single cream. Check seasoning and adjust if necessary. Serve, sprinkled with a garnish of chopped coriander leaves.

 * Make this soup as mild or spicy as you like by adjusting the amount of spices to suit your own tastes. 

** My other soup recipes can be found via these links:

• Pumpkin Soup
• Nettle Soup
• Sunshine Soup 
• Tomato Soup (adaptation of the Fresh Tomato Sauce recipe)

Winter Blessings and Beauties, Day 43: Warming Winter Breakfasts

I love breakfast - I often say that if I could only have one meal a day I would choose breakfast! This morning, as I wasn't working I made myself a warming breakfast of porridge with golden syrup, a glass of freshly-squeezed orange juice, and hazelnut coffee. It was a perfect start to a cold Winter day. It started me thinking about hot breakfasts and how they are among my favourite Winter pleasures.

One of the things I love about breakfast is its versatility - you can eat sweet things, savoury things, or a combination of both. You can have hot breakfasts, cold breakfasts, cooked breakfasts, cereals, toast, pastries, fruit smoothies, eggs, pancakes... 

Although I love breakfast I'm not especially keen on a full cooked breakfast - bacon, eggs, sausages, fried bread etc. The only times I eat that kind of breakfast is when I'm camping - or for lunch. It always makes me feel like a bit of a weirdo when  staying in a hotel or a B&B because I'm usually the only person who doesn't ask for a full cooked breakfast! It's most people's favourite kind of breakfast (although as it's a bit time-consuming to prepare in the morning it's usually reserved for weekends and holidays). But there's no denying that it's a great, warming start to the day in winter.

My personal choice is usually cereal of some kind, and as well as porridge there are other cereals that can be consumed with hot milk in Winter, such as Weetabix or Ready Brek. You can ring the changes by adding berries or dried fruit and nuts, sweeten if necessary with honey, maple or golden syrup, and add a little luxury with some cream. Or how about hot buttered toast with honey or marmalade, or croissants or pain au chocolat straight from the oven all deliciously hot and flaky? Then there are pancakes or banana pancakes, omelettes and boiled eggs. Another of my favourite warming breakfasts is apple and sultana compote, served hot with a swirl of Greek yogurt, a sprinkle of granola for crunch and an extra pinch of cinnamon for good measure.

For breakfast drinks - tea, coffee, juice, herbal tea, chai, hot chocolate?

Winter Blessings and Beauties: Day 43

Warming Winter Breakfasts

Set yourself up for the day by having breakfast each morning. Your body needs to be properly re-fuelled after a night's sleep. Make a list of warming Winter breakfasts that you enjoy, and use it for inspiration on those grey mornings when you're not quite sure what it is you fancy. Try different breakfast recipes to widen your repertoire and keep things interesting.

As you eat, think about how you are nourishing yourself and taking care of your body, and give thanks to the Earth for providing delicious food.       

Winter Blessings and Beauties, Day 31: Recipe - Suet-free Mincemeat

 

A couple of years ago, around about the beginning of December I started craving something specific to eat. Something fruity, something apple-y, something sweet but zesty, something with spices like cinnamon... but I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was my taste buds were hankering for. I Googled recipes for apple cake and fruit cake, but nothing I found really seemed to be what I was looking for. And then one day in the supermarket a box of mince pies caught my eye and I realised - of course! Mincemeat!

For those readers outside the UK I'd better explain what I mean by mincemeat. Mincemeat is a traditional Christmas recipe used as a filling for mincepies, made from dried fruits, apples, sugar, spices and alcohol. It originated in medieval times, probably due to returning Crusaders bringing back with them spices and Middle Eastern recipes that combined them with meat and fruit. Originally mincemeat contained minced meat (such as mutton) - hence the name - and suet. Gradually over the years, meat was dropped from the recipe and mincemeat became a sweet rather than a savoury treat, but suet is still usually included though it's possible these days to buy vegetarian mincemeat, made with vegetable suet.

I was vegetarian for years, and although now I occasionally eat meat or fish, I've never quite understood why it is that suet - vegetarian or not - continues to be used in mincemeat. It doesn't really add anything to the recipe as far as I can tell. This year, I decided to investigate if it was possible to make mincemeat without including it - and it appears it is absolutely possible. Feeling inspired  by this discovery - and having a little more time on my hands due to lessened work hours - I decided to try making my own suet-free mincemeat. I've made my own jams, jellies and marmalade over the years, but for some reason I've never attempted mincemeat before.

