Yule 2022

Here we are in winter in Australia, and actually having a period of reasonable chill here in Brisbane! So while my northern hemisphere friends are sweating through what seems like an atrocious summer, we are in our cold times. And June is the time for the sabbat celebration of Yule, the shortest day of the year. You can see my other posts about celebrating different sabbats though food here.

Yule aka Winter Solstice (21st of June, 2022)

You can easily serve a lot of what people would consider Christmas-themed food during Yule, as aspects of it have been co-opted into traditions of Christmas, but I like to celebrate with really good, hearty comfort food.

Winter Stew from One Pot: Three Ways by Rachel Ama: One of my newer books, that you will be hearing more from. But I knew I wanted to make this wonderful winter stew for Yule from the moment I saw it. A stew of carrots, shallots, mushrooms (I used shiitake as I couldn't get oyster mushrooms), tomatoes, and sweet potato with red wine and herbs. A quick prep on the stove, and then a nice long bake in the over!



Mashed Potatoes & Long-Stem Broccoli: The premise of this book is you make the base recipe, and then there are three different ways you can use it. I went with this classic winter comfort combo of serving it with mashed potatoes (made with butter, nutritional yeast, and seasoning), and sauteed broccolini. It was everything wonderful and comforting in a bowl.
Rating: :)



Rich Winter Ragu with Pasta: Slipping this in here, even though I made it a couple of days later. This is simply leftover stew simmered and served with pasta. The recipe calls for pappardelle, I used fettucini. I also added some chopped facon and peas to it. This was such a great way to make a quick meal after leftovers.
Rating: :)



Spiced Cider from Cafe Flora Cookbook: Bringing us back to Yule dinner proper, I made this wonderful warmed cider. Cloudy apple juice is simmered with whole spices, then allowed to sit for several hours for the flavours to meld. After straining, you can serve it hot or cold. I went with hot, given it was a cold night!
Rating: :)



Tamarind Apple Crisp from To Asia With Love by Hetty McKinnon: Apple crumble is a perfect winter dessert, and add in some tamarind? Delightful! I made a half recipe of this for three serves. The apple filling has a hefty dose of tamarind paste added, which brings some lovely sour tang to the rest of the sweet, and it is topped with a lovely oat crisp topping. I served it warm with the very last bit of my So Delicious Cashew Vanilla Ice Cream.
Rating: :)





Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Boo continues to enjoy the sunroom on these colder days.