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Imbolc Recipes
Maiden Awakens Muffins
Returning Sun Spice Bread
Bride's Brunch
Ewe-L" Love This Potato Soup
Winter's Light Creamed Cabbage
Imbolc Feast Lamb Stew
Blessed Bride's Cake
Imbolc Ritual Cake
Imbolc Crafts
Chandling or Candlemaking
Brigid's Crown
Maiden Wakes Muffins
2 cups flour
2 Carrots, grated
1/2 cup raisins
1 green apple, peeled, cored, grated
1 cup sugar
1/2
cup almonds, sliced
2 tsp. baking soda
3 eggs
2 tsp. cinnamon
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. salt
2tsp.vanilla
Soak raisins in hot water, in a covered bowl, for 30 minutes. Drain thoroughly. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a
large non-metal bowl, mix flour, soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in carrots, raisins, apple, and almonds. In a separate bowl,
beat eggs, oil, and vanilla until well blended. Stir egg mixture in to the flour mixture until just wet. Grease muffin pan
with a little butter or use cupcake/muffin cups. Divide the batter into the cups and bake for 20-22 minutes, or until golden
brown. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan. Makes 8 servings.
Returning Sun Spice Bread
1 1/4 cup flour
1/8 cup poppyseeds
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup raisins, plain or golden
1/2 tsp.
baking soda
1/2 cup butter/margarine
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
3/4 cup Karo golden corn syrup
1/2 cup light brown
sugar
4 tbs. milk
1 large egg, beaten
1 tsp. mixed spices**
**Equal parts of cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.
Sift the flour, soda, and baking powder into a non-metal bowl. Add the mixed spice and ginger. Next add the brown
sugar and raisins. Mix. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. In a small sauce pan, melt the butter and the syrup
over a low heat, then pour liquid into the well in the middle of the flour mixture. Add the beaten egg and the milk, and mix
very well. Pour into a well greased 2-lb loaf pan and bake in a preheated oven at 325 degrees for 40-50 minutes. This bread
can be made the night before as it improves with age. Makes 8-10 servings.
Bride's Brunch
2 [9-inch] pie shells
3 tbs. green onions/chives, finely chopped
1/2 pound Canadian style bacon/ thin sliced ham
1/2 tsp. salt
8 eggs
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tbs. milk
Line a quiche dish with 1 pie shell. Arrange 1/2 of bacon
or ham in bottom of shell. Break 7 eggs into the dish. Pierce the egg yolks with a fork, but do not mix the egg yolks with
the egg whites. Add the green onions/chives, salt, and pepper. Arrange the remaining bacon or ham on top. Cover with remaining
pie shell. Mix the remaining egg with the milk and lightly brush the top crust with the mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 30-40
minutes. Serve hot or cold. Makes 6 servings.
Ewe-L" Love This Potato Soup
2 oz butter/margarine
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 medium onions, peeled
Salt & pepper (to taste)
3
large potatoes, peeled
1 sprig thyme, bay leaf, and bunch parsley
2 pints milk
Chopped chives to garnish
Melt
butter in a large pan and add thinly sliced potatoes and onions. Toss well in the butter. Put a lid on the pan and allow the
vegetables to simmer over a low heat for about 10 minutes. Don't let the vegetables turn brown. Add the milk and all other
ingredients, except for the chives, and simmer for about 30 minutes. Remove thyme, bay leaf, and parsley. Pour soup into food
processor or blender (on chop) for about 1 minute. Pour into soup bowls and garnish with chives. Makes 6 servings.
Winter's
Light Creamed Cabbage
1 lb. pre-cooked ham, 1" cubed or shredded
1 heaping tsp. flour
1 firm white cabbage
1/2 tsp. each salt &
pepper
1 cup cream
grated nutmeg
Cut cabbage in half, then into four (small head) or six (large head) pieces.
Plunge into a pot of boiling water and cook for 5 minutes. Drain and run under cold tap water. Drain again. Slice across the
grain in 1/4 inch strips. Melt a little butter/margarine in a sauce pan and add shredded cabbage. Toss well, and keep stirring
all the time. Add salt, pepper, and a dash of grated nutmeg. Next add the heaping teaspoon of flour, mix well. Add cream,
still stirring, and let it come to a boil. Add the cubed or shredded ham, and lower the heat. Cover the sauce pan and let
the mixture simmer for about 30 minutes. Serve hot. Makes 6-8 servings.
Imbolc Feast Lamb Stew
2- 1/2 lb. lamb neck chops
1 tbs. lamb fat
4 medium onions
1 tbs. butter/margarine
4
medium carrots
2 1/2 cups water
4 medium potatoes
1 tbs. parsley, chopped
1 tsp. each salt & pepper
1
tbs. chives, chopped
Don't let the butcher trim the fat off of the lamb chops. Shred some of the excess fat and cook
it down in a large pot or Dutch-oven. Peel the onions, carrots, and potatoes. Cut the onions and carrots into quarters, and
put all the vegetables aside. Cut the meat into8 pieces, and trim away the rest of the excess fat. The bones need not be removed.
