The Corn(y) Post

Corn. Maize. Whatever you call it, this delicious grain has been cultivated by Mesoamericans since prehistoric times. Corn is believed by historians to have first been cultivated in Mexico, but it is not known precisely when. 

Corn means different things in different countries. In England, 'corn' can refer to wheat, while in Ireland, it can refer to oats (other posts for other times). Corn may have been introduced to Europe by that d-bag Columbus, or it could have been another d-bag European explorer/conquistador. Either way, corn as we typically think of it is indigenous to North and Central America. When the Bible says 'corn', it means wheat or barley, most likely. 

It is/was the staple of many an indigenous diet, along with beans and squash (The Three Sisters) here in North America. 

Corn is ruled by the Sun and the element of Fire. Corn energy is Corn Mother energy to me - fertility, love, protection. Spirituality is included in the list of corn's energies. 

Cornmeal can be used in spiritual practices to represent the four elements. It can be given as an offering. Blue is considered the most sacred. It also represent west. Yellow represents north; white is for east; red is for the south. 

Lammas and Mabon are excellent times to utilize corn. Stalks can be used for decoration. Dishes featuring corn are appropriate for the sabbat meal. 

One of my favorite corn recipes is the cornbread we've made in my family for years. 

Nar's Family Cornbread:

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar (or less if you prefer)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/4 cup butter milk
1 egg
2 Tbsp melted butter or shortening
2 tsp. salt

Whisk together sugar, buttermilk, egg, and butter or shortening. Whisk together flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking powder in another bowl. Add to wet ingredients. 

This recipe is perfect for a cast-iron skillet if you have one. Preheat the oven to 425 F. Grease the skillet with shortening. Pour in the batter and bake for 22-25 minutes. 


References:

Cunningham, S. (2003). Cunningham's encyclopedia of Wicca in the kitchen (3rd ed.). St. Paul, Minn.: Llewellyn Publications.

Gibson, L., & Benson, G. (2002). Origin, History, and Uses of Corn (Zea mays). Retrieved September 17, 2015.

I Feel Better Now!

Greetings, once again.

The other day, I was feeling bad that I hadn't gotten around to making any Lammas or even blue moon posts, but then I happened upon this in my newsfeed: Why I'm Boycotting Lughnasadh

I feel much better about not observing most of the holidays now. I agreed with a lot of what the author said, especially about how some rituals are escapist. It does seem that, even when rituals are done outdoors, there is a disconnect between what we tell ourselves the day is about and what is actually happening in nature around us.

I am guilty of this, too. I mean, how in-season is the produce I incorporate into my recipes, really? How local is it? Probably not very. I am trying to harmonize my body with the cycles of nature and the seasons, but why? Shouldn't my body already be that way? Has our modern world messed with us that much? Eep!

Read the article and let me know what you think.

Dreaming of October...

Don't I always wish it were fall? It's not that I'm not enjoying the summer. It's just that I long for the season of the witch, all year long.

We're almost ready for Midsummer! Well, y'all might be, but it's crept up on me again and I don't know if I'm going to have the time and energy to get prepared. I don't even have a menu planned. Can you believe that??

What I DO have, however, is a menu plan for every other sabbat through Yule. Yeah, yeah, I know...Priorities.

As usual, I will share the menus now and promise recipes later. I truly am terrible, aren't I? I will even attempt to get some decent photos. I'm just so ashamed to let anyone see how cluttered this tiny space is!

Anyhell, here are some sabbat menus:

LAMMAS

·         Pork chops (grilled) with orange, cumin, chipotle glaze

·         corn pancakes with whole corn

·         toppings: avocado, green onions, sour cream, shredded cheese

·         frijoles rancheros – pintos with bacon, onion, and jalapeño

·         garden salad with Green Goddess dressing: salad mix, spinach, red onion, orange bell pepper, shredded carrot, shredded cabbage, sugar snap peas, broccoli florets

·         cherries jubilee with vanilla ice cream  (cherries done outside)

MABON

·         Baked vegetarian kibbeh  (potato, onion, and bulgar with chickpea-pine nut filling)

·         Yogurt sauce

·         Lemon-herb roast chicken

·         Persephone’s salad

·         Ginger pear upside down cake

SAMHAIN

·         Cornmeal-dredged fried catfish with tartar sauce

·         Hoppin’ John

·         Cornbread

·         Apple crisp

·         Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet tea

YULE

First course:

·         Buckwheat blinis with with duck, red cabbage, parsnip, ginger-cranberry-orange sauce  - lightly sauté cabbage and parsnips

Main course:

·         Maple-mustard glazed pork tenderloin with fruit stuffing

·         Duchess sweet potatoes with garam masala

·         Stuffed onions

·         Swiss chard with curry powder and hazelnuts

·         Persephone’s Salad

·         Butternut Squash Flan

L is for Lammas

L is for Lammas

At Lammas, the goddess is the Grain Mother, the Corn Mother.   John Barleycorn meets his end.  He is cut down, milled, baked into bread and made into alcohol, consumed, and reborn from the earth in seed form the following year.  This is the first harvest, a time to reap what we have sown.   Farmers and hedgewitches are rewarded with the fruits of their labor, and the hopes and dreams that we have ‘planted’ are starting to come to fruition. 

