FALL FOODS

Whether you’ve got a group ritual you are attending, or a family gathering, I’m going to share with you some of my favorite fall foods.

Served with dinner or with the simple feast, apple cider is a thirst-quenching, undeniably autumnal drink. If you like cinnamon, find a packet of mulling spices at your local grocery store or farmer’s market. I don’t like a strong cinnamon taste, so I usually put in part of the spices, shake, and taste…until I get a good mixture of cider and spices.

Mugwort is a herb used to induce visions and is added to some Witches’ Flying Ointments to aid astral travel. Mugwort can be drank as a tea or wine. Tea is easy to make. Just put some mugwort in a tea strainer and let it soak in hot water. It is quite bitter, so you may want to mix it with a more pleasant flavor. Mugwort wine is made by putting mugwort in a bottle of wine, and letting it soak in for about 3 weeks. You can put the herb in a strainable sachet…or let it float around freely…which would require you to strain it out of the wine with a colander.

For a main course, turkey is the traditional American fall dish. But ham, and chicken work just as well. For those who wish to stay away from meat, a vegetarian lasagna is a good choice.

VEGTARIAN LASAGNA

The Lasagna recipe that I use calls for 12 whole grain lasagna noodles. You really only need 9, but some of mine always get messed up, so I make 12.
3 cups of mozzarella cheese,
½ cup of parmesan,
32 ounces of ricotta cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten,
½ cup of fresh parsley
And 1 to 2 containers of pasta sauce. I use an organic basil sauce from Wegman’s.
The above ingredients will give you a fine cheese lasagna, but pick out two or three of your favorite veggies…such as green squash, yellow squash, eggplant, broccoli, peppers, or even usually spinach…when you can find it.

Cook and drain the noodles. Set oven to 350 degrees

Then, mix together the lightly beaten egg, ricotta, 2 cups of the mozzarella cheese, ¼ cup of the parmesan cheese, and parsley until all of the ingredients are evenly distributed.

Chop up your veggies, if you are going to use them.

In a 12 by 9 dish, spoon sauce onto the bottom of the pan, until it is covered. Lay out three of the noodles on the bottom of the pan. Scoop out ½ of the mixture onto that layer. Add a layer of veggies. Cover with sauce. Then, put down 3 more noodles. Spoon the rest of the mixture onto the creation before you. Add another layer of veggies. Put 3 more noodles on top. Cover with sauce. Make sure that you get all of the edges of the pasta with sauce. If you don’t, and you cook it, those ends will get crusty. I don’t like crusty lasagna ends. Ew.

Top it with the remaining parmesan and mozzarella cheese.

Put it in the oven for 45 minutes. Let it stand for a little bit before you serve it.

Squash and eggplant are fantastic fall vegetables. After slicing them up, sauté them in a pan with some olive oil, salt, and pepper for a delicious side dish. Olive oil is also great source of good fat.

Serve some corn on the cob…or off the cob.

APPLE NUT STUFFING

Apples, pomegranates, and cranberries are choice fall fruits. For a simple apple nut stuffing, you will need:

6 cups of toasted bread cubes,
3 cups of diced and peeled apples.
1/4 cup butter…I prefer Smart Balance, made with soy
1 cup of chopped chopped onion,
1 cup chopped celery,
1/2 cup chopped walnuts,
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup apple cider or juice
1 tsp sage
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Preheat your oven to 350F. Melt butter in a pan, and saute the onion and celery until just soft. Combine with the other ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix well. Bake in a covered dish for an hour and a half

Whole Wheat, Whole honey wheat, and whole rye breads are good sources of whole grains and dietary fiber.

CRESCENT COOKIES

And for desert…I can’t resist pumpkin pie with whip cream. But my favorite is crescent cookies. Adapting from a recipe in Scott Cunningham’s Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner…

 You’ll need:

1 ¼ cups of flour
1 cup of powdered sugar
½ cup of softened butter
1 egg yolk
1 cup of ground almonds
2 drops of almond extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease 1 or 2 cookie sheets. In a large bowl, combine flour, ½ cup of powdered sugar, almonds, and almond extract. Work in butter and egg yolk. Shape small pieces of dough into crescent moons and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Let cool and roll in the remaining ½ cup of powdered sugar.