Category Archives: Lughnasadh/Lammas

I live in a valley with major fruit growing operations. This time of year, driving down many streets includes waiting while the big picking machines move from field to field to brush the blueberry bushes and gather up the bounty. There are lots of recipes for cakes that include cooked fruit but this time of […]

Lammas is one of the greater Sabbats in the Witches calendar year, celebrated on the first of August above the equator. It is known as a celebration of the first fruits and first corn (grain) harvest of the year; a little out of sync with the rhythm of the land here the last few years. […]

Things do not always go as planned and my kitchen is no different. For a number of reasons, including the fact that my camera blew up, my Lughnasa cake did not get as much heat as it needed for as long as it needed, so I thought I would fess up and show you my […]

With the weather being so different this year, the berries have been at least a month early. Freezing strawberries and raspberries is not my first choice but blueberries are another story entirely. I am told July 13th is also Pick Blueberry Day! so perfectly magical timing. Unsprayed and straight from the farm, my friend shared […]

Lughnasadh will be here soon and with it, traditionally, in Ireland at least, the first of the bilberries. In the spring when the birds return, communities would go out looking for eggs. At this time of the year, the search was for the first of these berries. Bilberries look and taste very much like the […]

During the hot European summer months of old, women avoided sweltering kitchens by cooking early in the day and then shutting everything down before it got unbearable. This dish is for one of those ” I do not want to be cooking in the kitchen” days. I spent years cooking for young male boarders and […]

Some days you just want the memories back. My grandfather baked bread. He had a homemade box that went over the gas stove in the kitchen. He was also a carpenter and there was just enough heat raising from the oven to make the box a fabulous proofing space. It sat next to the wood […]

As late summer arrives so do Okanagan nectarines and I look forward to finding precious yellow fleshed balls of juiciness in the local fruit stands. Usually I am not willing to risk cooking with nectarines as local ones are a treat. I love them fresh and ripe, served with a piece of paper towel. Nectarines […]