Traditional Pagan Foods for the Lughnasadh Festival include homemade breads (wheat, oat and especially cornbread), corn, potatoes, berry pies, barley cakes, nuts, wild berries, apples, rice, roasted lamb, acorns, crab apples, summer squash, turnips, oats, all grains and all First Harvest foods.
I found an awesome site containing PAGAN RECIPES! It rocks! You can find it at Everything2. Today's recipe is from this site, and sounds absolutely yummy!!!!
Fritters are a nice variation on pancakes, and the bonus for this particular recipe is that they are sweet without any additions, requiring no syrup, sugar or jam. Many people have had fritters of various types, especially the popular apple variety. But . . . "elder flower" fritters? Yes, these actually contain elder flowers!
Flowers were a common ingredient in cooking during medieval times, which is where this recipe comes from (England, specifically). In this recipe's case, the flowers mixed into the batter help add a kick and a minty taste. Because of the elder flowers, these sweeties have been associated with faeries in folk myths. Because of that, they have been used at Pagan celebrations of Beltane, Litha, and Lughnasadh to help as a protection against the malevolent and mischievous fair folk, and sometimes these are even made at Samhain season as a symbol of keeping away bad spirits. If you've never made a recipe incorporating flowers before, you might start with this one--you'll be pleasantly surprised! (Read on after the directions for variations and notes.)
Ingredients:
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon ****rose water ****
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons brandy
- 1 cup self-rising flour
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 cups elder flowers, freshly picked and cleaned
Directions:
Mix egg, rose water, honey, and brandy in a bowl, then stir in flour and cinnamon. Should be thick like pancake batter. (Add flour if it's too thin, and add more brandy if it's too thick.) Fold in the flowers. Fry like pancakes, OR drop by the teaspoonful into a deep-fat fryer until golden brown. Serve with orange water sprinkle and fresh lemon, or dip in sweet cream.
Yield: Fried like pancakes: About 10. Deep fat fryer: About 2 dozen.
Source: Paraphrased from Patricia Telesco, A Kitchen Witch's Cookbook
Note: In many areas it may be tough to find fresh elder flowers. The author made this recipe with dried elder flowers ordered from Living Earth Herbs. It still tasted fine. If you order from somewhere or pick them yourself, make sure they are the correct, edible variety because there is a kind you shouldn't use due to high toxicity.
If You Cannot Find Elder Flowers or you are squeamish about eating flowers, there is a variation:
You can make this recipe by substituting very finely diced apples--about a cup's worth--for the flowers, and adding a little fresh mint. If you do do this substitution I urge you to not neglect the mint, because with either elder flowers or with apple-and-mint, the minty taste is really what makes it so good.
****rose water is sometimes used in spell work mostly for love and harmony-type spells. It is also a good ritual cleanser to wash tools or hands or whatever else needs purifying. You can buy rose water if you want, but it is dreadfully simple to make as well:
1 cup fresh rose petals
½ c water
Bring water to a boil. Pour over rose petals. Let steep for 15 minutes. Drain water off of rose petals, and store in the dark.
Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader's personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.
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