25Sep 2023 by catbird 1 Comment
Mexican Hot Chocolate for the Harvest Moon

Mexican Hot Chocolate for the Harvest Moon

Autumn, Campfire, Harvest Moon, Recipes
As far I know this is not traditional anywhere except in my family, but Mexican hot chocolate on the Harvest Moon is a longstanding tradition for us. It started because my kids were always asking for hot cocoa in the summer and I was always telling them that it was the wrong season for cocoa. (Spring and summer are obviously tea season!) While winter is proper cocoa season fall is cocoa adjacent. Mexican hot chocolate has cinnamon which gives it a decidedly fall feeling for me. Because of that we decided that the Harvest moon was the official start of hot chocolate season. First things first, only Americans call it Mexican hot chocolate- in Mexico its just chocolate or champurrado. As early as 500 BC, the Mayans were drinking a chocolate…
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25Sep 2023 by catbird 2 Comments
Gluten Free Mooncakes for the Harvest Moon

Gluten Free Mooncakes for the Harvest Moon

Autumn, Full Moon, Harvest Moon, Recipes
A mooncake is an East Asian pastry traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The festival celebrates the harvest and the moon. Most mooncakes consist of a thick, tender pastry skin enveloping a sweet, dense filling, and may contain one or more whole salted egg yolks in their center that symbolizes the full moon. Traditional fillings include lotus seed paste, sweet bean paste and mixed nuts in syrup. Mooncakes have a lovely design imprinted the on top. There are tons of different designs, but some traditional ones include: Chinese characters for "longevity" or "harmony", the moon, the Chinese goddess of the Moon (Chang'e), flowers, vines, and rabbits. I came across a fascinating snippet that Chinese revolutionaries used mooncakes to send coded messages in the olden days-- you had to cut the mooncake into quarters and rearrange it to decipher the words.…
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24Sep 2023 by catbird 2 Comments
Bunny Mochi

Bunny Mochi

Autumn, Full Moon, Harvest Moon, Play, Recipes
These mochi are so adorable and so simple they hardly need a recipe. I was inspired to make rabbit shaped mochi because of the East Asian myth that there is a rabbit in the moon making mochi. Rabbits have ended up playing a somewhat key role in our Harvest Moon celebrations over the year due to their associations with the moon. (Read more here) This is also simple enough to do after work when you don't have the energy for much else. (Speaking from experience...) Ingredients: pre packaged mochi. You can get these in a large variety of flavors. You want round ones. scissors black and pink food safe markers Method: Gently squish the round mochi into more of an oval shape. With the scissors snip two ears from one…
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24Sep 2023 by catbird 4 Comments
Harvest Moon Lanterns

Harvest Moon Lanterns

Autumn, Craft Project, Free Printable, Full Moon, Harvest Moon, Play
The Harvest Moon might just be my favorite full moon celebration, and its definetly the one we have been celebrating the longest. Its also an important celebration in many different cultures which is always something of interest to me. In Western Europe it was named the Harvest Moon because the light from the full moon helped farmers bring in the last of their crop well into the night. Many cultures believe that the Moon is at its brightest and fullest size at the Harvest Moon, coinciding with harvest time. At same time many American Indian tribes use full moon names referencing the harvest this time of year. (Read more here) In China and much of Southeast Asia there is the Mid-Autumn Festival. (In Japan its called: Tsukimi, Korea: Chuseok, and Vietnam:Tết Trung…
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22Jul 2023 by catbird 1 Comment
Grass Harvest Moon

Grass Harvest Moon

Autumn, Craft Project, Harvest Moon, Nature Art, Nature Collection
The Harvest Moon was so named in Europe because the light of the moon allowed farmers to work into the night to bring in the harvest. This full moon is always the one closer to the Autumnal Equinox, so although it most often occurs in September, it sneaks into October every now and again. The Diné call September’s moon the Big Harvest Moon. The Shoshone and the Passamaquoddy call September the Fall Moon, the Algonquin refer to the Middle Between Harvest and Eating Corn, and the Hopi people call this the Moon of the Full Harvest. In many places September is a time of Harvest and there are countless ways to celebrate the bounty of this time of year. I have been increasingly planting native ornamental grasses in my garden…
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05Sep 2022 by catbird No Comments
Harvest Moon Celebration

Harvest Moon Celebration

Autumn Portfolio, Craft Project, Full Moon, Harvest Moon, Recipes
We are so excited for the Harvest Moon! The Harvest Moon was so named in Europe because the light of the full moon allowed farmers to work into the night to bring in the harvest. After the harvest was finished it was a time of celebration and rest. This full moon is always the one closer to the Autumnal Equinox so it’s most often in September, but sneaks into October every now and again. In many Asian cultures this full moon is known as the Mid-Autumn Festival. It’s is traditionally celebrated with mooncakes (which we have made one of our traditions too!) Have you ever looked up at the man in the moon? What westerners refer to as the man in the moon, many other cultures refer to the rabbit…
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