Samhain

Samhain, (pronounced SOW-in, SAH-vin, or SAM-hayne) is Wiccan/Pagan holiday that  means "End of Summer", and is the third and final Harvest.  It is generally celebrated on October 31st, but some traditions prefer November 1st. It is one of the two "spirit-nights" each year, the other being Beltane (which is celebrated on the same day as Samhain in the Southern hemisphere.)  Wiccans and Pagans believe it is a magical interval when the laws of time and space are temporarily suspended, and the Thin Veil between the worlds is lifted. Communicating with ancestors and departed loved ones is easy at this time, for they journey through this world on their way to the Summerlands. 

Originally the "Feast of the Dead" was celebrated in Celtic countries by leaving food offerings on altars and doorsteps for the "wandering dead". Today a lot of practitioners still carry out that tradition. Single candles were lit and left in a window to help guide the spirits of ancestors and loved ones home. Extra chairs were set to the table and around the hearth for the unseen guest. Apples were buried along roadsides and paths for spirits who were lost or had no descendants to provide for them. Turnips were hollowed out and carved to look like protective spirits, for this was a night of magic and chaos. People dressed in white (like ghosts), wore disguises made of straw, or dressed as the opposite gender in order to fool the Nature spirits. 

This was the time that the cattle and other livestock were slaughtered for eating in the ensuing winter months. Any crops still in the field on Samhain were considered taboo, and left as offerings to the Nature spirits. Bonfires were built, (originally called bone-fires, for after feasting, the bones were thrown in the fire as offerings for healthy and plentiful livestock in the New Year) and stones were marked with peoples names. Then they were thrown into the fire, to be retrieved in the morning. The condition of the retrieved stone foretold of that person's fortune in the coming year. Hearth fires were also lit from the village bonfire to ensure unity, and the ashes were spread over the harvested fields to protect and bless the land. 

This holiday was interesting to learn about because of its relation to Halloween.  Times have changed so now we dress up as cartoon characters and rather then leave food on alters- candy is given out to little kids- which made this holiday very easy to relate to the kids.

For our craft we painted rocks to tie in with the tradition of names written on rocks.  Rather then write our names on them and toss them into a fire I let the kids go rock hunting and we painted them to keep.

Paint and rocks ready.

Baby painting.

Posing with his rock.

For our Samhain food we roasted turnips.  Turnips are a fall harvest food and rather then carve a turnip like the Celts we decided to eat one.    Next time I would do a medley of root veggies.  The turnips alone were not to the boys liking.  However, my mom often does root veggies roasted with a little pepper, fennel, and paprika and its wonderful!

Roasted Turnips With Ginger

Peel and cut turnips into wedges. Toss with grated fresh ginger, olive oil, salt, and pepper on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with honey and roast at 400° F until tender.  Ours took about 40 min.

The boys and the giant turnip.

Adding the olive oil

A little honey.

Grating the ginger

Roasted roots with scrambled eggs.

Have a festive Samhain and Happy Halloween or All Hallows Eve! 

Reformation Day

For many Protestants, particularly Lutherans, Reformation Day is one of the most important holidays, next to Christmas and Easter. Reformation Day is celebrated on the last Sunday in October and honors the beginning of the Reformation, commemorating Martin Luther's posting of ninety-five theses at the entrance to the Castle Church in the town of Wittenberg, Germany, in AD 1517. 

Luther, an Augustinian monk, doctor of theology, and resident of Wittenberg, is considered by Protestants to have rediscovered the fundamental tenants of Christian faith, thereby setting the stage for a confrontation within the Church that would eventually lead to the Reformation.  Reformation Day also celebrates the religious, social, and political changes brought about by the Reformation.

I found a site that listed the 95 theses here. 

For our craft we made little hammers.  The kids selected corks from the giant stash I have managed to save over the years and popsicle sticks from my recycle cabinet.  I cut a slit through the corks for them and they slid the sticks through to make a hammer.  Then they decorated as they wished.  When finished they were ready to be little Martin Luthers, or as they prefered, Thor.

Corks and sticks

Carefully cutting the cork

Hammer almost done.

Posing away with his finished product.

For Reformation day food I decided to make a German dish since Martin Luther was from Germany.  If your kids are like mine, they love sweet fruits and bacon.  So I decided to give this traditional German soup a try.  I had thought about doing spatzle because everyone loves noodles- but thought this soup sounded more adventurous.  Turns out I should have stuck with Noodles:)  My oldest wouldn't even touch it, but happily ate the left over bacon.  My adventurous middle child tried it and gave a large yuck!  The baby picked out the bacon and ate.  So the real story here is that we are genetically all in favor of bacon but this soup was a no go for us.  To be fair I did not totally follow the directions.  Boiling bacon for 2 hours was not in our time frame so if I had done that rather then pan fry and add drippings to the water maybe some things would have come out differently- if you manage to have a tasty outcome let me know where I went wrong!

