Ostara is traditionally celebrated on the Spring Equinox but in some Heathen traditions they celebrate once there are actual signs of spring appearing. Spring does not actually show up in some cities and areas in the far north until later March and April. In this way we just haven't gotten around to celebrating Ostara yet. Some of this is lack of time to do so and part of this is due to my husband's Heathen beliefs.
We have plans of so many things to do. Dying eggs, having an egg hunt, pulling coloring pages from Brigid Ashwood's books, using old toilet paper rolls covering them in shortening and seeds to make bird feeders and talking about the original meaning of Ostara and spring festivals.
I think it's important to try and make a concerted effort to connect to nature especially with us living in a city and not on a farm. It can be difficult to find areas where you can fully explore nature and really listen to the woods. We would be planting a patio garden as well but we're moving soon and we can't take our plants with us. Once we get our Ostara celebrating going I'll be posting pictures and instructions on how to make all of the projects!
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Friday, March 6, 2015
Cupcakes and St. Patrick's Day
So this post is mostly about a yummy St. Patrick's Day cupcake recipe! I'll be teaching Emma about the history of St. Patrick and how it relates to paganism but I do have some research to do myself. As it's the very beginning of March that gives me some time thankfully. For now here's a great cupcake recipe that my husband got from someone at work! It's divine. I'll post some pictures when the girls and I make them this weekend. I'll be making two batches. One without the alcohol in the frosting because I don't need my kids boozed up and one for my husband to take to work that has the alcohol in it!
Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes
1 cup Guinness Stout
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
2 cups all purpose flower
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoons salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
2/3 cups sour cream
Ganache Filling
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 to 2 teaspoons Irish whiskey (optional)
Baileys Frosting (see Recipe Notes)
3 to 4 cups confectioners sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 oz) unsalted butter at room temperature
3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys (or milk, or heavy cream or combination thereof)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 cupcakes with liners. Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium head. Add cocoa power and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixture beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout chocolate mixture to egg minture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean. Roasted them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly. Bake for about 17 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.
Ganache: Make the filling. Chop the chocolate and transfer to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until it simmers and pour over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. If this does not sufficiently melt the chocolate you can return it to the double-boiler to gently melt what remains. Alternatively use the microwave in 10 second intervals stirring in between being careful not to scorch the chocolate. Add the butter and whiskey (if using) and stir until combined.
Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped. Meanwhile, using your one inch young cookie cutter or apple corer cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes. You want to go most of the way down the cupcake but do not cut through to the bottom. Aim for 2/3 of the way. Put ganache into a piping bag with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.
Frosting: Whip the butter in a mixing bowl for several minutes until light and fluffy. slowly add the powered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time.
When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys (or milk) and whip it until combined. If this has made the frosting too thing bet in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar.
Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes
1 cup Guinness Stout
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
2 cups all purpose flower
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoons salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
2/3 cups sour cream
Ganache Filling
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 to 2 teaspoons Irish whiskey (optional)
Baileys Frosting (see Recipe Notes)
3 to 4 cups confectioners sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 oz) unsalted butter at room temperature
3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys (or milk, or heavy cream or combination thereof)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 cupcakes with liners. Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium head. Add cocoa power and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixture beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout chocolate mixture to egg minture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean. Roasted them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly. Bake for about 17 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.
Ganache: Make the filling. Chop the chocolate and transfer to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until it simmers and pour over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. If this does not sufficiently melt the chocolate you can return it to the double-boiler to gently melt what remains. Alternatively use the microwave in 10 second intervals stirring in between being careful not to scorch the chocolate. Add the butter and whiskey (if using) and stir until combined.
Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped. Meanwhile, using your one inch young cookie cutter or apple corer cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes. You want to go most of the way down the cupcake but do not cut through to the bottom. Aim for 2/3 of the way. Put ganache into a piping bag with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.
Frosting: Whip the butter in a mixing bowl for several minutes until light and fluffy. slowly add the powered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time.
When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys (or milk) and whip it until combined. If this has made the frosting too thing bet in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar.
