Image found at My Recipes
Yesterday's post was directions on making a potpourri pie - pretty to look at, smells wonderful, but probably not a good idea to eat! After putting that wonderful Lammas decoration/gift together, you probably have a hankering for a real pie, so here I present you with a Lammas / Lughnassadh blackberry pie. This one is pretty to look at, smells wonderful and tastes YUMMY!
Always keep in mind, EVERYTHING you do is an opportunity to work magic! Cooking is an especially good opportunity to work magic that can benefit you and everyone you cook for. Working magic, for me, isn't something to be done on "special occasions", or when I want or need something. I try to work a little everyday - be it a protection charm or "magicing" the food I'm cooking :)
As autumn approaches, the season of harvest begins. The first harvest, Lughnasadh, consists partly of the gathering of berries for jams and jellies, to store for winter. One of the traditional berries of the season is the blackberry; the red fruits of summer are starting to fade, and the more tart and more late-blooming fruits must be plucked and used before the bugs do it for us.
For a Lughnasadh party, a nice traditional dessert is a blackberry pie. It is an especially nice touch if you even home-make the crust instead of buying one, with the added bonus that you can actually make two crusts and seal the sweet blackberry filling inside.
Ingredients:
- 4 cups blackberries (fresh or thawed frozen)
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 or 2 unbaked pie shells
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325ยบ F. Line a deep pie dish with one unbaked pie shell. Mix the other ingredients together in a bowl. If it seems too "wet," mix in two tablespoons more flour. Turn into the shell and dot with butter. Bake as is or cover with another pie shell, pinched together on the sides and scored several times with a sharp knife. Bake for 1 hour or until top crust is golden brown.
Yield: 1 9-inch pie
Blackberries, and their leaves especially, are associated with healing, money and protection. The blackberry is (obviously) edible, but also medicinal. It is used extensively by the Native American tribes, it had many surprising uses. The leaf is more commonly used as a medicinal herb, but the root also has medicinal value. Young edible shoots are harvested in the spring, peeled and used in salads. Delicious Blackberries are edible raw or made into jelly or jam. The root-bark and the leaves are astringent, depurative, diuretic, tonic and vulnerary. They make an excellent alternative medicine for dysentery, diarrhea, hemorrhoids, and cystitis.
The most astringent part is the root. Orally, they are used to treat sore throats, mouth ulcers and gum inflammations. A decoction of the leaves is useful as a gargle in treating thrush and also makes a good general mouthwash. The presence of large amounts of tannins gives blackberry roots and leaves an astringent effect useful for treating diarrhea are also helpful for soothing sore throats. A medicinal syrup is also made from Blackberry, using the fruit and root bark in honey for a cough remedy.
Image found at Alternative Nature Online Herbal
Sources:
The Sabbats by Edain McCoy
Alternative Nature Online Herbal
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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