Nordfriesische Birnensuppe

Ingredients (Serves Four)

• 400g smoked bacon
• 500ml water
• 500g pears
• 100g raisins
• 500ml buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar

Method

Bring the water with the bacon to boil, cover and cook for two hours. Peel the pears and remove their cores, then slice them into rings. Remove the bacon from the water, add the pears and raisins and let them cook for about ten minutes. Meanwhile, mix the buttermilk, flour and sugar. Pour into a pot and heat while stirring, then add to the pears and raisins and let them steep for another ten minutes. Cut the bacon into four pieces, put them on four bowls and pour the hot pear soup on top. 

Started out promising bacon and pears.

Look at the kids face- he can barely hold it:)

I suggest bratwurst or spatzle for your German food for reformation day, but at least our craft was super easy and a crowd pleaser.  Thanks for reading! 

Waqf al Arafa

Hajj, which is the fifth pilar of Islam, is the pilgrimage to Mecca, occurring on the 7th-12th days of the month of Dhu al-Hajja in the Islamic calendar. This is the largest annual pilgrimage in the world, and all able-bodied Muslims are required to participate at least once in their lifetimes. Several rituals are performed during this pilgrimage, including walking counter-clockwise seven times around the Kaaba, a cube-shaped building representing the Muslim direction of prayer, and drinking from the Zamzam well.  Waqf al Arafa is the Islamic observance day during Hajj when pilgrims pray for forgiveness and mercy.  Pilgrims stay awake at night to pray on the hill of Arafat, the site where Muhammad delivered his last sermon.

Waqf al Arafa/Day of Arafa is significant in that it is said that a Muslim who fasts for this holiday receives atonement for the both; previous year’s and the coming year’s sins.  Hajj is performed for many spiritual reasons.  The first, to follow in the footsteps of Muhammad, Ibrahim (Abraham), and Ismail.  Another, Hajj is a virtual simulation of the journey to the afterlife.

I found a nice, easy to understand explanation of Hajj here  

For the boys I said this is a holiday for people who are Muslim to make a trip to the sites that are important to their religion.  I told them these sites are important because some of the important things that happen in Islam occurred at these sites.  They wanted to know what the sites were so I read them this:

The sites are: 

• Holy Mosque in Makkah (Mecca)- The holiest shrine of Islam, the Kaaba (more information in the link-  is what Muslims are expected to face when they are praying), is situated at the heart of the Holy Mosque's courtyard.
• Prophet's Mosque in Medina (which contains the tomb of the Prophet Mohammed and is therefore one of Islam's most sacred shrines.)
• Arafat-  here Muslims believe Adam and Eve, separated for 200 years following their expulsion from the Garden of Eden, recognized each other and were reunited.  Here too they were forgiven by Allah.
• Muzdalifah- is a valley between Mina and Mount Arafat where pilgrims on Hajj spend the night and gather pebbles to hurl at the pillars of Mina.
• Mina- lies between Mecca and Muzdalifah.  Here there are white pillars representing the devil which pilgrims cast the pebbles they gathered at Muzdalifah.

For our craft we decided to make a pinwheel.  I had debated about something involving throwing pebbles- but I have a highly impressionable 18 month old who already likes to throw things so pinwheel won.  While our pinwheels sometimes go around more then 7 times, I did like that the edges of the pinwheel would be circling around the center piece- which helped give a visual of a pilgrim circling the Kaaba.  We even made our pinwheels turn counter clockwise.   

For our pinwheels we used paper, rulers,  and paper fasters.  For decoration purposes we used crayons and, my favorite, washi tape.

What you need.

To begin we folded down the corner of our standard size paper to make a square by cut off the excess rectangle. 

I then told the boys to decorate, but they wanted to draw after we had made the pinwheel.  So first we folded the square in half the opposite way from the original fold so that we would have guiding lines for our next cuts.  Then we drew a circle around the center of the square (about an inch maybe inch and a half diameter) and cut down our guidelines until we reached the circle.

Cutting along the lines to the center circle.

Once the cuts were made the boys folded the corners down to the center of the circle and secured the ends with tape.

Folded and secured to the center.

Next step was to put the fastener through the middle of the pinwheel.  I had to cut a small hole to get through the tape.

Decorating his pinwheel.

Finally we put the fastener through the wheel and then through the hole in the ruler. We fastened the clip leaving room for the wheel to be able to move without much resistance.   Then we watched our pinwheels spin counter clockwise!

It spins!

Cheesy pose time!

When researching Hajj, I saw that often people will travel with bread, although devotees will have places to eat as there are food stands and restaurants ready to serve those who are completing the Hajj.  For our food I decided to give a popular Middle Eastern bread a try, the pita.  I again looked to smittenkitchen for the recipe.  I did not tweak it-as it was my first attempt at pita, so for the directions go to the link!

Our experience with the recipe: 

I had my middle son help with all the measuring and he happily threw everything into the mixer. 

Scooping ingredients.

He also was happy to get to work the mixer, as his older brother seems to always make it there first.  We mixed the first 20 seconds with the paddle and then ten minutes with the hook.  I have never seen my Kitchenaid move so much before as it did during that ten minutes of kneading.  However all the hard work was worth it as the dough was very soft. 

