~December Pagan Mama's Circle~ - Page 7

[Aeress]

Salvia- beautiful!!!!! that's all I have to say.

thanks for the link and information. it has been a tough day and it isn't over yet. : : so it is nice to have a break and visit with everyone!

[Kleine Hexe]

Salvia, beautiful decoration. It turned out so nice.

Cool link.

[eilonwy]

Beautiful.

[Valerie.Qc]

Salvia, I love the pictures! And like the link. I might try to dry some fruits and do some Pomanders... I really like the sent of citrus and cloves!

I'm looking for ideas for our Solstice's meals... I thought I would do the same pizza I did last year but both the kids and DH have ask for something else... I have a nice salad recipie with avocado, oranges and pomegrenata (sp?) but DH have a hard time with the pomegrenata seeds (I can skip them in his plate) and DD1 doesn't like the orange dressing : (harder to skip).

Any ideas?

[CariOfOz]

Lovely Salvia! I love the branch idea... I'm on the look out for a branch that would look 'treelike' if I stood it on end, to make a Seasons/Sabbat tree out of so the boys & I can decorate it and have it as a permanent changing fixture in the house. Our seasons don't visually change that much here, only the absence or presence of rain, so it'd be great to have something representative indoors at least

[eilonwy]

I love pomegranites. I wish they weren't so expensive, I'd eat them every day.

[Jennisee]

Salvia, those branches are gorgeous! The Midwest ice storm knocked a bunch of branches out of our pine tree, and I think I'll try that with them. I have some limes, but I think I'll get oranges instead. More sun-like.

[Birth Junky]

Originally Posted by Valérie.Qc

I'm looking for ideas for our Solstice's meals... I thought I would do the same pizza I did last year but both the kids and DH have ask for something else... I have a nice salad recipie with avocado, oranges and pomegrenata (sp?) but DH have a hard time with the pomegrenata seeds (I can skip them in his plate) and DD1 doesn't like the orange dressing : (harder to skip).

Any ideas?

I did a squash soup last year for our Solstice dinner (so that the round bowls represented the sun) and then had bread and salad to go along with. I also roasted some of the (butternut) squash seeds to garnish the soup.

My solstice salad ALSO has pomegranate seeds, with fennel and citrus. Funny that they are so similar--perhaps I will add some cubed avocado this year!

[Kleine Hexe]

Post recipes, please.

My DH does not like squash. I made squash soup once and it was sooooo yummy and he refused to touch it. So other ideas are welcome.

[OceanMomma]

Can you get blood oranges where you are ? I used to make a fruit salad with chopped blood oranges. What you do is peel them & chop them up & then scrape the bits off the inside of the peel. Then you make a syrup from a bit of water, some rosemary & some peppercorns. When the syrup is done, you add it to the chopped oranges & chill it all for a while for the flavours to mix. I've never seen blood oranges for sale here in the shops but I have recently seen a tree in a nursery catalogue. Except, unfortunately, oranges would not grow anywhere near here

Still dithering about the solstice meal. I'd like to go down one of the ocean beaches & light a fire & maybe cook a fish or three. Except it will probably be a) raining b) we'll have some sort of howling gale ( we have a gale with sleet forecast for friday! ) c) we're not supposed to light fires on any of the beaches. I may just have to be civilised & take a few candles in jam jars & a picnic instead

As to squash soup recipes. Squash are just pumpkins right? You can do heaps with them. I make it depending on what I have available. Mostly I'll fry up some onions & garlic, throw in some chopped pumpkin, some stock or water & cook for a while. Then bung in some herbs & seaweed & cook for a while longer & purree the whole lot. I sometimes add other veges eg kumara. Sometimes I don't purree it & make more of a minstrone type soup. Sometimes I purree the pumpkin bit but not the other veges. Sometimes I add some ginger. Actually pumpkin & kumara soup with a bit of ginger is very nice. Here's a recipe that looks similar. Just use ginger instead of tarragon.

http://www.foodlovers.co.nz/recipes/display.php?id=924

[heket]

Shoot, pomanders are easy. My mom and I would do this at our local Ren Fest and people would stick around to watch for ages...

I just thought that maybe with the juice of the orange, the ground clove would stick and stay as it shrivels. I've never experienced a moldy pomander, and I wonder if it's because I live in a drier climate (SoCal). Perhaps I wouldn't have had as much luck living in another location?

Well, tonight we made St. Nick's Day cookies and they are waiting to be eaten. I still have to get the kids gifts wrapped up and I'm certain dh will be willing to help St. Nick with the cookies. Half a batch for home, and half for my staff at work.

I'm so ready for bed... :

[CariOfOz]

Originally Posted by Kleine Hexe

Post recipes, please.

My DH does not like squash. I made squash soup once and it was sooooo yummy and he refused to touch it. So other ideas are welcome.

Here's a site with some wicked pumpkin soup recipes on it!
http://www.mom-mom.com/pumpkin_soup_recipes.htm Here in Australia i found out quickly that people treat pumpkin like a vegetable.. not an item for carving funny/scary faces in at Halloween We eat it roasted, mashed, and my fave way.. SOUP! I have almost any sweet potato/pumpkin soup recipe can be interchanged too (as my hubbys grandfather HATED sweet potatoes, but nan served him 'pumpkin' soup all the time that was actually sweet potatoe soup LOL) The curried one and the honey mustard soup sound really nice!