In my research I'd found that there's quite a bit of variation in the ingredients of mincemeat. Some recipes included slivered almonds, some cranberries, some mixed peel - and some didn't. Most recipes included alcohol (although there are alcohol-free recipes too), but some used brandy, some whisky, some rum, some port... Mary Berry's suet-free mincemeat recipe substitutes butter for suet, and some vegan versions advocate using margarine or coconut oil instead, but many recipes forego any fat at all.

In the end I decided I could afford to experiment as long as I kept some rough guidelines as to the proportions of ingredients.

Winter Blessings and Beauties: Day 31

Moonroot's Home-made Suet-free Mincemeat Recipe

1 Bramley apple, peeled and cored
125g Raisins
125g Sultanas

125g Currants

A few finely chopped glacé cherries (optional - I put them in because I love them, but I know many people don't!)

Juice and zest of half a lemon

Splash of orange juice

100g sugar (I used Light Muscovado for extra flavour)

Pinch of ground cinnamon

Pinch of ground cloves

A generous splash of your favourite alcohol (I used Cointreau because it was all I had in the house, but use which ever you like - Whisky, Brandy, Rum, Sherry, Port etc)

Method:

Roughly grate the apple into a mixing bowl. Add the dried fruit, sugar and spices and stir well. Pour over the lemon and orange juice and stir in the grated lemon zest. Cover the bowl tightly (I used a saucepan lid) and heat gently for an hour. I did this by placing the bowl on the Rayburn (but not on the hotplate), or you could put it in a cool oven or warm gently on the hob. This will allow the dried fruit to soak up all the lovely spice-infused apple, lemon and orange juice. Remove from the heat and allow to cool before stirring in the alcohol. Spoon into sterilised jars and screw on tight-fitting lids. The alcohol should preserve the mincemeat, but I've opted to keep mine in the fridge to be on the safe side.

This makes a fruity, citrussy mincemeat that I'm very pleased with - but you can adapt the amount of fruit juice/sugar and tweak the other ingredients to tailor the finished product to your own tastes.

Notes:

You can play quite a bit with the ingredients, substituting or adding other dried fruits such as cranberries, chopped apricots or figs. Many mincemeat recipes include nuts - I didn't have any, but you could use chopped almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans or brazils. There's room to experiment with the spices too  - ground cardamom or ginger might be nice. It's important that you add the alcohol last, after the mixture has cooled to ensure the alcohol doesn't evaporate. If you'd like an alcohol-free version, substitute apple juice but bear in mind that alcohol-free mincemeat won't keep as long. 

Using mincemeat

• Traditionally it's used as a filling in small individual shortcrust pastry mince-pies but you can also use it in small or large pies and tarts made with shortcrust, puff or filo pastry.
• Use it as you would jam or jelly in cakes, muffins, traybakes or Bakewell tart
• Mincemeat goes really well with apples, so use it to stuff apples before baking them, or add some mincemeat to an apple pie or crumble
• It also combines well with marzipan, as in this Mincemeat and Marzipan Tart
• There are more lovely ideas here.

Don't forget to leave a mince pie out for Santa on Christmas Eve - it's traditional!

Winter Blessings and Beauties, Day 25: Marking the Midpoint Between Samhain and Yule

I have been posting daily Winter Blessings and Beauties now since the day after Samhain, 1st November. By my calculations, that means today we are halfway between Samhain and Yule, and more than a quarter of the way through the period between Samhain and Imbolc. From the perspective of writing a daily blogpost on winter, the first 25 days have gone by really fast! The days continue to shorten, the nights grow colder, and Yule grows ever closer. 

Apparently 25th November is St Catherine's Day, or to use its old name, Catterntide. Jacqueline Durban has written a wonderful blogpost giving a traditional recipe for making Cattern Cakes here. If you would like to mark the occasion, the Cattern Cakes sound like a wonderful way to do so!

Winter Blessings and Beauties: Day 25

Mark the Midpoint Between Samhain and Yule

At the midpoint between Samhain and Yule, take time to pause and sense the shifting energies. Samhain is the onset of winter and Yule its midpoint, when the sun reaches its nadir and pauses, before beginning to grow in strength again - just a little each day. can you sense a difference in the pulse of life? Does the air smell different? How is the soft animal of your body reacting to the shortening days and frosty nights?

Take a moment to recognise and give thanks for the patterns of the ever changing year. Take in a good breath of cold winter air, and raise a toast to winter (hot spiced apple juice, maybe?). Or celebrate by baking a batch of Cattern Cakes!   

