Wassail Chant part two

Well they sang it in rounds, not sure they meant too but it was fun. The film is wobbly sorry, difficult to keep a littleun away from the draw of flames whilst filming at the same time! But hopefully you'll like it.

Was a fantastic evening, catching up with friends, new and old. Celebrating the apple trees. Oh and the smell, of the hot ciders, the fire, the hog roasts just lovely. Littleun enjoyed it, dancing away to the drum beat, watching the Morris sides (only Borders though not sure why) singing the tunes. Beats Saturday tv anytime!

Wassail Chant

Oh Apple Tree we honour thee,
In hope that you will bear
The Blessed fruit of Avalon,
At harvest time each year.

Each golden apple you bring forth,
A gift to Aphrodite,
Has at is heart a pentacle,
The symbol of her mystery.

Your blossom heralds Springtime,
Your leaf brings summer shade,
Let Samhain's harvest cup be filled,
With Cider freshly made.


When winters cold envelopes you,
In wind and rail and hail,
Then we'll return each year to bring,
Our grateful thanks,
WASSAIL!!

Guess where we have been tonight...

Mabon making but Yule drinking...

Apple Schnapps

YAY I hear you cry, not another cake or jam recipe phew. No its one for the adults. Recommended to me by a Scandinavian friend this recipe is for a knock your boots off apple schnapps. Make it now at Mabon with your apples harvested and store for the few months to drink in winter or give as gifts.

Use fresh, fully ripe and aromatic apples. Wild or cultivated. Organic if available. You can use almost any variety. So start with your favourite one, then try some other varieties.

Direction:

Wash and slice 1-2 apples. Leave the skin on.
Put them - and also the cores - in a clean glass jar with tight-fitting lid.
Cover with clear, unflavoured vodka - 40% alcohol content (80 proof).

Let steep for two months or more in a dark place at room temperature, 18-20°C (64-68°F).

Shake lightly and taste it from time to time.

Strain and filter your infusion into a clean glass bottle or jar with tight-fitting lid.

You can serve your apple schnapps after it has settled for a couple of days in a dark place at room temperature. But some storage (aging) will improve the flavours. Taste it from time to time to find out.

Mea'n Fo'mhair/Mabon: Crab Apple Jelly

Ok, well you just knew with all the crops from our allotment/Dads garden this year was going to turn into recipe after recipe. And I hope you don't mind. We are also going to be trying out different crafts too so hopefully some variation for you!

For a recipe based on the crab apples we collected you will need:


Preserving sugar (see method)
1kg/2¼lb crab apples
3 cloves
water (see method)

Method

Preheat the oven to 120c/250f/gas½. Put the preserving sugar into the oven for 15 mins. Wash the apples and cut them in half but do not peel or core. Place the apples and cloves in a large saucepan.

Pour the water to cover. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer until soft. Strain the mixture into a bowl. Measure the juice and ass 450g/1lb/2 cups of sugar for each 600ml/1pint/2½ cups of juice. Pour into a pan and heat gently. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then boil rapidly until the setting point is reached. Pour into warm sterilized jars and seal.

To the Rescue...

What a week. September is always busy for us. We have Littleuns birthday, Littleuns Mad Aunt birthday, start of Littleuns new school, Holidays to enjoy oh and the Harvest to continue. Blimey exhausted just reading that little lot!

a few of our apples...

Well the Harvest is normally longer than now but this week we had to do a mad rescue as the allotment got blown down by a rather horrible turn in the weather. Sadly we have been forced to gather in the tomatoes before they have ripened as the wind and rain are starting to cause damage and rot. So look out for green tomato recipes soon as that is what I will have to do with the 3 large bag loads of them we managed to save. As for the cucumbers well they are fighting back, have found another 5 hiding in amongst the damage so more salad any one?! As for apples, well don't get me started, the whole of the kitchen has been covered by them as we have washed and now are drying them off. We have Bramleys, Coxes and Crabs, guess tomorrow includes sugar on the shopping list!

Birthday parties are being planned too, baking and cooking to happen. This year we have gone for a cinema type party, lots of Tom and Jerrys etc think it will be good but I can't believe how much Littleun has grown, seems like only yesterday I brought baby home from hospital. And not long before he starts school. Ooh do I cry now? boohoo!

So a busy month, with Mabon to enjoy as well, ahead.

Lammas Lughnasadh: Altar-gether

He he please excuse the silly name for this post, just in one of those moods!

Right what I’m going to ramble on about in this post is our altar. I always try and involve Littleun in the making of our altar and we often start putting it together in the days leading up to the relevant celebration. Although it isn’t ever difficult to find something that Littleun wants to add, this particular celebration being for both Lammas and Lugh makes it easy for him to join in.

Last years small altar, got more space this year

There are so many little crafts that can be represented by him ranging from the corn dollies to drawings, berry bracelets, Apple candle holders or just candles made to look like apples, to name a few. This mixes both the arts and the harvest at the same time.

This year we have befriended a local famer who has been growing corn and wheat and has kindly given us some sheaths. We will start by making a horn for a cornucopia, then Littleun has said he would like to add the plastacine fruits we made (bunches of grapes) and some of the flowers from the allotment.

The colours for the altar are going to be golds, oranges, greens, representing the time of the year with the golden growth but that there is still more to come so the green for the continuous growing season.

If you would like to make your own apple candle holders it is very easy to do: (from about.com)

"Rinse and dry the fruit or vegetable thoroughly. Polish the outside with a soft cloth until the apple is shiny. Stand the apple up on its bottom, and use a knife or a corer to make a hole in the top where the stem is located. Go about halfway down into the apple so that the candle will have a sturdy base. Widen the hole until it’s the same diameter as your candle. Pour some lemon juice into the hole and allow it to sit for ten minutes. This will prevent the apple from browning and softening too quickly. Pour out the lemon juice, dry out the hole, and insert a sprig of rosemary, basil, or other fresh herb of your choice. Finally, add the taper candle. Use a little bit of dripped wax to secure the taper in place."

Right am off to find the maize maze with Littleun, more (if you aren’t bored yet) about our lammas celebrations later...

Dried orange decorations

We are really getting into making our own decorations this year and have made quite a varied bunch. The latest is our Orange dec’s.

To make these you will need:
Several Oranges
Cinnamon Sticks
Crab Apples
Garden Twine or Pretty Strings

Large strong needle or small skewer

Choose large firm oranges. Slice thinly, and arrange on a baking tray trying not to overlap (they stick together otherwise). Set the cooker on the lowest heat and leave to dry out, checking every hour to begin with. The idea is to let them 'cook' long enough to dry out completely, but not to burn. If they do not dry entirely they may not keep for long and go mouldy. If dried properly they can be kept after Yule in an airtight container for months. For the small whole oranges we used a smaller variety and cut slits into the skin through to the flesh and repeated above cooker process. For the apples I used small crab apples from the garden harvest, leaving them whole repeat the above cooker process but you don’t need to do it for quite so long.

When you have sufficiently dried the fruit you then will need a heavy duty needle or small skewer. Starting with the cinnamon tie some sticks together with the twine. In the middle of your orange slice or whole fruit pierce a hole, thread through the twine and tie knots either side. Keep stacking this way until you are happy with the length of your decoration. Loop the top of the twine to make a hanging holder part and then hang on the tree or around your house.

To keep the fragrance you can occasionally top up the smell with some orange oil.