Strawberry Rose Cake: Ushering In Summer

Round and golden as the sun, filled with lush plump strawberries and perfumed with rose petals, this cake is inspired by Goddess Cuisine. I created it last year for Gather Victoria Patreon in honor of the Green Holyday (known today as Trinity Sunday). Its motifs mirror the sacred embroidered textiles known in Russia and Ukraine […]

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Black Madonna of Montserrat: Chocolate Rose Crown Cake

I thought I’d share this recipe from Gather Victoria Patreon for two reasons. May is the sacred month of the Blessed Virgin Mary and in Roman Catholic tradition, roses are the emblematic flower of the Blessed Virgin Mary – and roses will be blooming shortly!  On May 31st  a “crown cake”  is typically baked “affirming […]

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Lilac Madeleine Cookies: Remembrance of Fragrances Past

These legendary sponge-cake cookies were immortalized by French writer Marcel Proust. In his book Remembrance of Things Past Proust’s narrator tastes a Madeleine dipped in tea and is immediately swept back in time to his childhood. “No sooner had the warm liquid mixed with the crumbs touched my palate than a shudder ran through me […]

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The Goddess Feasts: The Magic of Gratitude, Pleasure and Plenty

This post is a sneak peek into Gather’s Patreon Cookbook which explores the “culinary goddess” found throughout history, folklore and myth. By this, I mean the “Lady of Life” who likely inspired cuisine itself. Whether she was called Isis, Inanna, Ishtar, Asherah, Astarte, Artemis or Cybele – to name but a few – the first […]

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Marchpane Cookies for the Rose Queens

Marchpane was one of the most popular Tudor confections  – at least for those who could afford it.  Created from costly ground almonds, sugar and rosewater, moulded into shapes and baked, decorated with coloured glazes, gilded fruit and “comfits”,  then assembled into elaborate centrepieces, it was found only on the most aristocratic and royal tables.  […]

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Wood Sorrel Mini-Cream Tarts: Wild Food Treats

​Here’s another recipe from “Gather Cookbook” for Gather Patrons! I’m releasing a few of last year’s recipes to the Gather website – so the rest of you can see what you’re missing! First up was a Chunky Rose Petal Pesto (recipe here) and now these creamy & tangy yogurt mini-tarts.  Made by processing wood sorrel leaves […]

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Rhubarb-Rose Pannacotta Squares: Keto Darlings!

T’is the glorious season of rhubarb and roses, one of my most beloved flavour combinations. And since practically everyone I know is eating keto, I was inspired to create these Keto Rhubarb-Rose Squares. With a buttery ground almond base and a creamy pannacotta style filling, these rosy tart  “no bake” darlings are sooo simple to […]

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Dandelion Blossom Gnocchi: Golden Dumplings in Garlic Cream Sauce

With the summer heat receding, I’m so happy the sunny bright heads of dandelion flowers are on their way back! This means I’ll be making more Dandelion Gnocchi, a delightful dinner for the coming cooler evenings. Filled with golden blossoms, slathered in a garlic cream sauce, fluffy, puffy and satiating, Dandelion Blossom Gnocchi is one […]

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Celebrate The Magic of Midsummer with Fragrant Floral Extracts

It is just before the summer solstice. Everything is lush and green, the air is perfumed with the blossoms of roses, lavender, linden and honeysuckle, and sunny landscapes are filled with yarrow, dandelion, red clover, and ox-eye daisy. Neighbourhood streets are lined with lacy yellow wild fennel, bright orange calendula and bluish-purple blooms of chicory. […]

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Spellbinding Sweet Woodruff Cake: Prosperity Magic

In my tiny wildish garden, nestling at the foot of a tall tree, is sweet woodruff. Her glossy leaves and small white blossoms may be hidden by a profusion of taller plants, but it is her scent that perfumes the air. Fresh, her fragrance (like rain, earth, fresh air and green grass all condensed into […]

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Great Goddess Herbed Cheese: Reviving The Spring Offering Of Moretum

This Roman springtime dish is a kind of cheesy pesto once eaten in honour of the Goddess Cybele, The Magna Mater (The Great Mother). And according to Ovid, Moretum descends from a time ancient people drank only pure milk and ate only “the herbs that the earth bore of its free will.”  And as we’ll […]

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Nettle Seed & Dandelion Blossom Bars: Superfood!

