2 of my favorite blogs meet…

In a giveaway! Hooray! Go check it out and enter here! Progressive Pioneer and Mamma4Earth are wonderful blogs to read and I go to them daily! =) Enjoy! Good luck!

Blueberry Lemonade

I spent some time at two close friend’s house and one of them made some amazing blueberry lemonade fizz! I’ll share the recipe here since she shared it with me! I’m constantly amazed by her cooking because she’ll just decide to throw some ingredients together and BAM! Awesome food!

Blueberry Fizz

Ingredients:

• about 1 cup of blueberries
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup lime juice
• 5 cups club soda

Procedure:

Let the blueberries thaw a little if they are frozen; mash them up a bit in the 1 cup of sugar when they’re ready. Then add in the lemon, lime juice, and club soda. Mix it up until the sugar has dissolved and there you go!

When I made this, I did not have any club soda so I used  water and it was still delicious! It also got better over time while it sat in the fridge! SO YUMMY! =)

Red, White, & Blueberry Philly Cheese Pound Cake

I know, I know, y’all are thinking “epic fail on the making-something-with-blueberries-everyday idea.” I have been able to make a few things and definitely have more planned! Here is a delicious recipe for blueberry/raspberry poundcake!

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened, but not quite room temperature
• 1 8 ounce package of cream cheese, softened slightly
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 6 ounces raspberries
• 6 ounces fresh blueberries
• lemon glaze (recipe follows)

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees (165 degrees celsius). Spray four mini loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray, and place on a cookie sheet.

2. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and cream cheese. Pour in sugar and mix until smooth. Add in eggs, one at a time, mixing well until each is incorporated.

3. While ingredients are mixing, whisk together four, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Slowly add flour mixture to the wet ingredients.

4. Divided batter into two bowls. Fold raspberries into one, and the blueberries into the other. (Or you can skip dividing the batter and just fold both kinds of berries into one batter).

4. Distribute batter evenly among the four pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35-50 minutes.  Drizzle with lemon glaze and let cool completely. Wrap any extras tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for up to one month.

Lemon Glaze

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2-3 tablespoons heavy cream

Mix all ingredients together until smooth. Add more juice or cream as necessary to achieve desired consistency.

If you click on the picture of the finished product, you should be taken to the website where I found the recipe (and picture, lol).

Enjoy!!

July Is Blueberry Month!!

I adore blueberries and it has recently come to my attention that July is blueberry month! Woot! So I’m going to try to make a dish with blueberries in it every day! Or at least every few days, lol! So here is the recipe for July 5th, 2010:

Blueberry Coffee Cake

(this recipe is from joyofbaking.com)

Ingredients:

Streusel Topping:

• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/3 cup granulated white sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Cake:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup milk
• 2 cups fresh blueberries

Procedure:

For the topping, mix together the flour, sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Cut the butter into the mixture using a pastry blender or fork until the mixture resembles large crumbles. Set aside.

For the batter, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer or hand mixer (or spoon!), beat the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until everything is nicely blended. Add the flour mixture alternatively with the milk and blend until just combined.

Spread into the bottom of an 8×8″ square pan or a 8″ round cake pan that has been sprayed with cooking oil.

Arrange the blueberries on top and the sprinkle with streusel topping.

Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a fork inserted in the center comes out clean. For me, i took about an hour but I used a smaller, round pan. Let it cool for a bit and serve it warm, or at room temp!

Blessed Litha!

Its here! Summer Solstice! Yay! PSG started yesterday and after a flurry of excitement this past week, the message board has gone almost completely silent! I’m DYING for Friday to come so I can be there already! Ahh! I don’t want to rush the week for the rest of the people though =)

Blessed Solstice to you all!

I’ve decided to begin putting together information on each sabbat and crafts, recipes, and rituals as well! I think it will be a great resource to share with friends and I LOVE cooking and crafting for the sabbats!

We celebrated Father’s Day early, on Saturday, along with Litha. Rain was/is forecasted for yesterday and today so we knew if we wanted to do anything outside, we better do it on Saturday! We went to the beach and had a glorious day in the sun and water!

