Notice: Light and Darkness Test and Bless Each Other
from the Irish poet John O’Donohue
"At first, we are children of the darkness. Your body and your face were formed first in the kind darkness of your mother's womb. You lived the first nine months in there. Your birth was the first journey from darkness into light. All your life, your mind lives within the darkness of your body. Every thought you have is a flint moment, a spark of light from your inner darkness. The miracle of thought is its presence in the night side of your soul; the brilliance of thought is born of darkness. Each day is a journey. We come out of the night into the day. All creativity awakens at this primal threshold where light and darkness test and bless each other. You only discover the balance in your life when you learn to trust the flow of this ancient rhythm."
Make
Beeswax ornaments: Beeswax is literally the summer captured and preserved. Beeswax ornaments are easy to make; you just need beeswax, string, and a mold (look for candy or cookie molds at stores like Bulk Barn). Heat beeswax over very low heat (double boiler preferred) and pour slowly into the mold. While the wax is still liquid and just barely starting to cool, gently place the ends of the string in the wax so it’s looped to make a hanger. Let cool completely, and remove from molds. You can see some that I made a few years ago here.
Solstice Cake: I started making this cake as a Solstice Cake several years ago. It’s made in a bundt pan, so it’s round to echo the closing of the loop of the seasons and the shape of the sun. It’s made with warming spices and can be decorated as simply or elaborately as you’d like. I think a light sprinkling of icing sugar and a few pomegranate seeds is perfect. You can see some pictures and my original post with the recipe here.
Solstice Cake
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
3/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup honey
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup hot water
Steps:
Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a bundt pan really, really, really well. (See the lumpy bits of my cake? It didn’t release from the pan properly.)
I use a stand mixer - if you don’t have one, no worries - just do the rest by hand or with a handheld mixer. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and molasses and mix well.
If you want to be proper, whisk together your dry ingredients before adding them (I almost never do, and it turns out wonderfully every time.) Add dry ingredients to butter mixture and mix briefly, being careful not to overwork the batter - you don’t want a tough cake. Add hot water, mix until uniform, and pour into bundt pan.
Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean.
Allow to cool for 15-20 minutes, and release from pan. Dust with powdered sugar - shaken from a fine-mesh sieve is the trick - and garnish with pomegranate seeds and sprigs of greenery. I used dried rosemary from this summer’s garden, but if I hadn’t had that on hand I would have cut sprigs from our Christmas tree. This cake is even better the next day, so it’s a great make-ahead dessert. Just cool and cover well, then add the icing sugar and pomegranate seeds and greens before serving. Enjoy, served with whipped cream. Happy Holidays!
Simmer Pot: This couldn’t be much simpler, and is a nice way to add a bit of festive scent to your kitchen. Just add some items to water in a small crockpot or pot on the stove and simmer. You can come up with a million combinations, but here are two of my favourite combinations. 1) orange slices, cinnamon sticks, and cloves (classic!). 2) Rosemary, lemon, and vanilla (fresh and bright and herbal.)
Do
Celebrate solstice! There are plenty of things to celebrate in December, but (as always) what speaks to my heart is the beauty of the natural world and the cycles of nature. We like to celebrate solstice with a fire if the weather cooperates and the solstice cake above. You can be as into it as you want - writing down things you want to release from the past year and burning pieces of paper in the fire is one nice way to mark the longest night.
Find light: This year especially, as we continue through the pandemic, finding metaphorical light is more important than ever. There are so many good, generous, kind, and openhearted things happening everywhere - look around in your community and find something that you can contribute to or acknowledge.
Decorate a tree outside for the birds and wildlife: This is a lovely way to bring some birds to your yard. You can decorate with a fresh cranberry and popcorn garland, orange slices, or seed ornaments. The birds will thank you!
It has been such a delight for me to put this project together for you this year; I hope that you have enjoyed it as much as I have. I hope that it has helped you to find ways to appreciate the world around you throughout the year and given you some fun things to do as well. So much love to you from my little corner of Nova Scotia!