Winter Blessings and Beauties, Day 17: Recipes - Warming Winter Drinks

 

It's an unremittingly grey and stormy day. Wind blusters and buffets the house, and constant rain blurs the valley, creeping through every opening and trickling down my collar. Brrr! This is the perfect excuse - if one were needed - to snuggle by the fire with a nice mug of spiced apple juice. Spiced apple juice is the simplest of recipes, quick to prepare yet warming and soothing. Or if that doesn't appeal, why not try one of my other suggestions?

Winter Blessings and Beauties: Day 17

Warming Winter Drinks

A hot drink on a cold winter's day warms the body, soothes a dry or sore throat and puts a smile back on your face. Here are a few suggestions to thaw you out. 

• Hot Spiced Apple Juice: Add a generous pinch of ground cinnamon, a few cloves and a cardamom pod to a mug of apple juice. Heat in a saucepan or the microwave to just below boiling point. Strain out the spices and enjoy! You can also experiment with adding other fruit juices to the mix - pear, blackcurrant, plum or a spoonful of elderberry syrup are all tasty additions.
• Golden Milk: You can use cows milk or vegan substitute - I find oat milk works well. There are lots of recipes out there on the internet, but this is how I make it. To a mug of milk, add 1tsp turmeric, ½tsp ground ginger, ½tsp ground cinnamon, pinch of black pepper, pinch of cardamom. Heat the milk to just below boiling point. Strain out the spices and stir in honey to taste. This is supposed to be good as an anti-inflammatory. I'm not sure if it helps my arthritis or not, but it tastes so good, who cares?
• Flavoured Hot Milk: I find a mug of hot milk before bedtime really does help with a restful night's sleep, and it means I get into bed feeling nice and toasty! You can use dairy milk or a vegan substitute, and if you want to add flavour and sweetness, put in a splash of one of the syrups you can buy to flavour coffee. My favourites are either vanilla or hazelnut syrup, but there are many different ones to choose from, including cinnamon, caramel, gingerbread, amaretto, pumpkin spice or strawberry.
• Hot Blackcurrant: Simply make up blackcurrant cordial with hot water instead of cold. Serve it in a mug. Hot blackcurrant cordial is wonderfully comforting when you have a cold.

Winter Blessings and Beauties, Day 5: Recipe - Apple and Sultana Compote

Apples are a wonderful winter fruit. Depending on the variety and how they have been stored, apples can last right through the darkest of winter days and into the spring. I have been really enjoying the apple harvest this year. A friend gifted me with some delicious windfalls and the wonderful local zero-waste shop - where I have been doing the bulk of our food shopping since Covid-19 struck - has had some interesting apple varieties in during the autumn that in all honesty I probably wouldn't have had the opportunity to try if I was still frequenting the supermarket. 

Not only have I been eating fresh apples, I've also been trying different recipes. I made some delicious apple, blackberry and sloe jelly last month, and I also stewed up plenty of apples with blackberries while the brambles were producing prolifically. These have been put in the freezer to enjoy later in the year. But at the moment my favourite way to enjoy apples is for breakfast - apple and sultana compote served with a dollop of thick, creamy Greek yogurt and a sprinkling of granola to add a bit of crunch. It's so delicious I think you could serve it as a dessert!

This is my compote recipe if you'd like to give it a try.

Winter Blessings and Beauties: Day 5

Apple and Sultana Compote

Ingredients

3-4 Cooking Apples, such as Bramley

A generous handful of sultanas

A knob of butter

Water

Sugar

Ground cinnamon

Zest of a lemon

Method

Peel and core the apples and chop into smallish pieces. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat and add the apples. Add a little water to stop the apples sticking and simmer over a low heat, stirring regularly. Add a good shake of ground cinnamon, the sultanas and the finely grated zest of a lemon. The compote is ready when the apples have broken down into a soft purée. Remove from the heat and taste - add sugar if required to your taste. 

I keep the Apple Compote in the fridge where it will last for several days (unless I eat it all first!). My favourite way to eat it is with Greek yogurt and granola, but you could also make a classic crumble, sponge or cobbler topping for it and enjoy it with custard or cream.

 

Sunshine Soup

Hmm, what to make with these things in the fridge that need eating up when I'm feeling uninspired? Yes, it was that kind of weekend. Faced with a butternut squash, a yellow pepper and some single cream that was going out of date, I fell back on that old reliable solution: soup. And let me tell you, despite its unpromising origins it was delicious. Smooth, spicy, warming and a beautiful golden colour. What else to call it but Sunshine Soup!