Monday, March 2, 2015
Ostara and Heathenism
So this year the oldest kidlet brought up Easter and Ostara herself. We were sitting around and she asked us what our version of Easter was and when it was. I wasn't sure when Easter was but I knew that Mardi Gras was early this year so Easter was going to be early. I also knew that Wiccans and many other pagans celebrate Ostara on the Spring Equinox but I wasn't actually sure if Asatru and Heathens do as well.
During my research I found a couple of things. I found a blog called A Heathen's Day which basically says that many celebrate on the Spring Equinox but Vikings didn't have calendars and it's possible that they celebrated Ostara when the first signs of spring appeared instead of a set date. The first signs of spring change from year to year so the celebration of Ostara would also change from year to year much like Easter changes as well.
To be honest this makes a lot of sense to me. Sometimes a lot of the country is still going to experience a cold snap after the Spring Equinox that could damage certain plants. The country is also split up into different planting zones. So while the Pacific Northwest where I'm living can plant something at one time Texas can plant something else at another time. So sometime in April seems safer to celebrate Ostara to me because spring will be in full bloom.
Now I'm not one for full blown out rituals where you call all the elements of the four directions and blah, blah, blah. It makes me feel rather silly and self conscious. Which is my issue but it also doesn't feel personal enough to me. I've looked up different rituals online and I have some books that have some as well but I don't like to use them completely. For one they tend not to account for having only one or two people, they need this insane list of tools and they don't seem to have anything that is child friendly.
My husband has a book of rituals he got from the Troth and they are interesting I like reading through them but I'm not exactly fond of the ones I get in books aimed directly to Wicca. I do like the books that have spells in them. Not for the spells exactly but mostly for learning how to structure a spell so I can make my own and the same with rituals so I can try and make my own. I suppose I need to start making child friendly rituals and spells that will help my children learn about our spirituality.
So for now I search through Pinterest for coloring pages, egg dying projects, cooking and bread making ideas that will get my girls interested in the season. Things that related to the fertility and goddess so I can explain what this season is about. So I can explain why our ancestors and ancient pagans celebrated Ostara. Then I come up with a small ritual that we can do that will hopefully be child friendly and as we always do with holiday feasts we will leave an offering from our meal for the gods and spirits.
Because what is our is theirs. We share the bounty of our work and for the blessings they have laid upon us.
During my research I found a couple of things. I found a blog called A Heathen's Day which basically says that many celebrate on the Spring Equinox but Vikings didn't have calendars and it's possible that they celebrated Ostara when the first signs of spring appeared instead of a set date. The first signs of spring change from year to year so the celebration of Ostara would also change from year to year much like Easter changes as well.
To be honest this makes a lot of sense to me. Sometimes a lot of the country is still going to experience a cold snap after the Spring Equinox that could damage certain plants. The country is also split up into different planting zones. So while the Pacific Northwest where I'm living can plant something at one time Texas can plant something else at another time. So sometime in April seems safer to celebrate Ostara to me because spring will be in full bloom.
Now I'm not one for full blown out rituals where you call all the elements of the four directions and blah, blah, blah. It makes me feel rather silly and self conscious. Which is my issue but it also doesn't feel personal enough to me. I've looked up different rituals online and I have some books that have some as well but I don't like to use them completely. For one they tend not to account for having only one or two people, they need this insane list of tools and they don't seem to have anything that is child friendly.
My husband has a book of rituals he got from the Troth and they are interesting I like reading through them but I'm not exactly fond of the ones I get in books aimed directly to Wicca. I do like the books that have spells in them. Not for the spells exactly but mostly for learning how to structure a spell so I can make my own and the same with rituals so I can try and make my own. I suppose I need to start making child friendly rituals and spells that will help my children learn about our spirituality.
So for now I search through Pinterest for coloring pages, egg dying projects, cooking and bread making ideas that will get my girls interested in the season. Things that related to the fertility and goddess so I can explain what this season is about. So I can explain why our ancestors and ancient pagans celebrated Ostara. Then I come up with a small ritual that we can do that will hopefully be child friendly and as we always do with holiday feasts we will leave an offering from our meal for the gods and spirits.
Because what is our is theirs. We share the bounty of our work and for the blessings they have laid upon us.
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