ANCESTRAL FOOD. HERBAL WISDOM. MAGICAL COOKERY. SEASONAL CELEBRATION.
These were my very last-minute treats for last year’s Samhain celebrations. The cake I made was a disaster, and the second was carried off by crows while cooling outside. Casting around for a quick solution I spied the barberry bushes that line our driveway and came up with this simple sponge that takes all 3 […]
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I’m sorry to have been out of touch for so long! I’ve been so busy finishing the next batch of recipes for the Gather Victoria E-Cookbooks over at Gather Victoria Patreon it seems I’ve spent nearly the whole summer working without posting anything new here. So to rectify that I’m going to give you a […]
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Ever since I called upon that beloved old witch of Slavic, Baltic, and Russian folklore to be my winter baking muse – I’ve had nothing but trouble. Which should have been no surprise, Baba Yaga is renowned for testing your mettle with endless impossible tasks that determine whether she will help you- or hinder you […]
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The Strawberry Tree (Arbutus unedo) is an ornamental shrub that grows all over the PNW but its abundant, plush, juicy fruits just end up littering sidewalks. Seems no one remembers we’ve been eating these succulent fruits for thousands of years! Right now in the PNW the fruits are bright red & ripe with a mild, […]
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“A soule cake, a soule cake, Have mercy on all Christen soules for a soule-cake.” John Aubrey, 17th century I’ve been researching old-world recipes in search of Halloween food inspiration, and these sweet little barmbrack “Soul Cakes” are the result. Barmbrack is an Irish cake made with tea and spiced and speckled with berries, dried […]
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When the landscape outside your window resembles an arctic tundra – as mine currently does – there is nothing better to turn to than warm bread fresh out of the oven. So appropriately, this hearty and flavour-filled loaf is dedicated to the Roman Goddess of Ovens, Fornax, and her February festival of baking. It’s a […]
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Inspired by the many Italian cakes baked on Epiphany Eve as offerings to “La Befana”, this fruity golden cake (with a dash of spirit) is a Witches Cake. According to legend, Befana is an old witch who flies through the night of January 5th on her broom delivering presents to children. And as they lie […]
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A couple of years ago, completely hidden in a dark thicket of trees, I discovered a beautiful gnarled crabapple – gleaming with clusters of hundreds & hundreds of rosy, autumn fruits. I was thrilled! I love crisp truly tart apples (which are getting harder to find) so the crabapple fits the bill perfectly. Crabapples are […]
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Delicately perfumed with the GORGEOUS scent of linden blossoms, this moist, crumbly and syrupy cake truly is delicious. I couldn’t stop eating it – so now I have to bake a whole new one for solstice! But that’s okay, it takes no time to whip up and I’ll get to enjoy even more of it! […]
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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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Coloured with magical dyes and painted with magical symbols, eggs have played a central role in spring rites and feasts for thousands of years. From Egypt, Persia, Russia to Europe eggs were sacred objects embodying the essence of life. For northern European peoples eggs embodied the fertilizing power of the spring sun because it was […]
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“May, queen of blossoms, and fulfilling flowers, what pretty music Shall we charm the hours? Wilt thou have pipe and reed, Blown in the open mead? Or to the lute give heed, in the green bowers.”— Lord Edward Thurlow Sacred to fairies, witches, and the goddesses of old, no tree is more central to “Going a […]
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