Here's how I made it (and rest assured, despite the photo it does not contain any palm tree). 

Sunshine Soup (or Stew)

Serves 4-6 people, depending how hungry you are.

Ingredients

Sesame oil

1 medium sized onion

1 2-inch piece of fresh ginger root

400g butternut squash (peeled and de-seeded)

1 yellow pepper

1 medium potato

Cayenne pepper to taste

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp black pepper

Vegetable stock

1 tin chopped tomatoes (or you could use fresh)

Single cream

Method

Peel and chop the onion and the ginger, and fry in a large saucepan over a gentle heat in a splash of sesame oil. Cut the squash into chunks and add to the pan. De-seed and chop up the yellow pepper and add it too. Cut the potato into small dice and add to the pan, stir the mixture well. 

Sprinkle over the cayenne pepper (I have left the amount to your discretion, you know how hot and spicy you like your food! If you're not sure, add a little to start with, you can always add more but it's impossible to reduce it once it's in there), paprika, cumin seeds and black pepper, stir well again  and pour over enough stock to completely cover the vegetables. 

Turn up the heat and bring to a gentle boil. Add the tin of tomatoes, and simmer until the vegetables are all nice and soft.*

Using a stick blender or a food processor, blend until the mixture is smooth. Pour in some cream and stir well. Check the seasoning and adjust if necessary. Serve with crusty bread.

* It has occurred to me that at this stage you could adapt the recipe into a hearty, spicy vegetarian stew by adding a tin of kidney beans or chick peas. I would serve it like this with rice.

***

This recipe may have originated as a serendipitous mixture of disparate ingredients, but it was so delicious I will definitely be making it again! Let me know if you make any!

 

Further Adventures in Edibles

I have to admit it, I'm not the biggest fan of radishes. As a homegrown crop they do have their advantages though - mostly that they are about the quickest thing from which you can get a harvest (usually about 4 weeks from sowing to eating). For this reason they are great for introducing newcomers (and children) to the thrill of harvesting your own veggies, and I personally find them useful sown as a 'catch crop' between rows of slower growing plants to make the most use of the available space. 

Luckily for me, IB is a big radish fan who is happy to eat as many radishes as we can grow, so it all works out. He's so keen he even asked me whether we could add the leaves to a salad as well as the roots, but the coarseness and hairiness of the leaves is frankly pretty off-putting from a 'mouthfeel' perspective. As with nettles, cooking will take care of the prickly hairs, so you could eat them as a cooked vegetable or in soup. But the solution I found is so tasty that so far we haven't cooked a single radish leaf. Instead we have been eating Radish Leaf Pesto - absolutely delicious with a slice of IB's home made bread, still warm from the oven.

If you Google Radish Leaf Pesto, you will find many recipes. But here is my extremely adaptable 'whatever you have in the store cupboard' version.

Moonroot's Radish Leaf Pesto

Ingredients:

1-2 handfuls of radish leaves*

1 garlic clove

A handful of toasted nuts (almonds, cashews, pistachios etc) or seeds (pumpkin, sunflower etc) 

30g grated Parmesan or Grana Padano cheese**

Olive oil (or vegetable oil of your choice - it might be interesting to try a nutty-flavoured oil like sesame)

Generous squeeze of lemon juice

Pinch of salt

Method

Place radish leaves, garlic, nuts/seeds and cheese in bowl of food processor and whizz them together. Trickle in some olive oil and whizz the machine again. You'll probably need to keep stopping to scrape the mixture down towards the blades from the sides of the bowl. Add more oil if necessary to get the right consistency - but remember it's easy to add more if you need it but impossible to take it out if you add too much, so add a little at a time. When it's nearly there, squeeze in some lemon juice, and add salt to taste. Give it a final whizz and there you are. 

Enjoy with fresh bread, on toast or crackers, with vegetable crudites, on pasta...

According to all the Radish Leaf Pesto recipes online, it freezes really well. But I wouldn't know, it never lasts long enough round here to get frozen!

* If I don't have enough leaves from that day's radish harvest I keep them with their cut ends in a jar of water until I have harvested some more a couple of days later. And at times I have supplemented the radish leaves with any salad leaves that are starting to bolt - rocket, mizuna etc (in fact if you don't have any radish leaves you could use just salad leaves, as in Jack Monroe's excellent 'Salad Bag Pesto' recipe). Or you can adjust the quantities of the other ingredients too and just end up with a smaller amount of pesto!