Throughout Europe, the first and last cuttings of grain held special significance.  The first cutting was milled and baked into bread to be shared among members of the community.  In this way, the life-sustaining powers of grain/bread could be given to all. 

As a kitchen witch, this idea appeals to me.  I enjoy feeding people, and I feel especially called to donate to food banks during the harvest holidays. This first harvest holiday gives me the opportunity to dig my paws into some bread dough.  It's in this way that I feel most connected to the harvest because I do not grow or mill grain myself.  

When I bake bread, I really get into it.  I love to infuse the food with my intent - harmony, love, peace, prosperity, etc.  Music helps me raise energy, so I sometimes have my boyfriend drum as I knead.  

I chant:

Hoof and horn,

Hoof and horn,

All that dies shall be reborn

Vine and grain, 

Vine and grain,

All that falls shall rise again

Sometimes I shape the dough into rough sun or person shapes.  Two of my favorites to make during this time of year are rye bread and corn bread. The latter doesn't have to be kneaded because it's a batter, but corn is appropriate to the day. 

For a Lammas table, some local beer and wine accompany loaves of fresh-baked bread.  To make a complete meal, add some hearty beef stew and a nice green salad that utilizes as much fresh, local produce as you can get. 

Rye Bread (Hodgson's Mill recipe) 

This recipe yields two loaves, or perhaps one giant bread dude. 

2 cups warm water

2 envelopes yeast

1/4 c brown sugar

Bloom the yeast in the warm water with the sugar for 10 minutes, until frothy. 

In a mixing bowl, add:

Yeast mixture

1/4 c molasses

3 1/2 c rye flour

1 T caraway seeds

2 t salt

1/4 c melted butter

3 T cocoa powder

Gradually add 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 cups bread flour, one cup at a time, to make a soft dough. 

Knead (and chant!) for 10-12 minutes. 

Put dough in an oiled bowl and allow it to rise for an hour until doubled in size.  

Divide dough in half and gently work out the air bubbles.  Shape into loaves. 

Allow the loaves to rise another hour until doubled again.  Slash the tops.  

Preheat oven to 400 F and bake for 25-28 minutes.  

Cornbread:

3/4 c. cornmeal
1 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
1 tablespoon (T). baking powder
3/4 teaspoon (t. ) salt
1 cup milk (1 1/4 for buttermilk)
1 egg
2 T. melted shortening

Mix ingredients and pour into greased baking pan (I use a cast iron skillet). 
Bake at 425 for 20 minutes.

You could grill some corn on the cob and add a cup of kernels to this as well.  Delicious.  

Decorate the table with greenery, late summer flowers, corn and sheaves of grain if you can get them.   Orange, yellow, and purple candles illuminate the scene.  

Music to Cook By

Since today is Lammas, the song that is on my mind is "John Barleycorn". I am tempted to get into the kitchen and make a couple nice loaves of bread, but I've no one with whom to share them. I can't eat a lot of bread due to my lap band. Some days I can eat it, and some days I can't. I'll save a piece of the whole wheat bread that came with my Turkish breakfast (ordering a Turkish breakfast is my Saturday indulgence) for a simple solitary ritual this evening.

Getting back to music, I would like to know how many of you have to have music in the background when you're in the kitchen. I have to have something on in the background, be it music or a film, but I prefer music.

Do you listen to specific music when you're making specific foods? For example, do you listen to salsa music when preparing Mexican food? Opera or the soundtrack of "Goodfellas" when making Italian food?

If I'm making Indian food, I either listen to chants, or "Concert for George" because there is a lovely Indian music section in the beginning. George loved all things Indian, so just listening to his songs always helps set the mood for me.

Remember that you can purify your working area through SOUND as well as the smoke from your censer. Music that has a calming effect will help when making foods that are associated with peace. Making a romantic dinner? Put the love songs on while you're cooking it! Or listen to something sexy. If you want to create a lot of energy, put on some music with a good bit. Yes, you can dance and cook at the same time. I won't tell! ;)

What's on your cooking soundtrack? I'm putting the finishing touches on one and will share it as soon as I get it ready. I normally just go to www.playlist.com and put together lists to save and stream through the computer. Let me know what you're listening to in the kitchen.

