Visit http://www.foodtimeline.org/halloween.html to read more about the Halloween food traditions through History. Check out one excerpt below that touches on the Irish origins of Halloween.
Traditional Halloween foods & customs: Ireland
"Samhain. This ancient festival, the first day of winter, is traditionally kept on 1 November, which in the Christian calendar is the Feast of All Saints. The vigil of the feast is Halloween, the night when charms and incantations were powerful, when people looked into the future, and when feasting and merriment were ordained. Up to recent time this was a day of abstinence, when according to church ruling no flesh meat was allowed. Colcannon, apple cake and barm brack, as well as apples and nuts were part of the festive fare. Colcannon was cooked in a skillet pot which had a large round bottom, three little legs and two ear-like handles at the sides, and consisted of potatoes mashed and mixed with chopped kale or green cabbage and onions...Another favourite was champ, an Armagh name for a dish of mashed potatoes, sweet milk, and chopped chives or onions, eaten like colcannon by dipping each spoonful into the well of butter. It was also the custom that when the first of the new potatoes were dug they were made into champ. Boxty pancakes were another Halloween favourite. Grated raw potatoes were squeezed in a cloth, sieved, and mixed with baking powder and salt and a well-beaten egg. Sufficient sweet milk was added to make a pancake batter. These were served hot and well buttered and sprinkled with caster sugar. They could also be made into scones called farls and baked on a griddle...Apple potato cake or fadge was a popular dish in the north-east of the country, made with a potato cake mixture of freshly boiled potatoes, a little salt, melted butter and flour to bind. The mixture was divided into two, and rolled into rounds. Layers of sliced apples were laid on the base of the fadge; then the lid of pastry was placed on top. It was put down to cook in a pot-oven on a bed of red-hot turf. When the fadge was almost ready it was sliced round the sides, the top turned back and the apples liberally sprinkled with brown sugar and a good knob of butter. The fadge was then returnd to the oven until the sugar and butter melted to form a sauce. A ring was inserted in the cake and it was believed that whoever got the rind would be married before the year was out. It was traditional that cattle could be taken in or housed in the byres and that all potatoes should be dug and all oats stacked by Halloween. Blackberries should not be picked or apples taken from the tree because it was said that puca spat on them on the night after Samhain." =
---Land of Milk and Honey: The Story of Traditional Irish Food and Drink, Brid Mahon [Merdier Press:Boulder CO] 1998 (p. 138-141)
Traditional Halloween foods & customs: Ireland
"Samhain. This ancient festival, the first day of winter, is traditionally kept on 1 November, which in the Christian calendar is the Feast of All Saints. The vigil of the feast is Halloween, the night when charms and incantations were powerful, when people looked into the future, and when feasting and merriment were ordained. Up to recent time this was a day of abstinence, when according to church ruling no flesh meat was allowed. Colcannon, apple cake and barm brack, as well as apples and nuts were part of the festive fare. Colcannon was cooked in a skillet pot which had a large round bottom, three little legs and two ear-like handles at the sides, and consisted of potatoes mashed and mixed with chopped kale or green cabbage and onions...Another favourite was champ, an Armagh name for a dish of mashed potatoes, sweet milk, and chopped chives or onions, eaten like colcannon by dipping each spoonful into the well of butter. It was also the custom that when the first of the new potatoes were dug they were made into champ. Boxty pancakes were another Halloween favourite. Grated raw potatoes were squeezed in a cloth, sieved, and mixed with baking powder and salt and a well-beaten egg. Sufficient sweet milk was added to make a pancake batter. These were served hot and well buttered and sprinkled with caster sugar. They could also be made into scones called farls and baked on a griddle...Apple potato cake or fadge was a popular dish in the north-east of the country, made with a potato cake mixture of freshly boiled potatoes, a little salt, melted butter and flour to bind. The mixture was divided into two, and rolled into rounds. Layers of sliced apples were laid on the base of the fadge; then the lid of pastry was placed on top. It was put down to cook in a pot-oven on a bed of red-hot turf. When the fadge was almost ready it was sliced round the sides, the top turned back and the apples liberally sprinkled with brown sugar and a good knob of butter. The fadge was then returnd to the oven until the sugar and butter melted to form a sauce. A ring was inserted in the cake and it was believed that whoever got the rind would be married before the year was out. It was traditional that cattle could be taken in or housed in the byres and that all potatoes should be dug and all oats stacked by Halloween. Blackberries should not be picked or apples taken from the tree because it was said that puca spat on them on the night after Samhain." =
---Land of Milk and Honey: The Story of Traditional Irish Food and Drink, Brid Mahon [Merdier Press:Boulder CO] 1998 (p. 138-141)
The first weekend of July we will be visiting Country Dairy for their Ice Cream Social! We will be making butter and ice cream. Below is a great video of how butter and ice cream was made, the old fashioned way!
I love the English Heritage channel on YouTube, particularly their series on cooking the Victorian way. I thought due to the warmer weather (hopefully) that the below video would be quite refreshing!
Do Be Careful Teacakes--An Irish Recipe Happy St. Paddy's Day!
This recipe comes from my great great grandmother who came over from Ireland! There are other variations of this recipe online, but this one calls from cinnamon instead of nutmeg since my grandmother did not care for the spice. Be sure to have lots of butter to slather the warm cakes in! When they are baked they will be small dense buns, but will taste slightly sweet.
Ingredients:
Slainte!
This recipe comes from my great great grandmother who came over from Ireland! There are other variations of this recipe online, but this one calls from cinnamon instead of nutmeg since my grandmother did not care for the spice. Be sure to have lots of butter to slather the warm cakes in! When they are baked they will be small dense buns, but will taste slightly sweet.
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon yeast (active dry)
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons of sugar
- 3/4 cup (1 and 1/2 sticks) butter
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (or another flavoring)
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Mix 1 cup flour and water with yeast. Set in a warm place for 10-15 minutes or until you see a foam form on top of the mixture.
- Once the foam forms mix with the rest of the ingredients until it comes together. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface 10-15 minutes then place in a bowl and cover with a damp warm towel.
- Let the dough rise in a warm spot until it has doubled in size (usually about an hour).
- Punch dough down and knead for 10-15 minutes on a lightly floured surface. Form dough into golf ball sized balls and places on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover with a damp warm towel and place in a warm spot. Let rise for another 20 minutes or until dough has doubled in size.
- When dough has doubled in size remove towel and cover with beaten egg wash.
- Bake in oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Slather in butter while still warm and enjoy!
Slainte!
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https://www.history.com/news/friday-the-13th-history-of-a-phobia
Check out this article from www.history.com all about the myth of Friday the 13th and a club of men and women who made it their mission to prove that the #13, wasn't actually so scary.