Here is the rewrite of the Lithan menu:

Grilled Summer Vegetables

Ingredients:

• 4 bell peppers (your choice of colors)
• 2 onions
• 2 yellow squash
• 4 portobello mushrooms (personally, I would leave these out, lol)
• 2 zucchini
• a bunch of green onions
• 1/2 lb of asparagus spears, trimmed
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• balsamic vinegar to taste
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• fresh rosemary
• oregano

Preparation:

Preheat a grilling pan over medium heat. Wash and trim all vegetables. Cut the larger ones, like zucchini and eggplant (if you choose to use it), into slices. Place the veggies in a bowl and drizzle olive oil on them. Shake the bowl so that all the veggies are lightly coated. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Add vegetables to the grilling pan and grill them until they are tender. They should be lightly charred which will take anywhere from 8 to 12 minutes. Its best to do this in small batches unless you have a really big grilling pan.

While the vegetables are grilling, combine 1/4 cup olive oil with the balsamic vinegar, garlic, rosemary, and oregano. Remove the veggies from the grill and place them in a bowl. Pour the dressing in and toss the vegetables to coat the veggies!

Note: some vegetables tend to grill poorly so be careful which ones you choose. Avoid veggies with a high water content like cucumber, celery, and leafy greens.

Recipe taken from here

Sunny Citrus Midsummer Chicken

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 4 boned and skinned chicken breast halves
• 1/4 cup chicken stock or water
• 1/4 cup agave nectar (or honey)
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp curry powder
• dash ginger
• dash paprika, salt, and pepper

Preparation:

Melt butter; brown chicken lightly on both sides; remove and set aside.

Mix together chicken stock, agave nectar (or honey), orange juice and lemon juice. Blend in cornstarch, curry powder, ginger, paprika, salt, and pepper. Pour into a skillet and bring to a boil, stirring as it thickens.

Return chicken to skillet and simmer until cooked through, about 5 minutes.

Arrange the chicken on a platter and spoon the sauce over it. Garnish with orange slices and toasted almonds if desired!

Makes 2 large servings or 4 small servings.

Recipe taken from here

Orange Sponge Cake

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 6 tablespoons orange juice

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour one
9 inch round pan.

Separate the eggs while cold, then bring to room temperature. Beat egg yolks, sugar and grated orange rind until light and
fluffy.

Mix flour and baking powder together. Alternately add flour
mixture and orange juice to the egg yolk mixture.

In a separate large CLEAN bowl, with a CLEAN whisk or beaters, beat
egg whites to stiff peaks, and fold into batter.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake at 325 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes.

Honey Lavender Ice Cream

Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk
• 4 oz lavender honey
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Preparation:

Bring the milk to a boil, and add the honey. Stir and bring back to the boil.

Meanwhile whisk the egg yolks in a bowl for 1 minute, add the cream, whisking until mixed.

Add the boiling milk-honey mixture and whisk vigourously (you can
do the last two steps in a food processor)

Color it with a very little food coloring, or blueberry juice, if
you must.

Strain into an electric ice-cream maker, and churn and freeze until
the mixture sets. Alternatively (and not as good a texture) freeze
in a shallow plastic container, taking out and whisking well when
half frozen.

*Lavender honey can be made by adding dried lavender buds to honey and heating for about 30 minutes, letting it cool slightly, then putting it in the sun for 3 hours (optional), and finally, straining out the lavender.*

Blueberry Mead

*this recipe should sit for at least 4 months, but best results for a year!*

Ingredients:

1st Fermentation-

• 10 lbs wildflower honey
• 5 lbs frozen blueberries
• 4 gallons of water
• 3-4 packets of dry mead yeast

2nd Fermentation-

• 5 lbs wildflower honey
• 5 lbs frozen blueberries

Preparation:

Boil 3.5 gallons of water to eliminate chlorine

When cooled to 160 degrees, steep fruit in a cheesecloth for 30 minutes. Remove slowly and let it drip until it stops.

