Mabon Fixins with Jenn Kahn, Southern Fried Pagan Style............

At Mabon, we celebrate the goddess in her aspect as the crone, or the Dark Mother. She is Demeter, she is Hecate, she is the wise old woman wielding a scythe rather than a basket of blooming flowers.  This makes me think of the Grain of the Fields, and instantly makes my hands itch to make and create wonderful fixings for me and my community! 

Here is me sharing one of my Bread recipes and hoping you will use it to celebrate Mabon with those you love.  Remember (while you are preparing your food in the kitchen hum, sing, dance, and spell it with visuals and a whole lot of love).

This honey wheat blend is a delicious way to celebrate the end of the harvest and say farewell to the fertile months of summer. Serve warm with herbed oils for dipping, or with a big scoop of Apple Butter.
Make this either in your bread machine, or by kneading it by hand.

Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Ingredients: •2 C. warm water •1 Tbs. active dry yeast •1/3 C. honey •3 C. whole wheat flour •1 tsp. salt •1/4 C. vegetable oil •2 Tbs. butter •4 C. all purpose baking flour

Preparation:
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Add honey and mix well.
Stir in the whole wheat flour, salt, vegetable oil, and butter and mix until a stiff dough has formed. Gradually work the all-purpose flour into the mix, one cup at a time.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured countertop, and knead for about fifteen minutes. When it reaches the point where it's sort of elastic, shape it into a ball and place it into an oiled bowl. Cover with a warm, damp cloth, and allow to sit and rise until it's doubled in size -- usually about 45 minutes.

Punch the dough down and cut in half, so you can make two loaves of bread. Place each half in a greased loaf pan, and allow to rise. Once the dough has risen an inch or two above the top of the loaf pan, pop them in the oven. Bake at 375 for half an hour, or until golden brown at the top.

When you remove the loaves from the oven, allow to cool for about fifteen minutes before removing from the pan. If you like, brush some melted butter over the top of the hot loaves, to add a pretty golden glaze to them.

Note - If you're doing this in a bread machine, remember, the recipes makes two loaves. Halve everything if you're allowing the machine to do the mixing. If you hand mix it, you can still drop the single-loaf balls of dough into the machine to bake.

**************************************************************************

If we lived out further we would be pulling something out of the smokehouse, or going hunting to bring in a nice meat to eat at Mabon.  In Memphis, we go to our local supermarket and bring in the kill already skinned, de-boned, and ready for preparation.  We traditionally serve Pot roast at this time of year, this is my Southern Fried Pagan twist on that traditional dish.

All things Harvested Pot Roast:

4-5lb pot roast
1 stick butter
 1 large onion sliced
 3 celery stalks chopped
 1 garlic clove chopped
 ¼ tsp. dried thyme
¼ tsp. dried parsley
1 bay leaf
1/8 tsp. black pepper
 ¼ tsp. salt
 2-10oz cans French onion soup
 4 large potatoes, quartered
 1-8oz package raw baby carrots
 1-16oz pkg. frozen broccoli/cauliflower mix

In dutch oven or oven safe pot w/lid brown both side of the roast, using half the butter. Set the roast aside. With remaining butter, saute' the onion, garlic, and celery until onions are tender and beginning to brown. Add the the thyme, parsley, bay leaf, and pepper. Mix well and then return the pot roast to the pan. Sprinkle salt over the roast and add the french onion soup. Cook at 325 degrees for 4 hours. Baste meat as needed. Add potatoes and carrots and salt to taste. Cook for another 45 minutes. Add broccoli/cauliflower mix and cook for 20 more minutes. Serve with hot bread. (Makes 8 servings)

***********************************************************************
 You cannot have a Southern Mabon without a great dessert!  Dessert is what we all oooh and ahhh over; and what makes us eat less Pot Roast and bread saving room in our bellies for delight.  Keeping that in mind, and what is plentiful for us in this part of the region we use apples in everything around Mabon.  I am sharing with you my coveted "what's that special ingredient" Crumble pie, knowing that whether you fix it in a skillet, a bread pan, or a pyrex dish it will make you the talk of the Potluck event.   

Lunch Crumble:

 5 apples
1 cup rolled oats
 2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
6 tbs. butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
 1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. allspice
 2 tbs. apple juice or orange juice

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly butter a 9-inch square baking pan or a casserole of the equivalent size, then dust it with flour. Peel, core and slice the apples, and arrange them in the pan. In the bowl of an electric mixer, blend the oats, brown sugar, flour, butter, cinnamon, salt and allspice on low speed until it forms a coarse meal. Crumble the mixture evenly over the apple slices and sprinkle with the juice. Bake for 35 minutes.
Makes 6 servings. (Serve warm with chilled fruit and vegetable plates, buffet style)

Don't forget to say a prayer of thanks to the Goddess and thank her for her bountiful blessings that she so richly shares with us....ENJOY!

Jenn Kahn is the "Queen Kitchen Witch" at the Temple of the Sacred Gift, Atc. A first degree student, maiden at the Temple, and understands that she is priestess and Goddess while walking an Egyptian Path.  She also is an accomplished seamstress, makes specialty cakes, a fabulous belly dancer, decorator, and plays viola.  While doing all of these other interesting accomplished things she still manages to have a career in the mundane world, and raise three healthy beautiful pagan children.