Two Lughnasadh Recipes from Episode 30: Lughnasadh / Lammas & Kitchen Witchery
SUN BREAD FOR LUGH
from MoodyMoons.com
Ingredients
1.5 cups lukewarm water
4 tablespoons honey
1 packet instant yeast
2 tablespoons sunflower oil (or sub olive oil)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds (plus more for topping)
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons salt
1.5 – 2 cups white flour
1 egg white
Step 1
Whisk together yeast, honey and warm water. Allow it to stand until frothy, about 5 minutes.
Place sunflower seeds in a blender and pulse for a few seconds until roughly chopped.
Stir the sunflower seeds together with the whole wheat flour and salt. Add yeast water and sunflower oil and stir until combined.
Step 2
Add in about 1/2 the white flour, working the dough by hand.
As you knead, add in more white flour until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Place back in the bowl, cover it with a clean towel, and allow it to rise for about an hour, or until it doubles in size.
Step 3
Punch down dough and divide into 2 loaves. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Allow it to rise again, for about an hour.
Step 4
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees (or 375 if it runs hot).
Brush the tops of your bread loaves with egg whites, and sprinkle some un-chopped sunflower seeds on the tops of the loaves.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown on the tops.
HONEY CINNAMON SUNFLOWER SEED BUTTER
Ingredients
2-1/2 cups shelled raw sunflower seeds
Pinch of sea salt
Pinch ~1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Scant 1 tablespoon clover honey
Step 1
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spread the sunflowers seeds thinly on a baking sheet and roast for 10-15 minutes, stirring once through for even cooking.
Let the sunflower seeds cool.
Step 2
Place the sunflower seeds, sea salt, and cinnamon in a food processor or high-speed blender. Pulse to break up the seeds.
Puree into a butter - this will take about 10-20 minutes, depending on your food processor. The sunflower seeds will first turn into a meal, then a thick paste, and eventually a butter - patience is key. Every couple minutes, stop the blender and press the sunflower seeds back down to the bottom if they have climbed up the sides of the blender.
Step 3
Once the sunflower seeds are turned into butter, drizzle in the honey and pulse a few times to combine.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one month!
Significance and Properties of Ingredients
Staying mindful of your intention as well as the meaning and significance of your chosen ingredients while you cook lends KITCHEN WITCHERY it's truest Magick!
Honey
Honey Bees have long been associated with magic and the supernatural, the world over. Ancient Romans believed they carried messages from the gods and ancient Egyptians made offerings of honey to their dead.
In modern witchcraft, honey is associated with the summer festivals and attributed with the powers of “sweetening” situations, healing and cleansing.
Sunflower Seeds
Symbolizing abundance, prosperity and the power of the sun itself, sunflower seeds can assist in drawing luck, strength, vitality and great joy.
Wheat
Lughnasadh / Lammas is a celebration of the first harvest - and one of the major fruits of this harvest is grain. This is why bread-baking is such a popular celebratory tradition for the sabbat. One of the Seven Sacred Grains, it also carries in it the powers of abundance, fertility, money-drawing and rebirth.
Cinnamon
Magickally speaking, Cinnamon is an absolute powerhouse because of it’s versatility in Magick. It can assist in love magic and money magic through it’s strong ability to attract, and is also powerfully protective. Because of its warming quality, it is also associated with the energy of the Sun, as well as with Mars, two rulers associated with fire - lending even more power to its property of protection.
Make the most of your Sun Bread and Honey Cinnamon Sunflower Seed Butter!
Cooking and Baking can be an energetic ritual process. Use your finished bread and butter to their fullest magickal potential in any or all of the following ways.
Leave some on your altar as an offering.
Serve it as a part of your celebratory feast or in the "cakes and ale/wine" portion of your ritual, if you partake in that practice.
Give loaves to loved ones or to neighbors to strengthen the bonds of neighborly friendship.
Draw sacred symbols for health, prosperity, abundance and/or protection in your bread before you bake it to increase it's magickal power.
Share a portion of your bread with the birds and creatures that you share the land with, outside of your home. You can also leave some along with your fresh honey cinnamon sunflower seed butter for the Fae.
Freeze your bread for up to 2 weeks and serve it to honor the extended summer harvest season.
