Candlelight Spells: The Modern Witch's Book of Spellcasting, Feasting, and Healing - Gerina Dunwich 2000
Samhain: October 31
Sabbat Feasts
Samhain, also known as Halloween, is the Druid new year and the most important of all the four sabbats. It is the sacred festival that marks the end of the goddessruled summer and welcomes the beginning of the godruled winter.
Samhain Eve is the night when spirits of dead friends and loved ones return to rejoice, briefly, with the living. It is also the time to celebrate the gathering of the year’s harvest and to give thanks.
The carving of Halloween pumpkins, or jack-o’-lanterns is a very old custom dating to the days of the ancient Druids to mark the arrival of winter. It was also believed that the jack-o’-lanterns, with their grotesque and eerie candle-lit faces, possessed the power to scare away the malevolent spirits of bad witches who would return to haunt the living on Samhain night.
Traditional foods and drink served at the Samhain feast include: partridge casserole, baked hominy (country witch style), marsh marigolds with mushroom sauce, wild berry bread, magick pumpkin squares and Samhain cider.
PARTRIDGE CASSEROLE
12 partridges
½ cup butter
6 cups chopped celery
2½ teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons pepper
4 tablespoons lemon juice
2 cups mayonnaise or salad dressing
3 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
Wash and dry partridges. Cut each in half and sprinkle with salt. Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add partridges; saute well on all sides. Add two or three cups of water to skillet. Cover and simmer for one hour or until tender. (Add more water to skillet if evaporation occurs while simmering.) Take out partridges, remove bones and chop meat into small chunks. Combine with celery, salt, pepper, lemon juice, mayonnaise, cheddar cheese, bread crumbs and poultry seasoning. Toss lightly and turn into a large greased casserole. Sprinkle with extra cheese and bake in a preheated 450 degree oven for 20 minutes or until the cheese bubbles.
BAKED HOMINY (COUNTRY WITCH STYLE)
2 cups hominy
2 quarts boiling salted water
2 eggs
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Boil hominy in salted water over medium heat for one hour, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and cool. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Stir eggs, milk and brown sugar into hominy. Turn into a greased three-quart casserole and bake for about 30 minutes.
MARSH MARIGOLDS WITH MUSHROOM SAUCE
6 cups marsh marigold leaves
½ cup sliced fresh mushrooms
4 tablespoons butter
½ cup whole wheat flour
1 cup milk
pinch of salt and pepper
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Wash and then steam the heart-shaped leaves of the marsh marigolds (or cowslips) for 15—20 minutes. Arrange the leaves on a large serving platter.
To make the sauce, sauté mushrooms in butter. Add flour and stir in milk. Season with salt, pepper and parsley. Pour the mushroom sauce over the steamed leaves and serve.
WILD BERRY BREAD
6 tablespoons softened butter, cut into ½-inch bits
2 cups flour
½ cup raspberries
½ cup blackberries
1 cup blueberries
1 cup sugar
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon finely grated orange peel
½ cup orange juice
Wash the berries under cold running water and pat them dry with paper towels. Crush the berries; set aside. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt and sift into a deep bowl. Add the butter bits and, with your fingertips, rub the butter and dry ingredients together until they become like flakes of coarse meal. Mix in the egg, orange peel and orange juice and add the berries while continuing to stir until all of the ingredients are thoroughly combined. Spoon the batter into a buttered 9 × 5-inch loaf pan, spreading it and smoothing the top with a spatula. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 1½ hours or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Turn the loaf out onto a wire rack to cool.
MAGICK PUMPKIN SQUARES
½ cup butter
1½ cups honey
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups pumpkin, boiled and mashed or canned
2 cups whole wheat flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cloves
½ teaspoon allspice
2 cups uncooked oats
1 cup quartered dates
½ cup crushed walnuts
Beat butter, eggs, honey, buttermilk and pumpkin. Add flour, salt, baking soda, spices and oats. Mix well. Add the dates and nuts and stir together. Grease a 9 × 9-inch pan and spread batter evenly. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 35—40 minutes or until done. Remove from pan, cool and cut into small squares.
SAMHAIN CIDER
2 quarts apple cider
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ginger
½ cup confectioner’s sugar
½ cup apricot brandy
In a large pot, combine the apple cider, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and sugar. Simmer slowly on low heat for about 15 minutes—do not boil. Add the brandy and serve warm. (Serves 13.)