** As IB is strictly vegetarian, Parmesan or Grana Padano are off the menu for us (both contain animal rennet). We use a vegetarian version of Parmesan when we have it (usually labelled something like 'vegetarian hard cheese' in supermarkets). During lockdown, as we didn't have any vegetarian Parmesan available I experimented by using a strong mature Cheddar instead. This is no doubt absolute heresy in foodie circles, but... it tasted fine. Different but fine. 

New Moon Musings

Cards from my favourite decks

Top row: The Gaian Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert

Bottom row: The Green Wheel Oracle by Danielle Barlow

The fierce, stormy weather today has me feeling not much inclined to leave the house. Instead I have a strong introspective urge. I decided to simply sit with this feeling and let it instruct me. This is the upside of lockdown. I don't have to be anywhere or do anything in particular, even if I had plans for today I can be flexible and change them on a whim. The 'normality' that we are all saying we want to get back to really doesn't allow this most of the time. We have work schedules - and chore rotas to fit round our work schedules - and obligations and social calendars and set routines. We put ourselves under pressure to be busy and productive at all times, and beat ourselves up if we fall short. How lovely to be able to take this time out of time and sit with ourselves and listen - really listen - to that quiet inner voice which is too often drowned out by the everyday clamour. 

My inner voice says it's OK to pause and cocoon for a little while. To just be with my thoughts. I intuitively felt the need to take some time out, do some serious cleansing (both of myself and the house!) and perhaps a little divination - I feel that itch to get out my tarot and oracle cards and see what they have to tell me.

Then I realised that there is a new moon this evening, at 6.38pm. So as I write, we are in the last phase of the old moon. What an appropriate time to pause for a breather, to clear away any stagnant energies, to look ahead to what the next instalment may be! 

This is my plan for the rest of the day:

• Make and use a home-made salt body scrub for myself
• Use incense and singing bowl to clear the energy of the house
• Check in with my divining tools 
• Finish clearing out and filing my messy paperwork drawer (a job I started a few days ago and have yet to complete).

If you would like to do some deep cleansing, here is my recipe for a salt body scrub to use in the shower or bath.

Salt Body Scrub Recipe

Ingredients*

Salt

Grapeseed Oil

Essential oils of your choice

Method

Put a couple of handfuls of salt (preferably seasalt, but you can use good old fashioned table or kitchen salt if that's all you have) into a bowl. Pour over just enough grapeseed oil to coat the salt, but not so much that it's swimming in oil. Add a few drops of essential oil and stir the mixture well. 

To use, take a little on your fingertips and rub in gentle circular motions into damp skin whilst in the shower or bath, then rinse off. The salt will exfoliate any dead skin cells and the oil will moisturise. Don't use it on sore or broken skin.

* Note on ingredients: 

• You can use any kind of salt, but the coarser it is the harsher it will be on your skin. Really coarse salt is best reserved for a foot scrub. I like to use salt because of it's purifying qualities, but if you have scratches on your skin, the salt will sting - so you could consider using sugar instead which will have the same exfoliating qualities but won't sting. For a facial scrub, substitute a softer substance like ground almonds or oatmeal for the salt. 
• You can use any kind of liquid vegetable oil. I like grapeseed because it's quite light and also inexpensive (it's my choice of carrier oil when I'm doing aromatherapy massage) but any oil you have to hand will do. You could even make a blend of different oils. 
• Don't be tempted to put in too many drops of essential oil. Remember they are very concentrated and too much could irritate your skin. I would use a maximum of 3-4 drops for the quantity given in this recipe. 
• I find it easiest to just make as much as I need each time, but if you want to you can scale up the quantities and make a jarful. The salt and essential oils are both great preservatives, so it won't go off quickly. But bear in mind that the oil will eventually go rancid (you can preserve it a bit longer by adding wheatgerm oil or a few drops of vitamin E oil), though this is unlikely to happen before you've used it all up!   

Adventures in Edibles

I'm finding one unexpected side-effect of being on lock-down is that my cooking is getting more adventurous. I think there are a variety of reasons for this. Firstly for once I have the time to experiment and try out new recipes. Secondly, we are trying to keep to a once-a-week shopping trip, and we are using smaller local shops rather than big supermarkets (as we assume the bigger shops will inevitably have higher footfall and hence more chance of coming into contact with the Coronavirus). The downside of this is that the smaller shops have a correspondingly smaller choice available, so I have to be inventive. We're also using a local supplier who obligingly delivers our fresh fruit & veg. Although I usually try to eat seasonally, shopping from someone offering mostly seasonal produce has made me realise how often I bend my own rules when confronted with a wider choice! Finally, the restrictions to what we are able to buy are leading to me digging out some of the more esoteric items lurking at the back of the larder. I am finally getting around to using the mushroom ketchup, bottled Datterini tomatoes and tinned jackfruit! In fact I highly recommend this recipe that I made from a tin of jackfruit the other night, it was delicious and will be definitely going on my 'make this again!' list. 

