Lughnasadh Bread Recipe

Here is the recipe, I use to make bread to celebrate Lughnasadh. It's an olive oil and rosemary bread. It smells so good when it's baking and tastes even better! I will be making this on Tuesday night for my harvest celebration, so I will post pictures on Wednesday. Enjoy!



Ingredients:

• 2  cups white flour
• 1/2  cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup warm water
• 5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 1  teaspoon white sugar
• 1  teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons of  fresh chopped rosemary or 1 tablespoon of dried rosemary
• 1 package active dry yeast
• Pinch of extra sugar
• A little olive oil to coat the bowl and loaf pan

Add 1/2 cup of warm water, package of yeast and a pinch of sugar into a measuring cup. Stir, lightly cover and set aside. Mix both flours, salt, sugar and chopped rosemary into a bowl. Check on the yeast, if it's bubbling, add it and the other half cup of warm water water into the bowl. Add the olive oil. Mix with a fork until all dry ingredients are moist. Knead for 5 minutes.

Oil a large bowl, form dough into a ball and place in bowl. Cover bowl with dish towel and let sit in a warm area for 2 hours. Oil your loaf pan, place punched down dough, inside loaf pan. Let it rise again. Heat oven to 400 degrees. At the 10 minute mark I like to sprinkle some more rosemary on top. Bake for 20 more minutes.

Celebrate the First Harvest!

I love to read. Book, newspapers, and blogs. One of my favorite blogs is The Bishop in the Grove by Teo Bishop, over at Patheos.

The blog there today was about metaphorically experiencing Lughnasad, the first harvest. How we have planted "seeds" and seen them grow or fail in the past year. Ideas and plans that have come to fruition or been dropped by the wayside for one reason or another.

But there was a mention of knowing about where our real food comes from and how we should make this a part of our harvest rituals and celebrations. Teo asks "Do you know where your food comes from?"

I can answer yes, for most of it.

Living in Florida, I can have a garden year round, so I always have fresh veggies and herbs. The stuff I can't grow, like the fruits, I get from a local farm, where I also get my eggs. That is until I wear down the Home Owner's Association, and get my own chickens.

I get my meat from the local grocery store. Oh and some from hunting friends...yes, I eat deer. Yes, they are cute. No, I don't feel bad. Nobody is perfect ;-) and venison chili is out of this world!

Today, I am making soup with my garden veggies. It also has chicken in it but it is just as good without it.

Wednesday night, I will celebrate Lughnasad, with a loaf of awesome rosemary and olive oil bread and a ritual in my garden. I will post the recipe and some pictures on Thursday or Friday.

Now that my indoor aquaponics system is finished, I will have more lettuce and herbs growing.

What started out as a tribute to my late Grand Father, has turned into a hobby or maybe even an obsession but it has also made me a better Pagan. Working in the garden, eating from the first harvest, makes me want to celebrate.

I Harm None but I Carry a Gun!

My heart and prayers go out to the people of Aurora, Colorado. I let my two oldest go to our local theater for the midnight show of "Batman" last night, how many Moms are regretting that same decision today...

This is why I carry my firearm EVERYWHERE...

I am not saying one off duty cop could have kept anyone from being killed but maybe not so many would have been hurt.

These crazy mass shooters almost always give up without a fight, once the police arrive and there is a threat of return fire, because they are cowards!

I know many in the Pagan community detest guns. I detest innocent people being killed going to see a movie. I believe that "Harm None" includes protecting the innocent from harm.

"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle." - Edmund Burke

All in a days work - Contagious Kindness

The other morning on my way to work (ridiculously early, I might add!), I stopped at my 

usual drive-thru for a coffee and bagel. In front of me, was a car with a few bumper stickers that left me in doubt that a kindred spirit and fellow Pagan, was inside!

I love to see other Pagans "out in the wild" but I hate that while in uniform, I can't approach them. Mostly because, I know some pagans have a dis-like of the police or any government type body. Some for good reason. Some do because they think, it's a requirement. :-)  Also, while at work, my time is not mine and I feel like I should not be discussing religion, on the city's dime. 

I order my breakfast and pull up to pay. I am here, every work day so I have a friendly relationship with the wonderful Theresa, the lady who gives me, my much needed coffee! We always have a quick chat about whatever and she always tells me to be-careful and that she prays for my safety.

As I pull up to pay, Theresa smiles and says the person ahead of me bought my breakfast! I love being wrong... sometimes! The person ahead of me looked at me as a person not just a police officer! Lesson learned, Universe!

So, I paid for the person behind me and I went on my way with a smile.

The next day, same routine, ordered my stuff, pulled up to say hi to Theresa and she told me, it went on for 7 more cars!!!! The car I paid for, paid for the next car and so on and so on....7 times! 

I know it's a small thing, but it made me so happy and I would like to think it made everyone involved happy too! So, to the Pagan driving the red Honda four door with the awesome bumper stickers, Thank you for  breakfast and double Thank You for the smile!

Crazy New Project - Indoor Aquaponics

Sometimes, I feel bad for "Super Hubby"...he has to put up with me and all my crazy ideas. This time, it is indoor aquaponics!

As you know, from a previous blog,  S.H. made me a seed starting rack about two years ago. It has four shelves and one shelf has grow lights. Now I start most of my seeds this way.

I was looking at the three unused shelves...What could I do with the space? I am a big fan of Youtube gardening videos and I saw one about Aquaponics.

Aquaponics is  is a sustainable food production system that combines a traditional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or shrimp in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. The plants filter the water which contains nitrogen, the plants use it as fertilizer, the clean water goes back to the animals, the animals "poop" in the water and the cycle starts again.

Our youngest son had a fish tank with two gold fish and a huge mystery snail, we call "Goliath". The fish were the kind you win at the fair, but they lived for two years. After they died, we moved "Goliath" to a smaller tank, that was easier for the kid to clean. The fish tank sat in the closet unused. Until now.... :-)

S.H. went out and bought tubing, expandable clay balls, a submersible water pump, pvc pipe and a shallow plastic tote. It cost about $35 dollars at Lowe's. He put it all together on Saturday while I was at work.

Today, I am off and will be going to buy a few fish to put in there with "Goliath". I plan on growing lettuce. I will try and make a video of the entire system when it is up and running!

Princess Reiki Update - Sassy Cat!

Reiki has been part of our family  for a little over 2 months now. She looked sassy today, so I decided to take her picture to show how great she is doing! Her eye has fully opened but she can't see out of it.
Her new thing, besides chasing poor Bailey dog, is to sit on the back of my computer chair when I write. Here she is on the chair, love the look on her beautiful face!