Pan de Muerto

The pan de muerto (Spanish for Bread of the Dead or Day of the Dead Bread) is a type of bread from Mexico baked during the Dia de los Muertos season, around the end of October and the official holiday is celebrated on November 2. It is a soft bread shaped in round loaves with strips of dough attached on top (to resemble bones), and usually covered or sprinkled with sugar....

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Whole Grain Bread for Lammas

Bread is a central feature in Lammas and Lughnasadh celebrations. Here's a great recipe for whole grain bread:

In a large mixing bowl combine:

• 2 cups milk (warm to the touch)
• 2 packages of dry baking yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup honey...

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Fairy Wine Recipe

It is said that if a human drinks from fairy wine, he or she will see fairies. If a fairy happens to drink from the same goblet, then the person will see fairies forevermore. The following is a traditional recipe for fairy wine.

• 7 lbs. elderberries, stripped and stalked
• 3 gallons boiling water
• 6 cloves
• 3 lbs. loaf sugar...

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Gypsy Open Sandwich

Mix grated cheese, chopped parsley and a little cream from the top of the milk. Spread on thick slices of brown bread and butter, surround with a border of finely chopped parsley and ...

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Parsley Soup

Saute a minced onion in a little butter or olive oil and add two large diced potatoes, 1/2 cup of white rice, 1 cup of chopped parsley (no stems) and about 4 cups of chicken or vegetable stock. Simmer half an hour. Just before serving, add...

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Parsley Jelly

This is a wonderful recipe for relieving rheumatism and cleaning the blood:

Wash a big bunch of parsley, put it into a large earthenware pot or flameproof casserole dish. Press it down tightly and cover it with water, bring it to the boil and simmer with lid on for two hours. Strain the liquid, measure it, and add...

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Simnel Cake

A wonderful spiced and fruited cake which heralds the advent of Spring, simnel cake has a fascinating cultural heritage with roots that stretch back to the Romans and Athenians. In Britain, known as the Shrewsbury Simnel, it is simply made using white flour, fragrant spices and is generously studded with dried fruits and pungent peel.


Like a Christmas cake, it is covered with pale sweet almond paste. The decoration is plain - twelve little balls of smooth paste. A specially baked simnel cake is a wonderful gift to take to your mother for Matronalia, Mother's Day, or Mothering Sunday Tea Time. Decorate it with crystalised flowers and tie some yellow ribbon around the side.

INGREDIENTS:

For the almond paste:

• 400 g icing sugar, sifted
• 250 g ground almonds...

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Aphrodsiac Passion Drink

• 1 pinch Rosemary
• 2 pinches Thyme
• 2 tsp. Black Tea
• 1 pinch Coriander
• 3 fresh Mint leaves (or 1/2 tsp. dried)
• 5 fresh Rosebud petals (or 1 tsp. dried)...

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Calendula Biscuits

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoons salt
• ¼ cup butter
• 2 tablespoons calendula petals, finely chopped
• ... So sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, Eating To Live, hosted at shirleytwofeathers.com, and can be found in its entirety here: Calendula Biscuits

Strawberry Honey Love Potion

Sometimes you have your love target in sight, and a little nudge is all that is needed. Some added sweetness can easily turn their thoughts toward you. Sweeten the disposition of your intended with this easy love potion!

Ingredients

• 2 cups frozen strawberries
• 2 cups milk
• 1 Tbsp honey...

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Classic Krasnye Blini

Blins or blini were symbolically considered by early Slavic peoples in pre-Christian times as a symbol of the sun, due to their round form. They were traditionally prepared at the end of winter to honor the rebirth of the new sun. This tradition was adopted by the Orthodox church (Shrovetide, Butter Week, or Maslenitsa) and is carried on to the present day. Blini were also served at wakes to commemorate the recently deceased.

Traditional Russian blini are made with yeasted batter, which is left to rise and then diluted with cold or boiling water or milk. When diluted with boiling water, they are referred to as zavarniye blini. The blini are then baked in a traditional Russian oven. The process of cooking blini is still referred to as baking in Russian, even though these days they are almost universally pan-fried, like pancakes....

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Babble Fish

This dish accents creative communications, especially with those ever-annoying know-it-alls, wiseacres, gossips, conversation hogs, and those who are quick to jump into discussions just to hear themselves talk! The yellow parsnips, carrots, and pepper reflect the air element, which empowers our words.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium carrots
• 2 medium parsnips
• 1 yellow pepper...

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The Breasts of Saint Agatha

These baked “breasts” are one of many different versions of pastries made in honor of St. Agatha, the patron saint for breast cancer. St. Agatha was tortured and martyred in 251 A.D. In addition to many other tortures, her were breasts cut off. In Catania, Sicily, and other places around the world, her feast day is celebrated with masses in her honor, large processions and symbolic foods, such as le minni di Sant’Agata  (breasts of St. Agatha) or le minni di virgini  (breasts of the virgin).

Traditionally, the breasts of Saint Agatha pastries consist of a delicate outer layer of pasta frolla (shortbread dough) in the shape of a breast, stuffed with custard, zuccata, chopped almond or pistachio, covered with pink icing and topped with a half candied cherry; another version is filled with ricotta and covered with white icing and topped with a chocolate chip.

Personally, I prefer an unfrosted version (shown above) as it looks more realistic. My daughter and I actually made these, and they were delicious! We couldn't decide which filling was better, so I've included both recipes....

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King Midas’ Golden Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 large Yellow Beets, peeled and cubed
• 1 small-medium carrot, chopped
• 1 small potato, peeled and cubed
• 1 bay leaf 

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Twelfth Night Cake

Traditionally, a cake was baked for this day, and a bean hidden somewhere in the mixture and baked along with it. Whoever received the piece of cake with the bean was appointed King or Queen of the Bean for the night, and lead the company in songs and games. Here's a recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups currants...

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Figgy Pudding

Figgy pudding is a pudding resembling something like a white Christmas pudding containing figs. The pudding may be baked, steamed in the oven, boiled or fried. The history of figgy pudding dates back to 16th century England. Its possible ancestors include savory puddings such as crustades, fygeye or figge (a potage of mashed figs thickened with bread), creme boiled (a kind of stirred custard), and sippets. In any case, its methods and ingredients appear in diverse older recipes.

Today, the term figgy pudding is popularized mainly by the Christmas carol "We Wish You A Merry Christmas," which includes the line, "Now bring us some figgy pudding" in the chorus....

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Yule Eggnog Bread

4 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 tbs. butter
1 6 oz. packet Sun Maid Sun Ripened Dried Fruit Bits...

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Cinnamon Ornaments

• 1 part cinnamon
• 1 part applesauce
• splash of nutmeg, cloves or ginger

Mix ingredients until it is a firm dough. If too try and crumbly, add more applesauce. If too moist, add more cinnamon or nutmeg. Roll out on a cinnamon-dusted board, rolling 1/4 to 1/8 inch thick.If the dough is really sticky, you can roll it out between 2 sheets of plastic wrap....

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Traditional Eggnog

Ingredients:

• 12 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 qt heavy cream
• 1 qt milk
• 1 qt bourbon whiskey 
• 1 cup rum
• nutmeg

Separate the eggs. Beat the egg whites together until stiff, then beat in a 1/2 cup of sugar. Beat the egg yolks until pale and light. Add the remaining cup of sugar and a 1/4 tsp of salt....

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Anise Cookies For Yule

1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon anise seed ...

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