We've been foraging too of course, and have enjoyed a lot of nettles (in soup and other guises, including Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Nettle Risotto with Sorrel), and Spring Herb Salad. I'm planning to gather and dry plenty of nettles while they're still young and tasty so that we can add them to soups and stews later in the year (we're also planning ahead by whipping the vegetable patch back into shape and planting lots of veggies to keep us well-fed in the coming months).

The other thing we've found is that with a restricted choice of food available it has become more important than ever to not waste anything, using every last bit of food. Here are a couple of my favourite 'use every last bit' recipes that I've been employing recently. In fact I had the first for breakfast this morning.

Banana Pancakes

I don't know about you, but I'm not fond of over-ripe bananas. But luckily they do make great cakes, or even simpler, banana pancakes. Luckily because of the chickens we always have fresh eggs, so this is my favourite easy way to use up past-it bananas. Most recipes say to use a ratio of 1 banana to 2 eggs, but to be honest because both bananas and eggs vary in size there is wiggle room here. This morning I made them with 1 banana to 1 egg, which yielded two pancakes. 

Ingredients  
Banana(s)
Egg(s)
Butter
Cooking oil
Cinnamon (optional)

Method
Peel the bananas and mash them together with the eggs. In a non-stick frying pan melt a knob of butter and a little oil (I like the flavour of the butter and if you use a little oil too it raises the smoking point of the butter and avoids a burnt flavour. But you could use just oil if you prefer). When the pan is hot, add a small ladle-full of the banana/egg mixture. It's better to cook it in small amounts as this makes turning the pancakes easier. After a minute or two when the pancake has firmed a bit, lift the edge with a spatula or fish slice to check if it's browned. If it has, and it's firm enough, slide your spatula underneath and turn it over to cook the other side. Slide onto a serving plate, sprinkle with a little ground cinnamon (if liked) and enjoy hot, while the next pancake is cooking. You could experiment by adding ingredients like chocolate chips or raisins to the mixture or serve with a smear of Nutella or a drizzle of maple syrup. 

Marinated Broccoli Stems
I love broccoli and will happily cook and eat the stems too, but IB isn't keen on them so I have started using them up this way, which I discovered in a vegetarian cookery book by Martha Rose Shulman way back in the 80's. 

Ingredients
Broccoli stems
Salt
Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil
Garlic

Method
Trim and peel the broccoli stems (this will get rid of any stringy bits) and slice them into rounds about ½cm thick. Put into a lidded container (I use an old jam jar) and sprinkle with salt. Put the lid on, shake well and put into the fridge overnight, or for at least a couple of hours. The next morning, drain off the brine that will have accumulated and rinse under the tap. Return to the jar and add 1tbspn olive oil, 1tbspn balsamic vinegar and a crushed garlic clove. Shake the jar well again and leave to marinate for at least a couple of hours before serving. They're a great addition to a salad or as something to nibble. 

I'll post more gourmet left-over ideas as I think of them!



   

Snarling Lions and Stinging Nettles

"If March comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb" - traditional weather prediction

March this year has definitely come in like a lion. With Storm Freya snarling outside, we are content to cwtch up at home today. Snug in my cosy sheepskin boots and an oversized slouchy jumper, I've been pottering around the house catching up on chores and making soup. Yes, it's definitely a soup kind of day - but it's not just the weather that inspired me. As spring arrives, so do the first new nettles of the year and soup is a great way to make use of them.

Nettles have a long association with people. The plants tend to prefer nitrogen-rich soils, so often thrive where human activities have enriched the soil. They appear in such folk tales as The Twelve Wild Swans, where the heroine has to make shirts from nettle fibres to release her brothers from an enchantment. The story reflects the fact that nettle fibres were often used to make a linen-like fabric in the past. They have long been an important food source, and to this day are a great free food for foragers, being a plentiful weed in most locations. They're also full of vitamins and minerals (including beta carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, calcium, iron, phosphorus and potassium) and were traditionally eaten as a spring tonic. 