Return the mixture to 140 degrees, remove from heat and dissolve honey in it.

Chill to 65 degrees

Aerate by stirring and put in 4 packets of the dry mead yeast

Ferment one month in a large, five gallon, glass jug

Add honey (you’re on the 2nd fermentation now) and stir it until it dissolves.

Add the second round of berries

Ferment another month of two and rack (siphon off the sediments) into a second five-gallon jug

Ferment another 4-6 months before bottling if you can wait that long!

*Recipe by Phil Wilcox

Thanks for being patient while I wrote these out again! =)

Hekate

So lately I’ve felt very very drawn to Hekate….I’ve made a rosary specifically for her, and have spent a lot of time researching what I can! It all started when I took part in the Sacred Fire of Hekate Rite on 5/27/10. It was very powerful and she has wiggled her way into my life ever since! I guess I have a thing about Triple Goddesses since Brighid is also a part of my life.

I had an idea last night, but I’m nervous to bring it up to people. I want to create a book (ebook or whatever)  of prayers, devotions, hymns, poems, etc., to Hekate. I know SEVERAL wonderful writers within the Pagan community and feel like I could approach them but am nervous to do so. I’ve asked a dear friend of mine already, Becca, to write and will be asking others shortly. Maybe it can be published on lulu.com? I don’t know how that all works but its an idea for now!

Goddess of the Crossroads, guide me on my path and illuminate my way. Oh Great Hekate, in Your Name, Blessed Be!

I found this image on a facebook group and really liked it, so I’m sharing! =)

The Vintage Pearl Giveaway!

Wow! I just wandered on over to the Progressive Pioneer blog and found out about this giveaway! The jewelry is amazing-looking and I love the concept! I seem to have rotten luck but maybe one of these days I’ll win! =) Go! Check it out! Enter! And while you’re at it, check out the blog! You WILL NOT be disappointed! I’m an avid reader of Progressive Pioneer!

Sorry!

Sorry for the lack of posts lately! May is always insane but now that it has slowed down, I’ll be posting here again shortly! : )

Litha Is Coming!

I can feel it! That splendid, warm sun…the festivals…PSG..its coming! And I’ve been getting a head start on it all by making some Litha-centered recipes! Sun’s Up Cobbler, Buttermilk Scones with Orange Honey Butter, and Midsummer Tea! I’m hoping that tomorrow is sunny and warm enough to make the sun tea and then have the scones (made with oat flour this time since one of my besties has a gluten sensitivity) and tea with a friend when she drops by to discuss Thorn Coyle’s book “Evolutionary Witchcraft.” We’ve been working through it together and I’m LOVING the Feri Tradition! Its so fulfilling and feels really right for me!

The Iowa Pagan Music Festival was this past Sunday and it was AWESOME! My favorites were Celia and Natalie Brown! I was fascinated by the process of looping!!

Natalie B:

Celia:

I had my aura photographed at this event as well and it came out REALLY cool! I’m hoping to scan the picture in tomorrow and post it in here! It showed a whole lot of guides surrounding me and a healing guide to my left! The colors showed that I am optimistic, happy, very healing, and that there is a big change coming in my life (or happening now). It was really neat to see and definitely raised the hairs on my arm! Crazy!

Our Litha will be spent at PSG and it can’t come soon enough! I’m going to really enjoy my son’s 6th birthday this weekend though! That is just as exciting for me! I can’t believe he is 6 already!

I received my 3 Sisters set from Mama Roots and I am in love! It is an amazing product that I will treasure for the rest of my life! I’m going to rearrange our altar and cleanse it, then I will put up a picture of the set. There is a second set on its way to a dear friend of mine and we plan to do a consecration ritual together!

Blessed Be!

Progressive Pioneer Moby Wrap Giveaway!!

I love Moby Wraps! They are so awesome! Progressive Pioneer is giving one away to one lucky fan, so head on over and enter! Make sure to go through the blog and check out the past posts! They’re fantastic! =)

http://www.progressivepioneer.com/progressive-pioneer/2010/05/giveaway-moby-wrap.html