Hearthside Holiday Blog

This is a recipe to make either the night before the Winter Solstice or Christmas Eve night. Make sure you leave out a portion for the Tomte (house spirit).  Ingredients: - ¾ cup, plus 1 tablespoon white rice - 5½ cups high fat milk or cream (you can sub coconut milk for dairy free) - 1 tbsp vanilla  - 1/4 cup white sugar topping: - unsalted butter (if you are dairy free leave this out and just top with a bit more coconut milk) - ground cinnamon Directions: 1. Warm the milk in a saucepan with the vanilla and sugar. When it is warm to the touch, remove it from the heat.  2. Place the rice in a heavy-bottomed pot on the stove over medium-high heat. Take about 1 cup of milk at a time and pour over the rice, and stir it until it is absorbed. Continue to add another cup of milk until almost all the milk has been absorbed into the rice and the consistency is creamy and thick, but not too thick. 3. Remove from the stove. Serve immediately in bowls. It is traditional to top each ...

These gingerbread cookies will be a Yuletide crowd-pleaser. they are nice and soft, and have a slight bite from the black pepper.  Ingredients:  - 1 1/3 C. butter or margarine - 1 1/2 C. sugar - 1 1/4 C. mork sirup (light molasses) - 3 tsp cinnamon - 3 tsp ginger powder - 2 tsp nellik (cloves) - 1 1/2 tsp black pepper - 2 lrg eggs - 1 Tbsp baking soda - 6 C. flour Directions: 1. In a saucepan melt together butter, sugar, and molasses. Stir in spices and set aside to cool. 2. When cool add in eggs. 3. In a separate bowl combine baking soda and flour. Add wet mixture and combine until smooth. 4. Wrap and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight. (This recipe makes a lot of cookies and the dough also freezes well.) 5. Allow dough to come to room temperature before rolling out. 6. Cut into cat shapes and bake on parchment lined sheet at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 8-10 minutes. Cool before decorating. 

The Yuletide season brings to mind simmer pots filled with spices! What if you could drink your simmer pot too? This is where hot apple cider comes in and it is great for when you are hosting Yuletide guests.  Ingredients: - 1 gallon/4 liters of  100% apple juice. - 1 apple - 1 mandarin orange or 1 can of drained mandarin oranges - 9 cloves - 9 whole allspice  - 3 star anise - 1 cinnamon stick Directions: 1. Add half the apple juice to a crockpot.  2. Slice up the apple and add it in.  3. Section the orange and add it.  4. Add all the whole spices.  5. Top up the crockpot with water and let it simmer at least 20 minutes before serving. 6. Use the excess apple juice to top up as guests drink it. It can be stored in the fridge and reheated in the crockpot over several days for Yule.  7. Alcohol can be added or provided as an option on the side if desired. (Spiced rum, bourbon, mead, or cointreau are nice additions.)

The Yuletide season is a great time for pork roast or pulled pork. This is my recipe for pulled pork that I make for Disablot or Mother's Night feasting.  Ingredients: - 1 pork tenderloin - a big one!  - 1 tsp thyme  - Half an onion, chopped  - 1/2 tsp garlic powder  - Black pepper to taste  - A drizzle of olive oil  - 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar or about a third of a bottle of cheap red wine  -  1 bottle of BBQ sauce of your choice  Directions: 1. Cook all ingredients except the BBQ sauce in the slow cooker on low at least 6 hours. 8 to 10 is preferable  2. About 20 minutes before serving if there is lots of liquid drain it and save to make Ramen broth.  3. Then break up the pork with a fork and add in one bottle of BBQ sauce and mix well. Allow to cook a bit longer then serve on buns accompanied with coleslaw. 

We had quite a dump of snow this weekend and I have been having some interesting dreams. This one is definitely heavy on the UPG, but also is the reason for me starting this Holiday Traditions blog. I was dreaming last night that I was collecting Yuletide recipes and associating foods with different deities. I don't remember most of it but I remember that the one for Holda was Snowflake Cookies. This is a recipe that my mother-in-law makes each year during this season. It is a chocolate cookie with a powdered sugar exterior. Chocolate Snowflake Cookies Ingredients 1 cup/250 mL flour 1 teaspoon/5 mL baking powder 1/4 teaspoon/1 mL salt 5 tablespoons/75  mL unsalted butter 6 tablespoons/90 mL cacao 1 cup/250 mL granulated sugar 1 teaspoon/5 mL vanilla 2 large eggs 1/2 cup/125 mL powdered sugar Directions 1. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. 2. Melt butter over low heat and then mix in the cacao. Blend well. 3. Remove from heat and stir in granulated sugar....

This is a shoot off of my main blog. I suspect it will be a bit more fluffy. My idea is to collect here ideas for celebrating Heathen holidays. Compiling stories, recipes, songs, and traditions. Some will be based in reconstruction but a lot will be modern or adapted. I am going to start with Yule traditions, but I will branch into Sigrblot, and Winter Nights. And then Midsummer, Alfablot, Disting, Mother's Night, etc.