Place the meat in the hot fat and brown. Repeat with the onions and carrots. Add water, salt, and pepper carefully. Put whole
potatoes on top. Cover pot and simmer gently until meat is cooked, approx. 2 hours. Remove from heat. Pour off the cooking
liquid into a separate sauce pan, allow to cool for a few minutes, skim off grease, and reheat. Add butter, chives, and parsley
to the reheated liquid in the sauce pan. Pour heated liquid back over the stew. Serve hot. Makes 4-6 servings.
Blessed Bride's Cake
1 cup sugar
1 cup walnut meats, chopped
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup golden raisins
1
cup flour
4 eggs
1 tsp. baking powder
Mix all the ingredients together until they are wet. Do not over mix.
Pour into a greased and floured 9"x9"x2" square baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, or until knife inserted
in middle of cake comes out clean. Allow to cool before serving.
Imbolc Ritual Cake
13/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2
tbs. poppyseeds
1 tbs. grated lemon peel
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tbs. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. salt
powdered sugar
This is all done in one pan, so clean up is a breeze! Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, sugar, poppyseeds, baking
soda, and salt with a fork in an ungreased 9"x9"x2" baking pan. Stir in the remaining ingredients, except the powdered sugar.
Bake 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, and the top is golden brown. Remove from
oven and cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Makes 8 servings.
Chandling (Candle-making)
Remember that when you make candles, it will probably take you a lot longer than you originally planned. If you don't have
a professional setup someplace in the house, expect this endeavor to completely take over your kitchen. There were some fabulous
candle-making websites out on the net that have dissappeared over the past 10 years. About.com has some good information and
links for candle and soap making projects.
I've attempted candle making on several occasions at this point. I'm by no means an expert at it. The last time, for Imbolc
2005, my coven did candle making in a pretty large group at my house. Here are some observations about candle making that
you should keep in mind before attempting it yourself:
- Wax is extremely difficult to remove from certain items and surfaces. This means that whatever containers
and utensils you use for candle making will have wax on them, probably permanently. So don't use your good cookware.
- You'll need a HUGE pot, and likely a ladle. The huge pot is for water - you heat the water, then melt the wax in a container
IN the water.
- Wax is lighter than water. If you use cans to hold the wax while it melts they can be unstable. If you
are hand-dipping tapers, the taper will be only as long as your container is deep. Also, wax drips off the end of the just-dipped
taper, and if you're not careful those drips can fall anywhere.
Candles and Toddlers: An essay on fire safety and Initiation
I cannot stress enough the danger of fire and young children together. I'm sure you are aware of it, but I repeat the obvious
to keep the litigious at bay.
Children can't go near fire; they are drilled with don't touch fire, "stop, drop and roll." Don't take me the wrong way,
here. I think it's right. Fire is a very powerful energy. It's physical and metaphysical all at the same time. You need to
know fire before you can be allowed to handle it. And young children simply can't, because they haven't been initiated into
the secret society called "grownups," and are not allowed to witness or participate in all of the sacred rites.
The Sabbat of Imbolc is an approprate one for a child's initiation to fire. Perhaps it could prevent those midnight experiments
with matches in the bedroom garbage can!
Our mass cultural tendency is to initiate according to calendar age: "At your 16th (17th in some places) birthday you can
drive. At 18, you can vote. At your 21st birthday, you can drink!" That's our society.
Rasing a Pagan child, we teach him that all life is a constant initation, that starting over [on the next higher level,
or plane (hopefully)] happens at all times, times tuned to sacred and natural cycles, as well as secular ones.
Life is a test you can never flunk. You get to do it over until you get it right.
What can our littlest ones do? Make candles - out of paper!
Paper Brigid's Crown
This is especially appropriate for young girls, since this is the holiday for the return of the maiden.
You will need:
- Construction paper
- in your child's favorite colors,
- yellow and/or red, for the flames.
- Pencil, crayon, or marker
- Scissors
- Glue (white glue or glue stick)
What to do:
- Cut a strip of paper about 2 inches wide and long enough to wrap around your child's head. You may need to glue 2 shorter
strips to get the right length. Remember to include a couple of extra inches for overlap!
- Draw and cut out eight thin rectangles (these are the candles) of paper.
- Draw and cut out eight flames.
- Glue the flames to the candles.
- Draw wicks in the flames and candles.
- Distribute the candles evenly around the headband.
- Glue the candles to the outside of the headband. (You can glue it to the inside if you think your youngster will wait
ong enough for the glue to dry!)
Depending on the age of your toddler, they can do the drawing, cutting and gluing. Even the youngest child can hold paper
and have you guide her hands.
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