Breads and Grains - Celebrating the First Harvest

As Lughnasadh is almost upon us, I thought it would be nice to devote an entry or two to some of the foods associated with the first harvest in the Northern Hemisphere. Different areas produce different foods, but these days we have access to a large variety of foods, no matter where we are. We also have access to those foods throughout most of the year, but I prefer to focus on seasonal produce. Local eating is also an important practice, but it isn’t always easy.

During Lughnasadh, or Lammas, as well as Mabon, we celebrate the harvest of grains and the foods that can be made from various grains. Beer and bread are two products that are made from different grains, making them ideal for honoring the gods of the harvest. Other traditional foods include berries and crab apples.

Bread has long been viewed as the “staff of life” and has been made in one form or another for thousands of years. Bread is a divine substance and is often given as an offering during ritual. Some religious practices also use bread as a physical representation of the Divine.

The breaking of bread is more than nourishment; it is a symbol of togetherness, binding together those who eat it.

Scott Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Wicca in the Kitchen gives us some information on a few of the grains with which we are most familiar.

Barley

Planet: Venus
Element: Earth
Energies: Fertility, money, sex

Barley was an important grain to the ancient Egyptians. It was used as a medium of exchange and was even placed in tombs. According to one Egyptian legend, barley grew out of men, whereas wheat grew out of women.

Sumerians made several types of barley beer. In Indian, barley was sacred to Indra, known as “He who ripens barley”. This grain played an important part in rituals related to childbirth, marriage, and death.

Babylonians also brewed beer with barley. Greeks planted it around temples to Demeter to ask for fertility, and in China, barley is a symbol of the sexual potency of males.

Buckwheat

Planet: Jupiter
Element: Earth
Energies: Money

Buckwheat noodles, or soba, are eaten in Japan on the Japanese New Year for prosperity. Buckwheat pancakes are common in some parts of the United States. In my home state of West Virginia, the Buckwheat Festival is held every autumn. Eat buckwheat pancakes with a touch of maple syrup to attract abundance (in fertility, money, or life).

Corn

Planet: Sun
Element: Fire
Energies: Protection, spirituality

An entire entry could be devoted to corn. Corn has been a fundamental part of the religious practices of North and Central America for thousands of years. The Quiche Mayas of Guatemala even believed the first humans were made of corn. Miguel Angel Asturias, a Guatemalan author, even titled one of his works "Hombres de Maiz" (Men of Corn).

The Corn Mother was a widely worshiped deity in the pre-Columbian Americas. Corn is a sacred gift of the Mother Goddess. It is a symbol of life, fertility, and rebirth. To the Zuni, different colors of corn were related to the four directions. Some people still use whole dried or ground corn in various colors to represent the directions.

Yellow - north
White - east
Red - south
Blue - west

Corn bread would be an appropriate food for Lughnasadh, as would tamales, corn chowder, or corn pudding. Place ears of corn on your altar. Blue corn is used to induce spirituality. Scatter corn meal around your ritual sites or use it to mark your circle.

Note: "Corn" outside the U.S. is used to mean any grain except for maize.

Rye

Planet: Venus
Element: Earth
Energies: Love

Rye bread made with caraway seeds (and properly charged with your intent) can increase your ability to give and receive love

Wheat

Planet: Venus
Element: Earth
Energies: various

Wheat is the second-most commonly used grain for human consumption. Rice is number one. Egyptians, Sumerians, Babylonians, Hittites, Greeks, and Romans all worshiped harvest deities that were associated with wheat (sometimes seen as "corn").

Wheat-based foods are eaten to bring prosperity and money into your life. Different breads are used for different purposes. Below are a few, courtesy of Scott Cunningham.

Twisted breads - protection
Egg breads - fertility
Sprouted breads - increasing psychic awareness
Garlic bread - protection

Sweetened breads are often used for spring festivals. In Mexico, Pan de Muerto (Bread of the Dead) is eaten on November 2. For Lughnasadh this year, why not try your hand at baking your own bread? There are thousands of recipes online, many of them very simple, and the rewards outweigh any labor involved.

I prefer making my bread by hand for several reasons. One, I don't have a bread maker or a mixer. Two, I like to get my hands into the dough and feel the texture of the flour and really put my own energies into the food. I absolutely love the kneading process required to make most breads.

The following chant is one I'm sure many of you know, and I think it is a very good one to sing when kneading bread:

Hoof and horn, hoof and horn
All that dies shall be reborn
Corn and grain, corn and grain
All that falls shall rise again

This year, if you can, bake a loaf or two of bread. Offer some to Lugh or another deity, and break bread with the people you care about. Light a candle, give thanks, and pass around the loaf.