Samhain Recipes

Pumpkin Muffins
1 c Unbleached Flour, Sifted
2 t Baking Powder
1/4 t Salt
1/4 t Ground Cinnamon
1/4 c Vegetable Shortening
2/3 c Sugar
1 ea Large Egg
1/2 c Canned, Mashed Pumpkin
2 T Milk
Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon; set aside. Cream together shortening and sugar in mixing bowl until light and fluffy, using electric mixer at medium speed. Beat in egg. Combine pumpkin and milk in small bowl. Add dry ingredients alternately with pumpkin mixture to creamed mixture, stirring well after each addition. Spoon batter into paper-lined 2 1/2-inch muffin-pan cups, filling 2/3rds full.

Bake in 350 degree F. oven 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve hot with butter and homemade jam.


Samhain Oil
From Myrriah’s Home Page

1/2 dram Pine Oil
1/4 dram Frankincense oil
1/4 dram Patchouli oil
a/4 dram Lavendar oil
Mix well and bottle.


Uncle Ray’s Orange-Carrot Jello Mold
l pkg. (small size) orange jello
2 or 3 medium carrots----finely grated
1/4 tsp. white horseradish
In 1 and 1/4 cups *Hot* water (Boiled)...add horseradish, then mix in the orange jello...stir and add the finely grated carrots...pour into mold and refrigerate til set...serve with creamy dressing...following:

DRESSING:

Mix equal parts of Mayonnaise and heavy cream together and chill. Serve with jello mold.


Pumpkin Marble Cheesecake
Servings: 10

1 1/2 c Gingersnap Crumbs
1/2 c Finely Chopped Pecans
1/3 c Margarine, Melted
16 oz Cream Cheese, Softened
3/4 c Sugar
1 t Vanilla
3 ea Eggs
1 c Canned Pumpkin
3/4 t Cinnamon
1/4 t Ground Nutmeg
Combine crumbs, pecans and margarine; press onto bottom and 1 1/2-inches up sides of 9-inch springform pan. Bake at 350 degrees F., 10 minutes. Combine cream cheese, 1/2 c sugar and vanilla, mixing at medium speed on electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Reserve 1 c batter, chill. Add remaining sugar, pumpkin and spices to remaining batter; mix well. Alternately layer pumpkin and cream cheese batters over crust. Cut through batters with knife several times for marble effect. Bake at 350 degrees F., 55 minutes. Loosen cake from rim of pan; cool before removing rim of pan. Chill.


Remembrance Cookies
These cookies can be made on Hallow’s Eve. They can be shaped like people and the herb rosemary is added to the dough as a symbol of remembrance. Some of the cookies are eaten while telling stories or attributes of special ancestors, reminding us that we still have access to their strengths--or perhaps a predisposition to their weaknesses. The rest of the cookies are left outside by a bonfire as an offering. This can be a solemn ritul, but it need not be.

Ingredients for the cookies:

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 c. butter or margarine (softened)
1 egg
2 t. vanilla
1 t. almond extract
2 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. cream of tartar
1 1/2 T. chopped rosemary
Heat oven 375 degrees. In a large bowl, beat sugar, butter, egg, vanilla, almond extract, and rosemary until creamy. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Fold flour mixture into sugar mixture. Beat until dough forms and refrigerate for three hours. Divide dough into halves. Roll out one portion to 3/16 of an inch on a floured surface. Cut out with gingerbread women or men cutters and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat rolling and cutting with second portion. Bake for 5-7 minutes.


Colcannon
(Potatoes, harvested from August to October, were a part of the feast in Ireland where they were made into a Samhain dish known as colcannon. Colcannon is a mashed potato, cabbage, and onion dish still served in Ireland on All Saint’s Day. It was an old Irish tradition to hide in it a ring for a bride, a button for a bachelor, an thimble for a spinster, and a coin for wealth, or any other item which local custom decreed in keeping with idea of the New Year as a time for divination.)

4 cups mashed potatoes
2 1/2 cups cabbage, cooked and chopped fine
1/2 cup butter (avoid corn oil margarines as they will not add the needed body and flavor)
1/2 cup evaporated milk or cream
3/4 cup onion, chopped very find and sautéd
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
Sauté onions (traditionalists sauté in lard or grease, but butter is acceptable.). Boil the potatoes and mash them (do not use artificial potato flakes). In a large pan place all of the ingredients except the cabbage and cook over low heat while blending them together. Turn the heat to medium and add the chopped cabbage. The mixture will take on a pale green cast. Keep stirring occasionally until the mixture is warm enough to eat. Lastly drop in a thimble, button, ring, and coin. Stir well and serve.


Howling Jack: Honey Pumpkin Mead
by Aurora

This mead is the color of a ripe peach and smells like autumn leaves - perfect for a Harvest party or Sabbat.

1 sound, hard-rind pumpkin (approx. 2 quart capacity)
Paraffin wax
1 1/2 quarts of water
4 lbs. honey
2 each oranges and lemons
1 pkt. wine yeast
1 tea bag (black tea)

Prepare yeast starter.
Sterilize honey and water by boiling for 10 minutes, skimming the froth as it rises.
Remove from heat; stir in sliced citrus fruits, including skins.
Cool to room temperature; pitch yeast.
Allow to sit over night.
Prepare pumpkin by cutting off the top with a sharp knife. The top must "mate" with the bottom so cut carefully. Clean out the seeds, strings, and membranes of the pumpkin. Rinse out with water.
Pour the must into the pumpking, leaving an inch of air space between the liquid and the rim of the opening. Replace the top.
Prepare the paraffin/water bath: Fill a plastic bucket with hot water, melt the paraffin wax and float it on the water.
Dip the pumpkin, bottom first, into the warm paraffin until it is coated up to its lid. Once the paraffin begins to harden on the pumpkin skin, seal the lid by carefully pouring paraffin over the top, making sure to coat the seam.
Set the pumpkin in the middle of a shallow dishpaaan full of water to keep and thirsty pickle worms at bay and place it in a dark, quiet spot.
Allow to sit for two months, then siphon off and bottle.
Note: It is probably a good idea to rack the mead into a glass fermenter, fitted with an air lock, for evaluation prior to bottling. If the fermentation is not complete and you bottle prematurely, the corks and glass may blow.


Bird’s Nest Pudding
by Siannan

The name of this pudding (really more like a pie) comes from the serving appearance--the apples are nestled in a bowl created by the crust.

5 Granny Smith apples, cored and peeled and sliced thinly
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 egg
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk
2 cups flour (I use a half and half mixture of wheat and white flours--all wheat yields a tough crust)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp butter
1/2 cup sugar (for topping)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease a deep pie dish (lightly grease the rim of the dish as well). Toss apple slices with cinnamon and nutmeg and arrange in the dish. Blend together the egg, sugar, salt, milk, flour, cream, and baking powder until it begins to form a dough. Do not over mix! Shape the dough into a crust and mold it over the top of the pie dish to cover. Bake at for 25 minutes. To serve, invert the dish over a platter. Dot the apples with butter and sprinkle with the remaining sugar. Serve with heavy cream sprinkled with nutmeg. Just the thing for contemplating a warm fire or a cozy night of music!

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