My sister-in-law Gloria is an avid rower who races frequently with her Dragon Boat Team. Last year as a special request, she asked for a wildcrafted energy bar. I knew I wanted to make something with nettle seeds (tell you why shortly) but I could never find enough seeds on hand without decimating entire nettle […]

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Sweet Magic: Summer Solstice Honey Cookies

Then followed that beautiful season… Summer… Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape Lay as if newly created in all the freshness of childhood. ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Looking for a festive way to celebrate the upcoming summer solstice? Well, these aromatic sunny cookies may be just the ticket.  Made with […]

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An Easy Old-Fashioned Creamy Dessert: Honey Lilac Posset

“Be cheerful knight: thou shalt eat a posset tonight at my house.”  William Shakespeare, Hamlet Dating back to the middle ages, the posset is making a comeback. Like a custard crossed with a pudding, it’s perfect when you want to whip up a special dessert with minimal effort. It’s made with three ingredients, honey, lilac-infused cream and lemon juice – […]

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Spell-Binding Fairy Beauties: Lilac Cream Tarts

Oh yes, lilacs are glorious to harvest – but they’re not so easy to prepare. Lilac is tricky and time-consuming (you need to remove each tiny stem from each tiny blossom) but the good news is you’ll have plenty of time for working in a little magical intention. Lilac is a potent spell-caster with the power […]

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Wild Chamomile (Pineapple Weed) Keto Muffins w/ Cream Cheese Filling

OH, MY GODDESS – you’ve got to make these Wild Chamomile/ Pineapple Weed muffins! Their unique aromatic flavor ( a cross between zingy pineapple and soothing chamomile) just permeates these moist fragrant muffins which are made doubly scrumptious by the cream cheese filling. These are one of my favorite summer treats and my poor pre-diabetic […]

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The Magical Deviled Eggs of Spring

Ah, deviled eggs. For me, the snow white beds filled with mounds of rich whipped golden yolks are not only a thing of voluptuous beauty –but possibly a perfect mouthful. So imagine my delight last year when I discovered Chef Jacques Pepin’s technique of browning them to caramelize and crisp their fillings. Pure culinary genius. […]

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Ancestral Spring Greens: “Viva La Italia”!

I am passionate about ancestral foods and none are more ancient than the wild greens known today as weeds. So in honor of International Women’s Day, I’ve decided to share these spring recipes from Gather Victoria Patreon, Wild Green “Erbazzone” Pies, and Wild Green Pancotto Soup. What, you may ask,  do wild weedy greens such […]

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MARCH MAGIC: BABA’S RED & WHITE SPIRAL COOKIES

“Spring has arrived, we will survive!”  Old Romanian Saying Banish winter, bless the coming of spring, and ensure your face remains beautiful all year with these Rosehip & Raspberry Jam Spirals! They are my edible cookie version of the red and white magical talismans woven by Babas (old women or grandmothers) each March in Eastern […]

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The Cailleach’s Red Ale Cake: An Imbolc Tale of the Darkness & the Light

I’ve been celebrating Imbolc for over a decade and each year I discover more layers to its mythology and food lore. Last year over at Gather Victoria Patreon, I created a Cailleach Ale Cake (the oldest spirit in the world) in honor of the dark counterpart of Brigid,  the Gaelic Cailleach, one of the oldest […]

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Uncanny Fruits, Autumn Foraging & Chocolate Bundt Cake

From quince, medlar to barberry, I love to forage for the odd fruits which abound this time of year. The following recipe for this intensely moist almost pudding-like bundt, however,  is filled with two fruits I’ve not cooked much with before. It’s adapted from the Chocolate Cherry Samhain Bundt I just posted on Gather Patreon […]

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Hawthorn Berry Brownie Cake w/ Hawthorn Berry Buttercream Frosting

What more appropriate treat could there be for an occasion of the heart like Valentines Day? After all, many herbalists consider hawthorn berries the ultimate heart tonic and every kitchen witch knows that bewitching hawthorn opens the heart to love.  Heart-warming.& heart-strengthening, hawthorn heals, protects and uplifts heavy hearts, supporting us physically, emotionally and spiritually.  […]

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A Toast To Ukrainian Christmas: Wild Winter Berry Uzvar

I shared this lovely healthy Uzvar recipe with my Gather patrons last year, but I’m sharing it tonight in honor of Ukrainian Christmas and my beloved mother-in-law Rosie who passed away late November 2021.  For the many, many years I’ve been married, I loved hearing her remembrances of this holiday, how the house was full […]

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