If you haven't cooked with nettles before, rest assured that cooking them completely removes their sting. You will need gloves to pick and prepare them though - I usually wear rubber gloves and use a pair of scissors. Choose nettles from a spot away from traffic, and concentrate on picking tender young tops as the stalks can be stringy. Rinse them thoroughly in cold water before use. Like spinach, they will reduce right down in volume once they're cooked.

If you fancy giving it a try, here's my nettle soup recipe:

Ingredients:

1 onion, finely chopped

2 potatoes cut into small dice

1 carrot, chopped

1 small leek, chopped (optional)

a colander-full of young nettle tops

vegetable stock

single cream 

1 tbspn olive oil

a knob of butter

fresh parsley, chopped

salt and black pepper to season

Method:

Gently fry the onion in the oil and butter until soft and translucent. Add the potatoes, carrot, nettles and leek if you're using it. Stir well and cover with the vegetable stock. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are tender. Add the parsley towards the end of cooking. Remove the soup from the heat and using a blender, reduce it to a smooth consistency. Check the seasoning and adjust if necessary, and swirl through the cream before serving.

Serve with crusty bread - enjoy! 

ThriftWitch: Getting The Most Out Of Your Pumpkin This Samhain

Oh yes, it's that time of year again. Whether you call it Samhain or Halloween, the shops are full of pumpkins just waiting to be carved into spooky Jack o'Lanterns. But is that all you normally do with yours? The young daughter of a friend of mine expressed shock when she heard me talking about cooking pumpkin recently. "But you can't eat them!" She declared. "They're poisonous, aren't they?" I was even more shocked than her; surely children know pumpkins are edible? Well evidently not. Presumably for some people they are just a Halloween decoration. What a waste! My inner ThriftWitch has decided this just won't do. So here is my list of suggestions, both culinary and magical, for getting the best possible value and most use out of your pumpkin this year.

Firstly, if you do want it as a Samhain/Halloween decoration, don't carve it too soon. Pumpkins really don't last very long once their protective tough outer layer has been cut, so for best results don't carve them more than 24 hours ahead of time. My friend's husband carved her a beautiful Jack o'Lantern that was a work of art - but unfortunately he did it a week before Samhain and it had turned to mush by the time it was needed. 

Keep all the flesh for your favourite recipes. Pumpkin pie is of course the classic dish, though I have to confess at this stage I'm not a fan (heresy, I know). But if you'd like to make a pumpkin pie just Google recipes and I'm sure you'll find something to tempt you. Personally, I usually make Pumpkin Soup, but you could also try converting the flesh into many other sweet or savoury dishes, or even chutney or pickle. If you like the soup idea, though you could try this:

Moonroot's Pumpkin Soup  
Scoop out the flesh of a pumpkin. Separate out the seeds and put to one side. Chop the flesh into chunks, drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt and chilli powder and roast at 180°C until it's soft and a little caramelised. Meanwhile, chop and fry an onion and a couple of cloves of garlic until soft. Sprinkle in some ground cumin and paprika, and perhaps some finely chopped ginger, saute for another 5 minutes and remove from the heat. When the pumpkin is cooked, add to the onion mixture, and pour in a tin of chopped tomatoes, a squirt of tomato puree and enough vegetable stock to cover. Simmer for 10 minutes to allow the flavours to blend, then whizz in a food processor to a smooth consistency. Check seasoning and adjust to taste. Just before serving stir in chopped fresh coriander leaves and a swirl of single cream or natural yogurt if liked. Enjoy!

What about the pumpkin seeds? Well they are delicious roasted, and it couldn't be simpler. 

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Just clean off as much of the stringy flesh as you can, give them a rinse and spread them out on a baking tray. Drizzle them with a little oil and soy sauce (give them a quick stir to ensure they're evenly coated, then spread them back out evenly). Roast for about 10 mins at 180°C. Allow to cool and enjoy with a nice cool glass of something.

Pumpkin Magic

What about magically? You could keep back a few of the washed, uncooked seeds and use a marker pen to inscribe them with runes to use for divination. Or choose a rune to symbolise what you want to draw into your life, inscribe it on a seed/some seeds and plant them in spring to 'grow' your desired outcome. Alternatively, you could inscribe what you want to be rid of on a spare seed or two and chuck them in the fire to burn it away!  And of course you can enchant your soup - or other pumpkin recipes - by murmuring spells and incantations over them as they cook, stirring in your wishes as you go. 

If you like you can also save a few seeds simply to try and grow next year's pumpkin. They do need a bit of room to sprawl, but if you can fit one in, try sowing the seed indoors in April, placing the flower pot or seed tray in a warm spot such as the airing cupboard. When it's germinated, keep it on a sunny windowsill and plant out when all danger of frost is past.  

