A Russian Celebration w/ Rowan Berry Jelly

I bet you didn’t know that today is the birthday of the Rowan Tree or Mountain Ash. In Russia, Ryabinnik, September 23rd was the day the rowan berries were considered sweet enough for harvest, and harvest they did. Baskets of rowan berries were cooked into jam, jelly, confiture, kissel, wine, kvass, bread, pies, and candy […]

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The Glorious Rose Hip: Celebrating Old Word Culinary Tradition 

One of the most abundant, nutrient-dense, healing, and beautiful foods of autumn, is the wild rosehip. Why is why over at Gather Victoria Patreon I’ve devoted an entire mini cookbook to the ruby red fruit of the family “pomme’.  Once a staple in cuisines around the world, I find many people today aren’t quite sure […]

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Summer Solstice “Black Balsam”: A Divinely Feminine Libation

It’s the time of the year when the sun’s powers are at their height and plants are brimming with life-force energy. This is why I’m sharing this very special libation from the Gather Victoria ECookbook, Black Balsam. Inspired by my Latvian ancestry, Black Balsam is hailed “true taste of a Baltic Summer” and is the […]

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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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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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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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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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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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Mother Holle Cloud Tart w/ Cranberry & Hawthorn Berry Curd

Happy Winter Solstice! I’m sharing this recipe from the Gather Victoria Winter Magic ECookbook because it encapsulates the archetypal drama of the season – the rebirth of the light. And that meant plenty of cakes, cookies, and confections for the old winter witches like Frau Holle! Their symbols are very much alive in our holiday […]

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Bewitching Maibowle Cream Cake For Beltane

Soon May Day Eve will be upon us – so I’m sharing this recipe posted last year at Gather Patreon.  This Maibowle Cream Cake – made and glazed with Maibowle Wine – is infused with sweet woodruff, a pretty unassuming little forest herb linked with May Day fertility magic for literal ages. Said to bestow, […]

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