We're headed for summer solstice but I think a pumpkin soup would still be pretty good

[heathenmom]

We celebrate the entire Yule Tide (12 days), but only go "all out" for meals on 2 nights: Mothers Night & Twelfth Night. Since we consider this time of year sacred to Frey, we'll have some sort of pork for the main course those 2 nights. Mothers Night is when we revere the Disir of our family, so we'll cook dishes that are traditional for our family. Not sure which ones yet, though! I know there will be homemade biscuits, probably some sort of sweet potato dish, my grandmother's chewy cake ... I need to pull out the family recipe book!

[eilonwy]

Originally Posted by OceanMomma

As to squash soup recipes. Squash are just pumpkins right?

Pumpkins are squash, but not all squash are pumpkins. They are all delicious, in my experience.

KH-- My husband is forever telling me about foods he "doesn't like." Like, FIL gave me some trout he'd caught (he's the only one in his family who can eat them) and Mike said, "Go ahead and try it, but I won't eat much I don't like trout." So I washed, thawed, and cooked two small-ish trout (for me and BeanBean, then about 1.5 years old). While they were frying up, Mike came and said, "Something smells really good!" He tasted it and then was all irritated that I'd only made enough for myself and BeanBean. The same thing has happened with Brussels sprouts, tuna casserole, egg drop soup, and at least half a dozen other food items. "I don't like that," followed by "Something smells really good," and then "Mind if I finish this?" He's such a complete dork. You'd think that after the second time, he'd have realized what was happening. I don't like things that don't taste good! I've never forced him to eat anything, that's not my deal, but I would encourage him to taste it once (I do the same for him). In my case, I've never had to encourage him-- he smells my cooking and his mouth begins to water. It's fascinating to me because I can't actually cook.

[Kleine Hexe]

My DH is exasperating with foods he doesn't like. He won't eat any type of squash (including pumpkin not even pumpkin pie), tomatoes, tofu, tempeh, ginger, cilantro, turkey, or anything curry.

These happen to be foods that I really like. Go figure.

[mamaofthree]

I wonder if that has anything to do with them being forced to eat when they were kids. My parents forced us to eat, I have learned to love all sorts of foods, but my brother pretty much eats bread and bacon and beer. My dh was picky as a kid, but his mom never made a deal out of it and he loves pretty much all foods. I wonder about this, because 2 of my 4 kids are so picky and I am trying to be like my MIL and just offering it, and letting them refuse. What do you all think?

I am thinking of doing a dish with pork and apples, doing up my sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts and some kind of pie probably pumpkin as I can make it look sun like. LOL. Might mash up some potatoes as everyone loves those. LOL
We will be celbrating Yule with just us (dh, the kids and me), then going out of town and doing the whole Christmasy thing with family... which will be spread out over days and days. LOL

H

[Aeress]

*mmmmmmm* stop talking about food!!!!


anyone have their cards finished? I got two done addressed and note written...need to buy stamps

[wombatclay]

We have strong family allergies to pork and fish (shellfish, freshwater, salt water, the whole 9 yards), and a few family members with a dislike for red meat, so our holiday meal is usually a goose! We make a very "dickensian" meal with chestnut stuffing and cranberries and plum pudding and fruitcake and other yummy things. It's usually on Solstice, but this year we're thinking of doing our goose for Solstice and then, since we have a ton of family coming for Christmas, doing little cornish hens and other traditional sides.

But the recipes here are wonderful! I think I'll make some squash soup for dinner tonight it sounds so good.

In terms of holiday foods/games...anyone familiar with the game "snap dragon"? You pile up small fruits (cherries, dried plums, raisins, etc) in a bowl of (usually) brandy, turn out the lights, and then light the alcohol! The game is to pull a fruit out of the flaming bowl and pop it in your mouth. To think this was considered a "good activity" for children way back when...

--forced to eat foods...my mom tried to force me to eat a bowl of split pea soup when I was around 4 years old. I didn't eat it at dinner, I didn't eat it for breakfast, I didn't eat it at lunch. I think I finally tried one bite at the following night's dinner but since then I have NEVER eaten split pea soup. I don't care if it smells yummy, I don't care if DH drools over it while I eat toast...I am NOT eating split pea soup!--

[GoldBerry]

thoughts?

I've been thinking about this for awhile and I'd love to have your thoughts on it...

Wombatclay wrote on the Resource thread:

A pagan themed work of fiction that has been discussed a lot recently is Neil Gaiman's 2001 publication "American Gods".

It explores what might happen when people move across the world, bringing thier own rituals/dieties/beliefs along with them. Do the gods of the "old country" actually come with the immigrants, or do existing spirits of the "new country" expand to fill the need?

Probably won't read this fiction book as I'm not big on Dark fiction, but it address the issue that has been rolling about in my head for awhile.

Personally, I feel so removed from the homeland of my ancestors and I did not really belong to the land which I grew up in (and my relations had lived in for 200 years). When I moved out West, I knew I was in the right place. The land has spoken to me in wondrous ways- and continues to! But, the spirituality of this land- Native American religions- does not feel like something I can make my own. I worked with Pueblo people in New Mexico and I have so much respect for them. They are very private about their spirituality and I can really understand that(everything else has been taken from them!). I enjoy reading about Native American religions (I esp. love Coyote/trickster stories), but I could never "practice" it.

So, what I am trying to say is that I feel too removed from the land of my ancestors to identify with them and I feel too new to the land of my heart to know the way to fully honor it.

Any one else feel this way? Any thoughts?

[GoldBerry]

Originally Posted by wombatclay

We have strong family allergies to pork and fish (shellfish, freshwater, salt water, the whole 9 yards), and a few family members with a dislike for red meat, so our holiday meal is usually a goose! We make a very "dickensian" meal with chestnut stuffing and cranberries and plum pudding and fruitcake and other yummy things.

Oh, YUM! Can I come to your house? :