Watching the machine work and shake.

After the kneading we put the dough in a covered container and I drizzled some of the oil my husband bought for me on his last trip to Jordan over the top of the dough and put it into the fridge over night.  I took a few peeks and smooshed the bread down to make sure it wasn't growing too much.

The next day was go time.   So we preheated the oven for an hour before cooking time and got to work with working and waiting and working and waiting for the dough to be right.  

Happily patting the dough down.

Rolling is incredibly exciting sometimes.

This recipe was a bit putsy at times, so I was hoping the end result would be worth it.   It was.   The bread was totally delicious although the first few batches I did not get to rise.  I think its because my dough was in a chilly metal bowl and took a little longer to warm to the proper temperature.  The last few breads that went into the oven seemed to work the best.  The dough was incredibly soft from being at more of a room temperature and they puffed up wonderfully.  I also had flipped some of the pita and found they turned out nicer if I did not flip them.  They were so tasty- and I will definitely be making these again!

Our final bread, complete with pockets- although in photo it looks a little like naan. 

That's all for Waqf al Arafa or Hajj- stay tuned for Eid al-Adha.  Thanks for reading! 

Birth of Confucius

First holiday of October is Confucius' birthday.  Confucianism is a way of life taught by Confucius in the 6th–5th century BC. Sometimes viewed as a philosophy, sometimes as a religion, Confucianism is perhaps best understood as an all-encompassing humanism.  Confucianism has been followed by the Chinese for more than two millennia. It has deeply influenced spiritual and political life in China; its influence has also extended to Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.

Confucius statue.

Confucius stressed integrity and civility, and founded a tradition of erudition in areas of art, literature, music, history, and more.  Confucianism is a system of social and political morality. Whether it is a religion depends on what religion means to you. Confucianism stressed honoring one's ancestors  and it advocated a form of the Golden Rule.  

In China there are celebrations for Confucius's birthday.  If you would like more detailed information on the ceremony for Confucius's birthday you can find it here.  There are 37 choreographed components of the ceremony, so to sum it up- there is a 60 minute ceremony done at various temples throughout China that involves welcoming the spirit of Confucius into the temple and celebrating him, offering a "sacrifice", and recognizing Confucius as the "first" teacher.  The ceremony ends with the gates closing and spectators leaving the temple to observe a feast which features "wisdom cake" which is said to bring special luck with studies.

The boys and I looked up some Confucius quotes.  We had to wade through some false "Confucius say..." sites but we found some that seemed legit.  Some of our favorites that we found here were: 

" He who learns but does not think, is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger."

"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand."

"Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without."

For our craft we wrote each of the boys names in Chinese.  The site where you can see how to write your name can be found here.  The boys got a kick out of seeing how their names looked in Chinese.  They also wanted their favorite stuffed toy to have his name written in Chinese as well.

Copying down his name in Chinese.

My oldest's name.

We had to do Kirby's too.

My Middle child made me write his.

 I searched all over for a recipe for the rice "wisdom cake" and could not find it.  I decided I would just make a Chinese sponge cake and I found this recipe:

Ingredients we used: 

The ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 cup water
• 8 eggs (separated) Yep 8 eggs- I never made a cake with so many eggs before- but trust me its yummy!
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (or almond or coconut)

Method:

1. Heat water and dissolve sugar. Let cool. This was a wonderful science experiment about how the sugar dissolves in the water.  
2. Mix yolk into sugar water.
3. Slowly add flour into the mixture.
4. Blend in oil and extract.
5. In a large bowl, beat egg whites until peaks are stiff.  This was the other highlight of baking this cake.  The boys couldn't believe that this is what happens if you whip up egg whites.  They wanted to just eat it up right then.  But 8 egg whites did not seem like a good snack idea to me. 
6. Fold batter from above into egg whites.
7. Pour combined batter into an UNGREASED aluminum cake pan- we had some issues with the cake sticking to the bottom, so I would maybe throw down a cutout circle of parchment paper on the bottom of the pan next time.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes until done (when toothpick comes out clean).
9. Turn cake upside down and let cool.  This is where my cake got a little stuck, so wasn't as pretty as I hoped but still quite tasty.

Posing with all the egg shells

If you looked at the original recipe you may notice we did not use cream of tartar.  We didn't have any so I just skipped it and it seemed to turn out fine.

Mixing the sugar and yolk.

Mixing the whites and yolk mixtures.

One of the cakes- fresh from the oven. 

I then decided if we were doing this cake we need to do the whole thing so I added the custard filling and whipped cream frosting.  We found the recipe for that here. 

My sons both decided they were done baking after the cake was done.  So for the best directions I suggest going to the site.  Also I had frosting issues.  We are currently living in Germany and I thought I could tell what whipping cream was- unfortunately for me I was wrong-3 times.  So fourth time was a charm and the cake was finished and got good reviews.

Finished product. Our Chinese sponge cake.

Happy Birthday Confucius!