“Soul Cakes” for an Old-Fashioned All Hallows Eve

Below is the link to a deliciously scary video that brings you some spoooky lore behind – Soul Cakes! Given out for hundreds of years, they were the original “treats” baked at Hallowtide to feed the dead, honour the ancestors and ward off the ghouls that went bump in the night!

Read More

Herbalicious Lammas Loaf Biscuits: Celebrating The Tradition of Common Ground

This herbaceous and cheesy biscuit loaf is my tribute to the traditional start of the harvest calendar, Lammas Day or Lughnasa. And it features the cornucopia of savoury and aromatic herbs growing right now in the heart of Victoria’s neighbourhood “common ground” gardens.

Read More

Reclaiming the Magical Herstory of Food

“When we learned to cook is when we became truly human, but we’ve lost touch with how that food got to our plates.” Michael Pollan in Cooked. As is so often the case with history, the “herstory” tends to get left out – and food is no exception. While there are as many books on food […]

Read More

Rosemary & Lavender Lemon Curd “Tassies”: Here Comes The Sun!

Nothing says Imbolc better than the bright yellows of lemon, butter, and egg yolks. So what happens when you infuse a sweet, zesty, creamy, lemon curd with the aromatic herbs of the sun? Glorious food magic is what!  Lemon Tassies are old-fashioned dessert tarts filled with easy-to-make citrusy curd. And while no one is sure […]

Read More

Grand Fir Dark Nougat: Winter Solstice Sweets

I found the recipe for this “extraordinary and irresistible traditional Christmas candy” in a treasured old cookbook “The Auberge of The Flowering Hearth”. Created with only three ingredients, pine honey, toasted almonds and a pinch of thyme, it was caramelized down into a dark, delectable, chewy brittle known as Black Nougat. Well, I was enchanted. Not […]

Read More

Beautiful Venus Vinegar: Autumn Medicine & Magic

This magical Venus Vinegar is composed of the most vitalizing wild foods, herbs, and medicines offered by Mother Nature this season. It is no ordinary herbal vinegar, but a nutrient-rich, beautifying, fortifying tonic that is fruity, tangy, spicy, and earthy all in one. By balancing the fruits, shoots, and seeds that embody the energetic principles […]

Read More

Cornucopia Magic: Invoking The Horn of Plenty

My love affair with the cornucopia began nearly two decades ago when I came across a simple black-and-white clip art icon. Something spoke to my heart, and I saved it, though for what I wasn’t yet sure. Years later, it became the Gather logo after being transformed into a beautiful paper-cut image created by one […]

Read More

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 […]

Read More

Recipes for a Feast of Light: Reviving the Magical Foods of Imbolc

Note: I’ve updated this post many times over the years; this is the latest version. I love the ancient feast days that once celebrated the turn of the seasons.  Take the old Celtic spring “feis” (feast or festival) known as Imbolc, Imbolg, or Brigid’s Feast of Fire,  one of my personal favorites. It inaugurated the […]

Read More

Cranberry & Peppermint Honey Cake: Hail To The Mothers!

It’s no secret that baking confections, cookies, and fruit cakes have long been part of feminine customs surrounding the winter holidays. But one beautiful baking tradition is now almost entirely forgotten, and it served as the inspiration for this fruity, dense Mother’s Night Honey Cake. While it may be a bit rustic, I tried to […]

Read More

The Perfect Yuletide Tipple: Emily Han’s Douglas-fir Liqueur

Emily Han  is equally at home in hiking boots as she is in the kitchen, her work has inspired us for years. One of the first to transform wild edibles from survival food into good cuisine, her recipes make wild foods accessible, simple to prepare—and most of all, delicious. So it was thrilling to feature […]

Read More

Rose Cupcakes: A Divinely Feminine Confection

“Mystery glows in the rose bed, the secret is hidden in the rose.” 12th Century Persian Poem Don’t underestimate this demure little cupcake. Much more than overindulgence in sugar or cupcake feminism, this divine rose confection is a direct connection to a feminine spiritual heritage thousands of years old.  And they offer a scent and […]

Read More