Finally, when your Samhain ritual or Halloween party is over, put your carved pumpkin out in the garden. There are plenty of critters who will be glad of the chance to nibble it, and if you put it in an out of the way spot when the critters have finished it will decompose quickly, returning its goodness to the soil.

Samhain Blessings! 

January Tree of Life

There was no December issue of Pagan Pages e-magazine due to technical problems, but the January issue is now online. You can read my latest 'Tree of Life' column for Pagan Pages here.

ThriftWitch: Summer in Winter

Summer is slipping away. Already the days are shorter and there is a tinge of autumn in the air. Wouldn't you love to be able to capture and bottle the essence of summer to be kept for a cheering treat in the midst of the darkest winter days? Well, you can. Summer has not deserted us yet, and there is still time to capture some of her magic...

My first suggestion is to make and freeze some batches of a fresh tomato sauce. The taste of this sauce is like preserved summer sunshine. The tart sweetness of tomatoes, the fragrance of herbs - yum! It's so much better than anything you can produce with tinned tomatoes. Hopefully, you will have some homegrown tomatoes you can use, or failing that you could chat up a gardening friend, seek out a roadside 'honesty' stall, visit your local farmer's market, or even try your plain old ordinary market at the end of the day where you may be lucky to pick up a crateful of ripe tomatoes on the cheap. If all else fails, there's the supermarket!

Fresh Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

• Fresh tomatoes
• A few cloves of garlic
• A splash of olive oil
• A knob of butter
• Herbs - preferably fresh. You can choose the herbs you like for this, but personally I go for basil, thyme and a bay leaf or two. And possibly some oregano.

Method:

Skin the tomatoes by placing them whole in a large bowl and pouring boiling water over them. Leave for a couple of minutes, during which you can fry up the minced garlic over a low heat in the oil and butter. Meanwhile the boiling water should have started to split the skins of the tomatoes, and they should be easy to peel. Peel them and plop them in with the frying garlic, turning the heat up a little. They should gradually start to break down (you can help the process along with a potato masher or wooden spoon if you like). Chop the herbs and add to the pan and leave the whole lot to simmer for a while until it's reduced and thickened a bit. At this stage you could be stirring in some wishes and blessings for the coming winter if you like. And you're done! You can add seasoning if you want, but quite honestly I find this recipe so tasty I don't think it needs it.

Freeze the sauce in batches. It is delicious just as it is, over pasta with a grating of Parmesan or the cheese of your choice. Or you can dilute it with a little stock, whizz it through the food processor to make it really smooth, add a dollop of cream and make a tasty soup to serve with garlic bread. Or use it as a base for all sorts of other recipes like chili or ratatouille, or add it to the mince of a shepherd's pie for extra zip. But for a real taste of summer in winter, trust me: as it is, over pasta, with a little cheese. You will be transported back to mid-August as if by magic!

Another magical recipe to transport you back to summer is my Strawberry Crumble. Although it seems a crime to freeze strawberries rather than just enjoying them fresh, trust me on this: in the middle of winter you'll be glad you showed some restraint and put a few by. Actually, if you grow strawberries or go to a Pick Your Own for them, you will know there are always some imperfect strawberries - too hard, just under ripe or over ripe, weird shapes or whatever. Those are perfect to freeze - and they'll taste fabulous in this recipe no matter what they looked like originally! And by the way, rose water brings out the flavour of strawberries beautifully in any dish. Try it.

Moonroot's Strawberry Crumble

Ingredients:

• 225g strawberries, fresh or frozen
• 3 tspn sugar
• 1 tbspn rose water
• 65g flour
• 30g sugar
• 35g butter
• 2 tspn ground almonds
• 1 tspn vanilla essence

 Method:

Mix together the strawberries, 3 tspn sugar and the rosewater in an ovenproof dish.

Mix together the flour & 30g sugar and rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the ground almonds and vanilla essence.

Sprinkle the crumble mixture over the berries and cook at 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 for 20-30 mins (until berries are cooked and topping is browned). Serve with cream or vanilla custard.

I think this would be a great Valentine's Day dish - strawberries, rose water, vanilla would all be perfect offerings to Aphrodite (if you can bear to leave a little in a dish for Her!).

Of course there are many other ways of preserving summer into winter - perhaps I'll post about making fruit liqueurs in the near future. There are plenty of damsons, sloes and blackberries coming along in the garden and I have great plans...